Jane Garvey and Peter Allen return to Radio 5 Live for 30th anniversary

Former BBC Radio 5 Live presenters Jane Garvey and Peter Allen will return to the station for its 30th anniversary.

The radio channel, which covers breaking news and live sport, will celebrate on Thursday with a day of special programming.

It was launched at 5am on March 28 1994.

Garvey and Allen, who fronted 5 Live Breakfast and 5 Live Drive for 13 years, for which they won Radio Academy Awards, previously returned to the station in 2016 for a Sunday slot.

Their last show was in 2017 and Allen also presented a regular Sunday stint up until 2019. He also hosted a one-off 5 Live special in 2020.

As the first voice to be broadcast on the station, Garvey will speak to 5 Live Breakfast presenters Rick Edwards and Rachel Burden about the initial broadcast.

Burden said: “5 Live has been my work home and my work family for over 20 years. It’s taken me to places and events I never thought I would witness, from the magic of the London 2012 Olympics to interviewing our prime ministers.

“It makes me smile and it challenges me every day, and what I have learnt from working at the station is that our audience is what makes 5 Live so special. They have a wonderful hive mind of knowledge and experience and we should never underestimate it or take it for granted.”

Garvey, who used to host Radio 4 show Woman’s Hour, left the BBC in 2022 to join Times Radio with Fi Glover, with whom she had hosted a podcast at the corporation.

Allen will return for the Radio 5 Live’s drive programme to talk to Tony Livesey and Clare McDonnell and reminisce about his time on the show.

Mid-morning presenter Naga Munchetty said: “5 Live is a listening experience which is never predictable, which is why it’s so successful.

“The station is thought-provoking, lively and has a deep connection with its audience.

“It’s a privilege to work with a bunch of presenters and journalists who I like and trust.

“What I love about my job most is you never know what to expect, we can latch on to a talking point of the day and run with it and it’s always a joy to see our audience engage with us with such enthusiasm. Happy birthday, 5 Live.”

On Thursday, long-term Radio 5 Live presenters such as Adrian Chiles will kick off reflections on the last 30 years from 5am to 6am, before returning from 11am to 1pm.

Eleanor Oldroyd, will be joined by special guests from 7.30pm to 10pm to relive some of the big sporting moments of the past three decades.

She will also announce the top 10 moments voted for by listeners.

Oldroyd, who has worked for the station since the start, said: “5 Live has been my radio home for nearly all of my career, so I am delighted to be a part of the 30th birthday celebrations.

“The station has grown and evolved so much over the years but has kept the same principle at its core, to be somewhere people turn to for company, as well as in times of celebration, such as great sporting and national events, and in uncertain times like during the Covid pandemic.

“I have had so many amazing experiences whilst working at 5 Live but working on the London and Sydney Olympics were some of the greatest privileges of my career because of the way fans and listeners embraced every single sport. Paris 2024 will be my 13th Olympics and I think it’ll have the same sense of joy.”

On Nicky Campbell’s phone-in programme, from 10am to 11am, he will also ask listeners to share the big moments from the station and the history of the channel will be available through the digital audio archive, called 5 Live’s Yearbook.