My Greatest Mistake: Sue MacGregor Former presenter of 'Today' on Radio 4
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Your support makes all the difference.We've all made ghastly mistakes on live broadcasts, such as confusing the identity of speakers or getting their area of expertise wrong. Once, on the Today programme, I asked a non-English-speaking Russian man about wisdom teeth, thinking he was president of the British Dental Association. It's too long a story to explain here. And, of course, every political interview leaves one kicking oneself for missing out some killer question. But I think the mistake that still rankles in a curious way is the time I failed to report on the Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe's first wedding.
In 1968, I was a reporter on The World at One and was sent with a portable recorder to cover Thorpe's wedding at Lambeth Palace. I was required to send the taped report back to Broadcasting House via what we called the Hole in the Wall - a tiny, unmanned studio somewhere off College Green, close to the Houses of Parliament, a makeshift place often used for political interviews. It would be a close-run thing, but we reckoned I could just about get a package back in time for the lunchtime deadline.
I got the right wedding noises, did a wrap-around commentary and rushed off to the tiny local studio. Panic! I couldn't find it anywhere. Of course, no passing pedestrian knew where it was, and I had no means of getting hold of HQ quickly to warn the main studio (this was long before mobile phones) of my predicament. They had held open a special space at the end of the programme for this mini-scoop. I failed them lamentably, and slunk late back to the office, carrying my now-useless account of Thorpe's recent nuptials.
The Hole in the Wall is still there, for all I know, but to me its whereabouts are forever wrapped in mystery tinged with deep shame.
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