Johnners' It's Been A Lot Of Fun

Brian Johnston

Nov 2010 · BBC Digital Audio · Narrated by Brian Johnston

About this audiobook

When Brian Johnston died in 1994 at the age of 81, the Daily Telegraph described him as ‘the greatest natural broadcaster of them all’. In this delightful reading from his autobiography 'It’s Been a Lot of Fun', Brian recalls his schooldays at Eton and Oxford, his early career in the family coffee business in the City, Hamburg and Brazil, and his service as a Technical Adjutant in the Grenadier Guards during World War II. In January 1946 Brian joined the BBC Outside Broadcasts Department. For the next 48 years he presented hundreds of programmes on radio and television, from 'Let’s Go Somewhere' to royal weddings and 'Down Your Way', but he was probably best known as a cricket commentator and he became a national institution on 'Test Match Special'. Recorded in 1990 when he was 77, Brian tells some of his favourite stories and gaffes in this cheerful look back at a unique career behind the microphone, a life full of lucky breaks and private disappointments, but always a lot of fun.

About the author

Brian Johnston was born in 1912. He joined the BBC's Outside Broadcasts Department immediately after the war and worked first on live radio broadcasts from theatres and music-halls all over Great Britain. He was one of the first broadcasters to work for both television and radio and began his long association with cricket commentary in the summer of 1946. Between 1948 and 1952 he also presented the live feature 'Let's Go Somewhere' for the popular Saturday night programme In Town Tonight. He became the BBC's first Cricket Correspondent in 1963 and held this post until his retirement in 1972, after which he continued as a regular member of the Test Match Special team. He took over presenting Down Your Way from Franklin Engelmann in 1972 and continued for fifteen years. He published two autobiographies and fourteen other books, including Now Here's a Funny Thing, It's Been a Piece of Cake and Someone Who Was. He died in January 1994.