Politicians will be heading to Swanage in Dorset to be quizzed live on BBC Radio 4 by a local audience for the news show Any Questions?
Swanage’s arts hub The Mowlem is to host the radio programme on Friday 8th March 2024 and free tickets are available to the general public via its website.
As a BBC political correspondent, Alex Forsyth has made regular appearances on BBC Two’s Politics Live, Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour, The World Tonight and the Brexitcast and Newscast podcasts, as well as now presenting Any Questions?
Presented by BBC political correspondent Alex Forsyth
Any Questions?, which was first broadcast in 1948, is now presented by BBC political correspondent Alex Forsyth and usually has a panel of four political guests with a connection to the region.
The audience submits questions on the day of the broadcast and these are then sifted by the producer who selects ten questions across a range of subjects. Normally, four to six of them are included in the actual broadcast.
One of the rules of Any Questions? is that the panel never sees the questions in advance; the panellists hear them for the first time at the same moment as the audience.
While the tickets are free, there’s a limit of four per person. Doors open at 6.30 pm with the live programme starting at 8 pm. It’s then repeated on Saturday lunchtimes at 1.10 pm.
The programme travels throughout the UK, and occasionally to Europe, at the invitation of local organisations.
Doors at The Mowlem on Shore Road will open from 6.30 pm for the live broadcast starting at 8 pm
A real coup for The Mowlem
The programme has had six presenters in its history. Freddie Grisewood was the first, steering the programme until December 1967 when David Jacobs took over, chairing it until July 1983. John Timpson was the next presenter until July 1987, after which Jonathan Dimbleby chaired it until June 2019.
Chris Mason took over as presenter in October 2019, leaving the programme in June 2022 following his appointment as BBC Political Editor. This led to the appointment of Alex Forsyth as its new permanent presenter.
With a growing programme of music, comedy, films and arts performances, it’s a real coup for The Mowlem to be chosen to host such a high profile radio programme.
It has around 1.59 million people currently listening to the programme each week, the majority of them hearing the Saturday lunchtime repeat. It’s also available on the BBC Sounds app.
Further information
- Book tickets for the Any Questions? recording via The Mowlem website
- More about Any Questions?
