Radio Review

There was no chance of missing yesterday's festivities for John Betjeman's centenary. Radio 4 served up a medley of poetry readings, portraits, even a play inspired by a woman in one of his poems. Bank holiday Betjemania.

The Archive Hour: Betjeman the Broadcaster was, to put it charitably, a pot pourri of pieces from his 50 years in broadcasting - plenty of poetry, of course. The hour passed pleasantly enough, but only the end, a passage from his husky-voiced final interview, was truly absorbing. Did he fear dying? Not as much as he once had. Any regrets? Not enough sex. The interviewer thought that was a joke, but why? Isn't that everyone's regret?

Presenter Miles Kington described Betjeman as "everyone's favorite uncle" and "a national teddy bear", which isn't just banal but wrong, as A N Wilson's Doubts and Demons: The Inner John Betjeman showed: troubled childhood, uncertain Anglicanism, marriage punctuated by rows. His great love, it transpired, was watching Coronation Street. Or was that an affectation?