James Whale obituary: James Whale: Broadcasting 'motor mouth' who entertained and offended in equal measure

BBC News

a day ago

Broadcaster and radio personality James Whale has died aged 74 following a cancer diagnosis, his agent confirmed on Monday.His career spanned six decades, including stints on the BBC airwaves as well as stations such as LBC and TalkSport.Whale's TalkTV colleague and friend Mike Graham read an obituary on air and paid tribute to Whale, who had stage four kidney cancer.Known for being outspoken and often controversial, more recently Whale went on to front his own podcast and night-time weekly radio show on TalkRadio.
Whale was first diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2000 and then, in 2020, he revealed it had returned.In recent months, Whale had documented his deteriorating health on social media, his Talk TV programme and his podcast Tales of the Whales.He first gained prominence in the 1980s as the host of The James Whale Radio Show on Radio Aire in Leeds, before hosting a night-time radio show on TalkSport in the late mid-late 90s.When TV stations first started airing programmes after midnight in the late 1980s, one presenter seized the opportunity to gain fame - and infamy - with a type of live late-night show that hadn't been seen on British screens before.On the James Whale Radio Show, the presenter was a cross between a shock jock, talk show host, gonzo roving reporter and working men's club MC.Launched in 1988, Whale's live, often chaotic programme was like a daytime TV format gone rogue: one which had lost its inhibitions and any qualms about upholding the usual standards of taste and decency. Some said it had completely lost its morals. But many viewers loved it.Whale took calls from - and unceremoniously cut off - callers. He sparred with celebrities and expert guests, dallied with scantily-clad "bimbos", and offered combative, sardonic or flippant takes on topical issues, from immigration to teenage gambling to sex therapy.In short, it entertained and offended in equal measure.The James Whale Radio Show had "Radio" in its title because it went out live from Leeds on both Radio Aire and ITV simultaneously at 1am on a Friday night, as people sat at home after coming back from the pub.
'Mighty Mouth'
At first, it only went out in Yorkshire and the north-west, but was soon picked up elsewhere as ratings went up and other ITV regional counterparts floundered.When it arrived on London Weekend Television in April 1989, the press started to take notice.A review in The Stage newspaper noted how "Mighty Mouth" Whale had taken a "critical hammering" since transferring across the ITV network.But it added that, because it was broadcast so long after any family audience had gone to bed, it was pointless to complain about the show's "crudities, ruderies, or the occasional swear word".In fact, the reviewer found Whale "the liveliest natural new personality to turn up on TV for ages", saying he possessed "a surfeit of punch and charisma".
The smooth-voiced Whale, from Surrey, had been presenting on Radio Aire since 1982, after cutting his teeth on stations in Middlesbrough, Derby and Newcastle.On Newcastle's Metro Radio from 1973-80, he set the template for phone-ins that gave callers short shrift. Before that, Whale's first proper job in broadcasting had been to found a radio station inside Top Shop at London's Oxford Circus in 1970 - the country's first in-store station.The 70s and 80s were the ages of larger-than-life radio DJs, and Whale's stint at Radio Aire saw him named local DJ of the year at the Sony Radio Awards in 1988. Moving to the small screen that year, he gained a national reputation, for better or for worse.
'Filth and degradation'
As one sketch duo who appeared on The James Whale Radio Show half-joked, the programme was known for its "controversy, filth and degradation - and that's just behind the scenes".It featured regular appearances from comics like Bernard Manning, Steve Coogan and Charlie Chuck, while Whale threw singers Wayne Hussey and Lemmy off for turning up drunk.The host even stormed off his own show once, frustrated with things going wrong behind the scenes. But he also revelled in the chaos, and (usually) steered the show through it with some aplomb.The James Whale Radio Show lasted until 1992, with the host keeping much of its flavour for another late-night format, Whale On, from 1993 to 1995.But it was up against other, hipper shows like The Word, and a balding, middle-aged, middle-class man being risqué suddenly seemed less cutting-edge.
