Due to upcoming changes at BBC Local Radio, Mark Murphy, 58, stated it was “time for me to move on.” A local radio host who has won multiple awards has revealed his intention to leave the BBC after more than three decades.
He said it was a “huge decision” to leave the profession he loved but “all wonderful things must come to an end”.
On April 2, his final broadcast would mark 33 years to the day since he began volunteering at the station.
Growing up listening to Radio Caroline, Radio Luxembourg, and BBC Radio 1, he stated that he had always desired to work in radio.
In 1990, he began volunteering at BBC Radio Suffolk in Ipswich, his hometown, by preparing tea and answering the phone for former broadcaster and Look East anchor Stewart White.
Seven months later, he received his first paycheck for £15, which he never cashed because he feared he would never receive another one.
“I still have it framed in my home office,” he stated.
His first hosting position was on the Dawn Shift in 1991, followed by the Drivetime Show in 1998 and the Morning Show in 2000.
“It was truly a dream come true,” he added.
In 2003, he received the Radio Academy Gold News Broadcaster of the Year award. In 2008, he received another Gold for a live broadcast from the United States commemorating the 400th anniversary of the establishment of Jamestown in Virginia by Bartholomew Gosnold of Suffolk.
“I’ve been really fortunate to work with incredibly talented individuals who have helped me reach these heights,” he remarked.
In 2011, the station raised £3 million in 11 months to assist in constructing a new Treehouse hospice in Ipswich for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices.
“It was fantastic to be engaged with,” he stated.
As I drive by it today, I am reminded of how incredible it was.
He co-founded the Bin a Blade knife amnesty with Suffolk Police, initiated the annual Suffolk Day, led the movement to reinstall St. Edmund as England’s patron saint, and designed and led the award-winning Don’t Be A Tosser anti-littering campaign.
The Ipswich Town fan also brought his breakfast show to Italy when the club fell to Inter Milan in the Uefa Cup in 2001.
In 2021’s New Year’s Honours list, he was awarded an MBE for services to radio and the community in his county.
He said he accepted the award “on behalf of all the fantastic individuals I’ve worked with at the BBC over the past three decades and all the incredible listeners who have tuned in.”
He also met his wife, former BBC Radio Suffolk host Lesley Dolphin, at the station in 2002, and he surprised her with a wedding in Las Vegas.
“BBC Local Radio is heading in a new direction, so it’s time for me to move on and let someone else enjoy what I have for the past 33 years,” he stated.
“Leaving the job I love was a difficult decision, but I believe the time is right.”
Peter Cook, the editor of BBC Radio Suffolk, said:
“He’s a fantastic interviewer and has called people in power to account, and as a Suffolk guy he’s always done so with his mind bent on delivering for the local audience.”
“We will miss him, and so will our listeners.”
He is an exceptional broadcaster and colleague, and we wish him the best in the future.
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