Legends of News
Legends of News is a gripping, deeply personal podcast hosted by award-winning broadcaster Dermot Murnaghan, exploring the golden era of television news through the voices of those who shaped it. With over four decades in the newsroom himself, Dermot invites fellow household names to reveal what it was really like in front of the camera when the world changed in real time.Through candid conversations, listeners are granted a front-row seat to history: from breaking global events to chaotic newsrooms, unforgettable interviews with world leaders, and the occasional live blooper. As history echoes through current events, these news giants reflect on how the past informs the present—and share where life has taken them now.Legends of News is a warm, revealing, and inspiring chronicle of the stories that must not be forgotten Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Episodes
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Martha Kearney: From the LBC switchboard to presenting the BBC’s Today Programme
Saturday, 1 November 2025
Martha Kearney, one of Britain’s most respected political journalists, joins Dermot Murnaghan to reflect on a career that’s taken her from the phones at LBC to the BBC’s Today programme. She talks about covering elections from the battle bus, reporting through the peace process in Northern Ireland, and interviewing leaders from Thatcher to Blair.Martha recalls the chaos of early commercial radio, the moment Margaret Thatcher turned on her, and the brutal 3am starts that came with fronting Britain’s flagship news show. She reflects on how politics, journalism, and public trust have changed —...
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The reality of war reporting and why geography still explains everything
Monday, 20 October 2025
Tim Marshall, one of Britain’s most experienced foreign correspondents and bestselling authors, joins Dermot Murnaghan to discuss how punk rock, politics, and a passion for maps shaped his career. From leaving school at sixteen to reporting from war zones and writing the global phenomenon Prisoners of Geography, Tim reflects on four decades of journalism and geopolitics.He recalls bluffing his way to Paris as a correspondent who could “barely say bonjour,” and covering seismic events from Bosnia to Baghdad and Kabul. Tim explains why geography still defines power, how the world’s borders sh...
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Selina Scott: News at Ten, BBC Breakfast, and dinner with the future king
Monday, 6 October 2025
From the newsroom of Grampian TV to anchoring News at Ten and launching BBC Breakfast Time, Selina Scott’s career is packed with moments that changed the face of broadcasting. She recalls the leap from regional reporting to national television, the pressure of covering the Falklands War live, and the intensity of fronting breakfast TV under constant tabloid scrutiny.She talks about joining ITN to read the News at Ten, her move to the BBC, and breaking into American television with CBS while still presenting The Clothes Show. Along the way, there are unforgettable behind-the-scenes stories —...
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Kirsty Young: 5 News, Desert Island Discs, and a life in broadcasting
Sunday, 21 September 2025
Kirsty Young is one of the most distinctive voices in British broadcasting. From reading continuity announcements on BBC Radio Scotland to hosting Desert Island Discs, Kirsty recalls breaking TV news tradition by standing up behind the newsdesk, interviewing Tony Blair on launch night, and anchoring live as 9/11 unfolded — including an on-air interview with her husband in Manhattan.They explore what it means to find your voice as a journalist, the privilege of covering Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, and the power of music to reveal the truth about people. Kirsty also reflects on how Channel ...
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John Simpson: ten brushes with death, interviewing dictators and why he still loves the BBC
Thursday, 11 September 2025
He’s survived bombs, interviewed dictators, and come through ten near-death experiences — yet John Simpson has never stopped chasing the story.In this episode, the BBC’s World Affairs Editor unpacks more than half a century of frontline reporting. From his unlikely break at the BBC in 1966 to revolutions, wars, and encounters with world leaders.He recalls covering the Northern Ireland Troubles in the early 1970s, the fall of the Shah in 1979, and later wars in the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan.He recalls the chaos of Baghdad as the city fell in 2003, and the unforgettable flight that brou...
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Carole Walker: Covering wars, the horror of Lockerbie, and interviewing Milosevic
Friday, 22 August 2025
She reported from the wreckage of Lockerbie, was held at gunpoint in the Balkans, and interviewed a dictator accused of ethnic cleansing.Carole Walker looks back on three decades as a BBC correspondent — from the horror of war and terrorism to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the political earthquakes that reshaped Britain.She also reveals:The surreal moment a Moscow doctor pulled a bug out of his wall before speaking freely for the first timeHow it felt watching statues of Soviet power hauled down in Moscow’s squaresWhat life was really like on Tony Blair’s 1997 battle busThe night Dav...
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Dr Sian Williams: BBC News, Hillsborough, the breakfast sofa years, and becoming a psychologist
Friday, 1 August 2025
In this episode, Dermot Murnaghan welcomes broadcaster and psychologist Dr. Sian Williams for a conversation about journalism, resilience, and the deeply human side of news. From her early days in Liverpool newsrooms to becoming one of the youngest editors on Radio 4 and eventually a trauma psychologist, Sian shares stories of imposter syndrome, newsroom sexism, learning to run in flat shoes, and why being a good journalist starts with listening. She also discusses her shift into psychology, driven by witnessing the mental toll of trauma — both on those in front of the camera and those behi...
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Christa Ackroyd: Breaking glass ceilings, covering the Yorkshire Ripper and the power of regional TV
Saturday, 26 July 2025
From a decade of men-only bars and newsroom sexism, Christa Ackroyd fought her way to the front line of British journalism.In this episode, Dermot Murnaghan sits down with pioneering journalist and broadcaster Christa Ackroyd for a deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation about local journalism, resilience, and the role of women in news.Christa reflects on her trailblazing career in regional television, including two decades dominating the airwaves across Yorkshire on Calendar and Look North. She shares the emotional story of reporting the Yorkshire Ripper murders at just 19 years old,...