In 1995, Whale went back to radio with an opinionated late-night phone-in on Talk Radio. He hit the headlines two years later when it was revealed that a female listener who appeared on air to invite him to "pop round for a coffee" was in fact his lover. Whale's wife of almost 30 years, Melinda, stuck with him.The presenter was one of the few non-sport presenters to survive when the station rebranded as TalkSport in 2000, but was sacked eight years later after calling on his listeners to vote for Boris Johnson in the London mayoral election. Regulator Ofcom ruled it was a serious breach of impartiality rules, and fined the station £20,000.Whale pitched for a job with Johnson, saying: "Ken Livingstone had 70 media advisers. Boris Johnson only needs me. I'm ideal. I know what the ordinary man or woman on the street thinks."The future prime minister didn't take him up on the offer. Having hosted an afternoon weekend show at LBC in the 90s, Whale returned to the station as drivetime host the same year (despite having called the station's programme director a "pillock prize-prat and a half" not long before).
'Hedonistic years'
Also in 2000, Whale was first diagnosed with cancer when a large tumour (he said it was "the size of a football") was found in his kidney.The kidney and tumour were successfully removed. For the next few years, he and Melinda decided to live life to the full."Those were my hedonistic years - I ate as much steak as I wanted and drank copious amounts of wine," he said. "Every weekend, we flew off to a destination we'd never seen. We ran up huge bills. I didn't care."He also wanted to raise awareness about the disease, so set up the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer in 2006. It merged with Kidney Cancer UK nine years later.
Whale stayed at LBC for five years before hosting the BBC Essex breakfast show for three and launching an online version of The James Whale Radio Show. In 2016, he took part in the 18th series of Celebrity Big Brother - becoming the sixth housemate to be voted out.Three months later, he went back to TalkRadio, but was suspended in 2018 after an interview with author and journalist Nichi Hodgson about her being raped.In a video clip, the presenter could be seen mouthing the words "orally raped", shaking his head and laughing when Ms Hodgson gave details about what had happened to her.
"What began as a typically strident exchange between me and a journalist known for his belligerent presenting style became a merciless exercise in how not to interview someone who has experienced a sexual assault," Ms Hodgson wrote in The Guardian.TalkRadio admitted the interview "completely lacked sensitivity", but Whale eventually kept his job.In 2018, his wife Melinda died of lung cancer. Two years later, he was forced to take a break from broadcasting because his disease had spread to his remaining kidney, spine, brain and lungs.He recovered enough to walk down the aisle with Nadine Lamont-Brown in 2021. They had got chatting in their local pub in Kent when they found out their spouses were both being treated by the same doctor.In 2024, Whale was awarded an MBE for his services to broadcasting and charity, and he continued hosting a weekly radio and TV show on Talk.He lost none of his fiery opinions or ability to outrage, causing controversy by saying the "Navy should be out there pointing weaponry" at migrants in small boats, and clashing with pro-Palestinian guests over the Israel-Gaza conflict.He carried out his final interview, with his "good friend and political hero", Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, in his garden in mid-July.Whale also wrote a weekly column for the Daily Express, which on 27 July included a series of tributes from friends and former colleagues.Dragon's Den businessman Theo Paphitis hailed his charity work for Kidney Cancer UK, adding: "They broke the mould when they made James, and there's a good reason that he has lasted decades as a broadcaster on the airwaves."Actor Shane Richie said: "Love him or loathe him there's been no denying that the Whale was and will always be regarded as a one-off unique broadcaster."In the eighties, James moved the goalposts when it came to live TV... his late-night Friday talk show was the stuff of legend and is still regarded as a show that moved the parameters of British television."Broadcaster Eamonn Holmes said: "He made direct speech entertaining. With that he was ahead of his time. I'm just sorry he hasn't had more time."Whale kept broadcasting for as long as he could as the cancer tightened its grip."I've spent much of my professional life winding people up about their stupidity, taking the wind out of their sails, and I can't tell you how much I'm going to miss that," he wrote in one of his last weekly columns for the Daily Express. "It wasn't always presidents and prime ministers and celebrities and leaders of industry – though they often got their comeuppances – sometimes, it was just normal folk who needed taking down a peg or two."But boy have I had some fun, and hopefully created some entertaining, engaging radio that has made people think a bit harder."