Chancellor Nigel Lawson accused him, during a live interview in 1988, of having been a Labour voter all his life. Criticism was particularly directed against Redhead, who was often seen as being on the left. Ministers thus became keen to go on the programme, but the tough, confrontational interviewing they encountered led to accusations that the BBC was biased. Peter Hobday, who had first broadcast on the programme in the 1950s, was a regular presenter from the early 1980s and a favourite with listeners because of his relaxed, urbane style.īy this time the programme was benefiting from publicity gained after it became known that Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was a regular listener. John Humphrys and Sue MacGregor joined the rotating list of presenters in 1986. Other presenters during this period included Libby Purves in the late 1970s. Brian Redhead was quoted, 'If you want to drop a word in the ear of the nation, then this is the programme in which to do it.' This pairing lasted until Timpson's retirement in 1986. The on-air humour of the two presenters and the split of locations made the programme very popular and influential. The objective was to make it more of a balanced, national programme. Presentation was split for a time between London, usually by John Timpson, and from Manchester, usually by Brian Redhead.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, under editors Ken Goudie and Julian Holland, Today made moves to broaden its appeal away from broadcasting a lot of national politics with London-centric bias. Timpson had been critical of the content, style and professionalism of Today-describing it once as 'not so much a programme, more a way of telling the time' and being filled with 'eccentric octogenarians, prize pumpkins, and folk who ate lightbulbs and spiders'. De Manio left in 1971, and in the late 1970s the team of John Timpson and Brian Redhead became established. In 1970 the programme format was changed so that there were two presenters each day.

He was held in affection by listeners, but became notorious for on-air gaffes (announcing a documentary on Nigeria titled 'The Land of Niger' as 'The Land of Nigger', and referring to Yoko Ono as 'Yoko Hama, or whatever her name is', for instance). Jack de Manio became its principal presenter in 1958. From July 1978, Today returned to its previous length and Up to the Hour was dropped. It also provoked comments in the diary columns of the daily newspapers. The new format was unpopular with BBC staff, including Peter Donaldson who on at least one occasion openly ridiculed the programme on air. In May 1977, Radio 4 controller Ian McIntyre cut it to two 25-minute parts, filling the gap with Up to the Hour. The two editions also became longer, and by the end of the 1960s it had become a single programme two hours in length that enveloped the news bulletins and the religious talk that had become Thought for the Day in 1970. It became part of the BBC's Current Affairs department in 1963, and started to become more news-orientated. It was initially broadcast as two 20-minute editions slotted in around the existing news bulletins and religious and musical items. Benzie gave the programme its name, and served as its first de facto editor.

The programme's founders were Isa Benzie and Janet Quigley. Today was launched on the BBC's Home Service on 28 October 1957 as a programme of 'topical talks' to give listeners an alternative to listening to light music.

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