Garry Richardson has brought the curtain down on 50 years of reporting for the BBC by saying: “It’s been wonderful and I’ve been very lucky.”
Richardson, 68, presented the sports bulletin on Radio Four’s Today programme for the final time on Monday morning.
He finished on a high, 50 years to the day since he began his BBC career, with interviews with former England manager Kevin Keegan and two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.
“You need to work harder on getting guests, Garry,” quipped host Nick Robinson. “Maybe we’ll give you another 47 years.”
Richardson has interviewed some of the biggest names in the worlds of sport, showbiz and politics, from Bill Clinton and Muhammad Ali to Nelson Mandela and Pele.
The BBC played a montage of his highlights, including “the biggest moment of my career”, interviewing former US president Clinton live on Centre Court at Wimbledon during a rain break.
The clips included coaxing horse racing tips from prime minister David Cameron and introducing Serena and Venus Williams to singer Dionne Warwick.
There was also audio of a young, intrepid Richardson climbing a 600-foot chimney without a harness for BBC Radio Oxford, complete with an Alan Partridge-esque exclamation of “I’m very frightened indeed at the moment”!
In his final interviews for the show, Keegan admitted that he found being England manager “soul-destroying” and the recently-retired Murray revealed he would not play any exhibition matches as he “couldn’t think of anything worse”.
The Murray interview began with Richardson’s typical light-touch opening line of questioning: “What’s the best thing about being a tennis player?”
As he said goodbye, Richardson thanked all the producers, correspondents and colleagues he worked with dating back to Brian Redhead, the Today presenter when he joined the show in 1981.
“Most of all, thanks to the listeners,” he added, before joking: “I can come back tomorrow.”