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Gavin Esler on 40 Years at the BBC: Clinton's Early Years, Newsnight and Meeting Dolly Parton
Friday, 18 July 2025
In this episode, Dermot Murnaghan sits down with journalist, author and broadcaster Gavin Esler for a wide-ranging conversation that spans Northern Ireland, the White House, and a memorable visit to Dolly Parton’s home. Gavin opens up about his early career during the Troubles, his run-ins with BBC bureaucracy, and the journalism that helped free innocent men wrongly imprisoned after IRA bombings. He reflects on his years in the United States reporting on Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, his time anchoring Newsnight during its heyday, and how both the media landscape and political accountabil...
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Nick Owen: Five decades in journalism, live television, and sport
Saturday, 12 July 2025
In this episode, Dermot Murnaghan talks to broadcaster Nick Owen about a career that began in local newspapers and led to national fame—culminating in his role at the heart of breakfast television during the 1980s. Nick shares how he helped rescue a failing TV-am, the unexpected promotion that made him front-page news, and what he learned working alongside Anne Diamond. He also speaks openly about his prostate cancer diagnosis, the surgery that followed, and why he’s now backing calls for a national screening programme. Nick also reveals: Why he nearly turned down TV-am—until a hotel TV in ...
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Anne Diamond OBE: Behind TV-am’s turnaround, ’80s tabloid frenzy and the campaign to save babies’ lives
Friday, 4 July 2025
In this episode, Dermot Murnaghan is joined by broadcasting legend Anne Diamond OBE, for a journey through journalism, personal loss, and untold wartime history. From turning around TV-am to uncovering her father’s secret role in inventing radar, Anne reflects on a career built on curiosity, compassion, and determination.She opens up about the behind-the-scenes battles at TV-am, being tabloid fodder in the '80s, and how tragedy spurred her to launch a public health campaign that saved tens of thousands of babies' lives.Anne also reveals:Why Dennis Healey stormed off live TV after challengin...
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Sir Trevor McDonald: From offending Thatcher to facing Saddam and fronting News at Ten
Friday, 27 June 2025
In this episode, Sir Trevor McDonald joins Dermot Murnaghan to reflect on a broadcasting career that spanned generations. From his early days in Trinidad to fronting News at Ten, he recalls the clashes and confidences that shaped a lifetime in journalism: arguing with Margaret Thatcher over Nelson Mandela, walking silently through Saddam Hussein’s palace, facing down George W. Bush in the Oval Office, and listening to the quiet wisdom of a newly freed Mandela.In this episode, Trevor explains:Why he once feared Thatcher would never speak to him againWhat happened when George W. Bush ended th...
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Jonathan Dimbleby: Millions tuned in midweek—and it mattered
Saturday, 21 June 2025
In this episode, Jonathan Dimbleby joins Dermot Murnaghan to reflect on a career defined by the power of serious journalism. From the golden age of current affairs television to the frontlines of forgotten conflicts, Dimbleby was there when journalism reached millions and meant something.He looks back on the moments that shaped him: the famine footage he had to smuggle out of Ethiopia, the quiet clarity of interviewing a reluctant Prince of Wales, and the long-form political encounters that held leaders to account before time limits and soundbites took over.In this episode, Jonathan explain...
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Joanna Gosling: When the headlines hit home and news gets personal
Friday, 13 June 2025
Joanna Gosling spent more than 30 years reporting the biggest stories of our time—but it was the quiet, human moments that finally got to her.In this episode, Joanna joins Dermot Murnaghan to reflect on the emotional toll of live news, the stories that stayed with her, and what it means when the person behind the headlines can no longer stay detached.From her first newsroom job with no experience to becoming one of the BBC’s most recognisable faces, Joanna shares how she built a career without shortcuts—and what finally made her walk away during the BBC’s painful news channel merger.In this...
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Natasha Kaplinsky: Working with Dermot was the best job I ever had—I'd do it all again
Friday, 6 June 2025
Natasha Kaplinsky started her media career in the typing pool, and became one of Britain’s most recognisable broadcasters. In this deeply personal and candid episode, Natasha sits down with Dermot Murnaghan to revisit the defining moments of her career.From her early work with a then-unknown Sacha Baron Cohen to her breakout role on BBC Breakfast, Natasha reveals how she built a career without industry connections—writing daily letters just to get her foot in the door. Natasha opens up about being told exactly when (and if) she could speak on air, why she was so reluctant to join Strictly C...
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Jonathan Charles: Dodging Bullets, Facing Putin, and Meeting Mandela
Wednesday, 28 May 2025
He’s faced down Russian special forces, slipped into Chechnya disguised as a refugee, and shared a room with Nelson Mandela just days after his release. From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the frontlines of Iraq, Jonathan Charles has seen history unfold—often from just feet away.In this gripping episode, the legendary foreign correspondent reveals:• The moment Putin emerged—and the chilling change it signalled• Why missing the fall of the Berlin Wall by hours still haunts him• What it’s really like to report in a firefight—and the moment he knew it was time to stop• How meeting Mandela over...
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John Sergeant: From War Zones to Westminster and waltzing on Strictly
Wednesday, 21 May 2025
John Sergeant has reported from 25 countries, covered the Vietnam War and The Troubles, served as the BBC’s Chief Political Correspondent for over a decade, and became ITV’s Political Editor before turning to documentaries and popular television. With bestselling books, acclaimed series like Britain’s Flying Past, and that unforgettable Strictly stint, his voice remains as distinctive—and entertaining—as ever.In this candid and often hilarious conversation, John reflects on: How he wanted to write jokes for a livingHis chaotic encounter with Margaret Thatcher moments before her resignationH...
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