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This article relates to the British radio DJ.

Steve Wright
Birth name	Stephen Richard Wright
Born	February 8, 1954 (age 52) Greenwich, London
Show	Steve Wright in the Afternoon - The Big Show
Station(s)	BBC Radio 2
Time slot	2:00 - 5:00 p.m. weekdays
Show 2	Sunday Love Songs
Time slot	9:00 - 11:00 a.m. Sundays
Style	Afternoon Show Host
Country	United Kingdom
Website	Steve Wright in the Afternoon

Stephen Richard Wright (born August 26, 1954 in Greenwich, London) is a radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom. He currently presents the afternoon show on BBC Radio 2. He rose to prominence in the early-1980s while working with Peter Dickson on BBC Radio 1.

Contents 1 Early career 2 Steve Wright in the Afternoon on BBC Radio 1 2.1 "Love the Show" 2.2 Characters and sketches 3 The Breakfast Show and beyond 4 Current work 5 Bibliography 6 See also

The son of a company director, Wright was educated at Eastwood High School, Essex. He started broadcasting in the 1970s on Reading's Radio 210 alongside Mike Read. In 1979 he joined Radio Luxembourg, and then BBC Radio 1 in 1980, presenting a Saturday Evening show, then presenting a Saturday morning show before moving on to present Steve Wright in the Afternoon from 1981.

In 1984, Wright also took over a Sunday morning show entitled Steve Wright on Sunday, which meant he presented weekday afternoons Mondays–Thursdays only, with Mark Page and Paul Jordan presenting Friday afternoon's show. In 1986 his Sunday Morning show ended and he returned to five afternoons a week.

His afternoon show had a "zoo" format, with spoof guests, comedy sketches, a "posse" of producers and radio staff who would join in with the DJ links and whoop and cheer every minor announcement. The show became best known for its cast of telephone characters which were created and performed by Gavin McCoy, Peter Dickson, Richard Easter and Phil Cornwell. The show went out of its way to be irreverent, including regular stories taken from the Weekly World News. The success of the show even led to a hit single, "I'll Be Back", released under the name "Arnee & The Terminators.

A key feature of Wright's radio shows are letters from his listeners. Almost all of them feature the phrase "Love the show". It is not clear whether the listeners include it to ensure that Wright will read the letters, or if he adds it himself. Wright's initials have been adapted into the expression "SWs to you", an abbreviation used by correspondents of fellow Radio 2 presenter Sarah Kennedy. It means "Love the show", after the oft-quoted phrase.

Some of the characters and sketches created for the show included:

• Mr Angry: usually to be heard ranting down the phone line, ending with "...it makes me so angry... I could throw the phone down!" followed by the sound of the receiver crashing to the floor.
• Diamond Geezer: supposed DJ/mixer, and voice for the track "Mr Spoon"
• The "Down-the-Pan" Daleks: two 'retired' Daleks in improbable domestic situations
• 'Easy Life'
• Dr Fish-Filleter: source of much innuendo about fishy fingers, etc.
• Edward the Garrulous Fencing Champion: his catchphrase is "I epee you"
• Mr Food
• Gervais the Hairdresser
• Hopeless the Weather Girl: a parody of the brand of 'bimbo'-esque weather girls seen on British television in the late 1980s.
• 'Mick and Keef': not the real Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, but impersonations...
• Linda Lust: her catchphrase is "Spatula", said in a sultry, sensual voice.
• Llama Man
• Mr Mad: his catchphrase is "Ravin' mad, pal!"
• Mr Paranoid
• Pretentious Music Journalist: supposedly based on a number of 1980s rock/pop reviewers, he reads a little too much into a band's songs with over-complex and artistically pretentious monologues where a simple explanation would suffice, e.g., "They generate a sonic cathedral of sound" means "loud".
• Sid the Manager: supposedly Steve Wright's agent, a genial but often confused old duffer
• Voiceover Man
• The Perv: often heard tapping at the studio window calling "Yoohoo! Hello Stevie! I'm in the corridor..." and describing his startling attire at the time.

Wright moved to the Breakfast Show in 1994, but resigned in 1995 due to differences with the Radio 1 management after the station was restructured by new controller Matthew Bannister, which led to many of the more established DJs leaving, or being sacked, around this time. He was picked up by the new commercial station Talk Radio, where he presented a Saturday morning show, but returned to the BBC in 1996, when he joined BBC Radio 2, presenting Steve Wright's Saturday Show Saturdays 10am–1pm and Steve Wright's Sunday Love Songs Sundays 9–11am. In 1999, Steve took over Radio 2's Weekday afternoon show (from Ed Stewart) and he is also the voice of the retro pop show on BBC television, Top of the Pops 2.

Wright can currently be heard on Radio 2 every weekday afternoon in Steve Wright in the Afternoon from 2pm until 5pm, and on Sunday mornings 9–11am presenting Sunday Love Songs. Current features include:

• "Ask Elvis": an Elvis impersonator answers questions from listeners, particularly those of a scientific or technical nature, which the real Elvis would have been unlikely to know.
• "Factoids": snippits of bizarre trivia.
• "The Big Quiz": a general knowledge quiz in which a challenger takes on the current champion (referred to as the 'champio' or 'champnio') in order to win prizes. Each contestant has a time limit to answer questions, following which the round ends following the first incorrect answer from that contestant.
• Celebrity interviews (two in each programme)

Wright is regularly joined by sidekicks Tim Smith and Janey Lee Grace (both radio DJs in their own right, and often heard as solo holiday relief presenters on Radio 2), plus traffic reporter Sally Boazman (whom Wright calls 'Sally Traffic') and the Old Woman. Her identity has never been revealed, though it is apparent that she is genuinely a senior citizen and not a younger actress (despite her apparent vocal similarity to the actress Wendy Richard). It has been rumoured that she is actress Edna Doré.

• Steve Wright Steve Wright's Book of Factoids , HarperCollins Publishers (UK), (2005) ISBN 0-00-720660-7

• BBC Radio 2: Steve Wright in the Afternoon
• Radio Rewind: Steve Wright - profile, pics and audio clips
• 'Sid the Manager' site
• 'Janey Lee Grace' site

Preceded by Mark Goodier

BBC Radio One Breakfast Show Presenter 1994-1995

Succeeded by Chris Evans