THE ODD COUPLE
For those of a certain age, the commentary of Murray Walker and James Hunt was an essential element of summer Sundays. Mike Doodson was there and recalls how the double act took time to get off the grid
BRITISH GP
SPECIAL
Although it’s 25 years since the television coverage of world championship grand prix races in Britain was purloined by a commercial network, many of the sport’s long-time fans will still fondly remember the previous BBC era with the distinctively strident voice of commentating stalwart Murray Walker, intermittently larded by the refined tones of his celebrity side-kick James Hunt. On summer Sunday afternoons, their banter would be the favoured soundtrack of households across the land.
James Hunt retired from racing in 1979 and was quickly approached by
Jonathan Martin, head of BBC TV sport.
The BBC’s guaranteed coverage of every race, previously a haphazard affair, cemented motor racing into the nation's consciousness, alongside the classic bat and ball sports. The Beeb’s hegemony had begun in 1980, continuing for 18 full seasons, and though Hunt would fall victim to a heart attack at the age of just 45, Walker’s hold on the Formula 1 microphone endured well into the commercial era. For the entire BBC period I sat alongside him as his lap charter and spotter, until electronic technology – faster and more accurate than human eye and hand – cost me my job.
For reasons which we will see, Hunt would prove to be a controversial choice for the exalted position of co-commentator. However, it should not be overlooked that it was his own jousting with Niki Lauda for the world title throughout the nerve-jangling 1976 season that had ignited British interest in F1. Who better than he – aworld champion just retired from the cockpit in 1979 – to bring expert insight to Walker’s commentary?