For the past 16 years, Graham Liver has been the voice many Lancastrians wake up to. The BBC Radio Lancashire breakfast presenter tells us about life behind the microphone and his most unforgettable moments on air
For thousands of people across Lancashire, the day begins with Graham Liver. Whether he’s holding politicians to account, or taking part in some wacky challenge with producer Leanne Bayes, the BBC Radio Lancashire breakfast presenter has become one of the county’s most familiar voices.
It’s a role he’s made his own over the years, one he says has shaped him just as much as he’s shaped it. ‘I’ve grown up on air really,’ he says. ‘When I started, I was probably a bit cockier, but things happen in life. I’d say I’ve matured as a broadcaster over the years.’
Born and bred in Lancaster, Graham always knew he wanted to work in broadcasting, although he didn’t think it would be in radio. While studying for his A-levels, he did work experience at Red Rose Radio and The Bay in Lancaster and planned to study television production at the University of Salford. But after sending demo tapes to radio stations across the North, he was offered a three-month contract at BBC Radio Cumbria.
‘I joined Radio Cumbria when I was 18 and stayed there for four fantastic years covering sport,’ he says. ‘Then the opportunity came up to commentate on Blackburn Rovers for BBC Radio Lancashire. As a massive Rovers fan, that was brilliant.’
From there, he worked across almost every programme on the station before being offered the breakfast show 16 years ago. Today, he’s officially the longest-serving breakfast presenter across the BBC’s local radio network – an achievement he’s immensely proud of, but one he’s wary of mentioning too often. ‘Someone will say, “He’s been on it far too long!”’ he laughs.
The breakfast show might have Graham’s name on it, but producer Leanne is just as much a part of listeners’ morning routine as he is. Listening to the two of them on air can feel like you’re eavesdropping on a conversation between two old friends – probably because they are. Their easy banter is one of the hallmarks of the programme. ‘What you hear on air is genuine,’ Graham says. ‘You can’t fake it on the radio, especially the sort of radio we do. If you try, people will find you out very quickly.’
Over the years Graham and Leanne have thrown themselves into some wonderfully daft adventures like cleaning the outside windows at the top of Blackpool Tower dangling from a rope and sampling a pungent durian fruit live on air, much to the amusement of listeners. But behind the laughs, Graham says Leanne is the steady hand who helps keep the programme on track, particularly when breaking news turns a carefully planned programme on its head. ‘We have a really good laugh, but there’s a huge amount of trust as well. If something major happens, I know Leanne will get me the right guest while I keep the programme going.’
That ability to switch between serious journalism and moments of pure silliness has become their show’s greatest strengths, helping to make it one of the biggest breakfast programmes across the BBC Local Radio network in terms of listening figures, outperforming many larger city stations, and earning them four consecutive radio industry award nominations and a silver award along the way.
‘It’s all about tone,’ he says. ‘People know they’re going to get the news, but they’ll get it our way. They’ll hear serious interviews, but they’ll also have a laugh with us.’
Graham is as happy to laugh at himself as he is with his listeners. One of the show’s most popular social media clips was of him falling off his chair. ‘We spend hours putting together these clever social media videos. Who knew me falling off a chair would go absolutely crazy.’
Some of his most memorable moments have come during extraordinary circumstances. He still remembers his first breakfast programme, when heavy snowfall meant reading endless lists of school closures, but nothing compares to broadcasting through the pandemic.
‘For many listeners we became companionship,’ he says. ‘Some people weren’t leaving the house. We wanted to give them the information they needed but also make them smile during a really difficult time.’
Listeners have also followed Graham through milestones in his own life. When he married his husband, Dave, in 2022 at Lytham Hall the station was inundated with messages of congratulations.
Even now, four years on, you can tell it meant a lot to him. ‘It was lovely,’ he says. ‘For some people I might have been the only gay person they actually knew. When people know someone, perceptions can change, and the warmth we received from listeners meant an awful lot.’
While interviewing then Prime Minister Liz Truss about the possibility of fracking returning to Lancashire became one of the biggest moments of his career, with clips viewed millions of times online, Graham says local stories are often the ones that stay with him longest.
One such story involved Roy and Brenda from Knott End, who contacted the breakfast show after finding themselves trapped inside their own home by an aggressive seagull protecting its chicks. ‘At first it sounded funny,’ Graham recalls. ‘But Roy was genuinely upset because his wife couldn’t get to a hospital appointment.’
Rather than simply discussing it on air, Graham and his colleagues turned up wearing hard hats and carrying a BBC Radio Lancashire gazebo, creating a makeshift shield so the couple could safely reach their car. The bizarre rescue made headlines across the country. ‘That’s the relationship we have with our listeners,’ Graham says. ‘If somebody needs help, we’ll do what we can.’
As you can expect, the day starts considerably earlier for Graham than it does for most people. His alarm sounds at 4am and he collects his regular McDonald’s coffee on the way into the studio in Blackburn. He and Leanne both arrive in the studio about 5am, and to begin with the conversation is limited. ‘For the first 20 minutes or so we just sort of grunt at each other while we wake up,’ he laughs.
When the show finishes at 10am, Graham often heads out across Lancashire to record interviews before returning home to Penwortham, where he enjoys walking his rescue staffie Billy and shih tzu Max along the River Ribble or making a trip back to Lancaster and Morecambe to visit family. Weekends are usually reserved for watching his beloved Blackburn Rovers.
This summer he swapped the radio studio for the stage when he performed a DJ set at Lytham Festival. Plans are being discussed for the next BBC Children in Need challenge and even cycling parts of the Tour de France route ahead of the race’s arrival in Lancashire next year.
With so many ways to consume news and entertainment these days, Graham says local radio still gives Lancashire people something they can’t find elsewhere – a sense of belonging. ‘People can get information from anywhere now, but they want to know it’s coming from a trusted source. More than that, they want to feel part of something. That’s what local radio does. It reflects the people and places that matter to them.’
After 16 years of waking Lancashire up each morning, Graham still considers it a privilege to be part of people’s daily lives. He is fiercely proud of the county he grew up in and has spent his career broadcasting to. ‘What we have, other stations could only dream of,’ he says. ‘The warmth, the humour and the kindness of Lancashire people. They’re the reason the show works.’ .
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