BBC Radio 3’s Sean Rafferty ‘shell-shocked’ at being replaced after 27 years
Sean Rafferty told The Telegraph: 'It would have been nice to go on my terms and for it to have been done with a little more respect' - Pete Dadds/BBC
One of BBC Radio 3’s longest-serving presenters was left “shell-shocked” at the news he was being replaced as the host of In Tune.
Sean Rafferty, who has presented the flagship programme for 27 years, was summoned to a meeting with the station controller and told that he was losing his job.
The news was delivered by Sam Jackson, the former Classic FM boss who was brought in last year as the head of Radio 3.
In a press release this week, the BBC announced that it was bidding “a fond farewell” to Rafferty. His show will be taken over by Petroc Trelawny, currently the voice of Radio 3’s breakfast show, who will host alongside Katie Derham.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Rafferty, 77, said: “It would have been nice to go on my terms and for it to have been done with a little more respect.”
Rafferty said that he learned of his departure several weeks ago when called to a meeting with the controller. “The suggestion came from the new boss at the helm, Sam Jackson,” he said.
“I did feel slightly shell-shocked. I think I just gaped like a fish - have I misheard this? Then his number two was there and said, ‘We’d love you to stay on the radio, on Sundays’.” He turned down the offer.
‘I thought it was blossoming nicely’
While he had contemplated retiring in the next few years, Rafferty said that “there’s nothing like a slight nudge to concentrate the mind.
“I wanted to carry on for maybe a year or two - not years. I’m getting on, for God’s sake, I’m 77. But I’m really enjoying it, it’s going well, we have a good team and people like coming in. I thought it was blossoming nicely.”
The BBC said in its announcement that Rafferty would leave in 2025, but he does not know if he will stay that long. “My contract is technically until the end of March. Whether I can summon the emotional commitment, I’m not sure.
“I really don’t know. It’s quite hard when the decisions have been taken and you don’t necessarily feel supported. It happens everywhere - people get a rather short, sharp shock.”
Rafferty says station controller Sam Jackson previously told him: 'It's all going well, I love what you're doing' - Carsten Windhorst
Rafferty suggested there is a discrepancy between the BBC’s public statements and the way it treats staff. “You look at all the things they say, they talk about respect for everybody,” he said.
Asked if he felt that ageism was behind the decision, Rafferty said: “I don’t know. I didn’t ask. I was too shocked.”
The surprise of being told his services were no longer required was partly due to the fact that Mr Jackson had previously told him he was doing a great job. “I had a meeting with him when he came in. He said, ‘It’s all going well, I love what you’re doing.’
“I thought he seemed great, very open, someone who knows about radio… So I’m not being sour grapes about it, I’m just a bit puzzled.”
In the official BBC release, Rafferty was quoted as saying: “I shall miss the truly remarkable and life-enhancing musicians, many coming to the studio ever since they began their careers: a joy. And to be able to share it all with the listeners at home: a privilege. They’ve been like family.”
Rafferty says now: “I told them, ‘I’m very happy to say I shall miss everybody, but I’m not going to say it was my decision because it wasn’t.’”
He has no hard feelings towards Trelawny, who is moving from the breakfast show, or Derham. “Absolutely not. They’re great. Petroc’s been doing breakfast for a long time, God knows he’s done the early mornings.”
‘Sad to say goodbye’
Belfast-born Rafferty was a presenter for BBC Northern Ireland before joining Radio 3.
“Seeing the young musicians coming in has been the really exciting thing. I remember Benjamin Grosvenor coming in to play the piano and his feet hardly touching the pedals, and he went on to become this huge star.
“The studio engineers, the orchestras - it’s really wondrous. All the people I work with are great,” he said.
Rafferty said he had built up a relationship with his listeners over the years and was sad to say goodbye.
“I was at Grange Park last night and people I had never seen before in my life were saying they were really sorry to hear the news, and that In Tune has been part of their life for the past 20 or so years.”
On his post-BBC plans, he joked: “I live mostly in London but I have a tiny bolthole in Donegal, so I might go there and learn how to grow veg.”
The BBC did not dispute that it had chosen to replace Rafferty on In Tune. A spokesperson said: “Sean was offered a new weekly programme as well as presenting opportunities on Radio 3. Unfortunately, Sean made the decision that he would rather leave the BBC, which we all respect.”
In its statement announcing the Radio 3 changes, Mr Jackson said: “After over 50 years of broadcasting, nearly three decades of which have been on BBC Radio 3, Sean Rafferty’s impact has been immeasurable - and we all wish him the very best for the future.”
Rafferty is not the first presenter to feel let down by the manner of their departure from BBC radio.
The Rev Richard Roles said last year that he felt “hurtled towards the exit” when the corporation decided to relocate his Radio 4 Saturday Live programme from London to Cardiff.
He chose to step down rather than make the move, but the BBC slipped out the news in a press release only five days before his final show. “Working for an organisation like the BBC, you devote your energies to it and yet they perhaps don’t always respond with similar devotion,” Coles said.
Tom McKinney will fill Trelawny’s place on the breakfast show, which will broadcast next year from new studios in Salford as part of the BBC’s “Across the UK” plan to become less London-centric.
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