Murray Walker
Kirsty Young talks to motor racing commentator Murray Walker.
Desert Island Discs · BBC Radio 4
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Show Notes
Kirsty Young's castaway is the broadcaster Murray Walker
His commentating career began in 1948 and he finally hung the lip mic at the end of 2001. His trousers-on-fire style of delivery brought excitement, emotion and fanatical obsession to Formula 1 - for many motor racing fans he was motorsport.
He was a petrol-head before the term had even been coined; his father, one of the top motorbike racing champions of his day, ignited his son's life-long love of big noisy engines.
He's talked British fans through so many of the sport's greatest victories - Damon Hill crossing the finish line to win the World Title brought an audible lump to his throat. But also, inevitably, there have been great tragedies too - his live commentary on Ayrton Senna's fatal crash in 1994 was possibly his most professionally demanding.
He says, "I have always believed that Formula One, with its highs and lows, is the ultimate distillation of life."
Producer: Cathy Drysdale.