Hospital Radio Hillingdon has made the bold leap from broadcasting to patients inside Hillingdon Hospital and listeners online to appearing on the TV screens of audiences nationwide this week. The station, its studios and four volunteers were all filmed as part of the latest episode of the BBC institution, Points Of View.
Airing on the 26th May 2019, this edition of the weekly programme saw Hospital Radio Hillingdon presenters George Reed, Mhairi Irvine, Phil Lee and Dr Savi Aurora all tasked with watching and reviewing the brand new Saturday night BBC One game show, The Hit List. Hosted by music power couple Rochelle and Marvin Humes, contestants of The Hit List are tasked with guessing the name of a song and the artist behind it just by listening to a short sample. Due to the nature of this Game Show, BBCs Points Of View wanted the thoughts and reviews of four diverse radio presenters. And being keen music fans and aficionados themselves, these volunteers certainly had opinions!
Mhairi Irvine, a presenter at Hospital Radio Hillingdon for 13 years, took part in the shoot and found the whole experience “So much fun!”. As well as filming their reviews to camera, all four were captured carrying out tasks around the station, studios and library.
PR and Communications Manager for the station, George Reed, said “This was an exciting opportunity for our radio station to reach an audience of millions on one of the biggest broadcasters in the UK. Points Of View has been a staple of the BBC schedule since 1961 and we were super keen to use it as a platform to showcase the amazing work of our Volunteers, as well as letting them voice their opinion on the brand new BBC show, The Hit List.
More used to being a voice on the radio, all our featured presenters were naturals in front of the camera and we are really pleased with the final result.
This project saw the station work very closely with the team from the BBC, and they hope this could be the start of other fantastic ventures. A lot of time and effort was put into organising this shoot, and special thanks must be given to the presenters featured, the volunteers who helped chaperone and accommodate the BBC around premises and the Hillingdon Hospital Trust for aiding as well.”
This episode (Episode 5 of the 2019 series) of Points Of View will be broadcast on Sunday 26th May on BBC One at 13.55. After it has aired, it can also be watched on demand via the BBC IPlayer service (bbc.co.uk/iplayer).
Hospital Radio Hillingdon was founded during the Christmas period of 1970, and now boasts around 50 volunteers, ranging from presenters and fundraisers to engineers and request collectors. Hospital Radio Hillingdon is located in the Hillingdon Hospital, and can be listened to 24 hours a day inside the Hospital via the Hospedia bedside units (Channel 45), on the Tune In App via a smart speaker (Say “Play Radio Hillingdon) as well as online at radiohillingdon.com