Simon Mayo Drivetime is a popular programme on BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...

, which airs on weekdays between 17:00 and 19:00 in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It is presented by broadcaster Simon Mayo

Simon Mayo

Simon Mayo is an English radio presenter who has worked for BBC Radio since 1981. As of January 2010, Mayo is presenter of Simon Mayo Drivetime on BBC Radio 2 and, with Mark Kermode, presenter of Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews on BBC Radio 5 Live.In 2008, Mayo was recognised as the "radio...

, who moved to drivetime from his weekday afternoon show on BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...

 after Chris Evans moved to take over the Radio 2 Breakfast Show

Chris Evans Breakfast Show

The Chris Evans Breakfast Show is the flagship show on BBC Radio 2 in the United Kingdom. It is presented by Chris Evans from 11 January 2010, when Evans took over from Sir Terry Wogan who ended his stint as Breakfast presenter at the end of 2009...

.

The Oldies

A selection of five or six songs all related to a particular topic relevant to that day's events are played throughout the show, chosen by readers of the show's blog.

"Subject" Guest

At around 5:15, Simon introduces a guest and they discuss an issue raised in the previous day's show, or in the news on that day. The guest is generally an expert (although this term is stretched to its limits continually by the show) in the subject area under discussion. Subjects discussed are as far-ranging as guitar-playing techniques and whether Skunks have a moral code.

Homework Sucks

Listeners are invited to send in questions that they've "always wanted to ask" to see if other listeners can answer them. These can be any form of question, such as "What depth of the ground beneath my house do I actually own?" or "At what point does gravity (from the Earth) stop?". These are answered (to varying degrees of success) by the general public, before a definitive answer is provided by an academic or other expert in whatever subject area the question relates to. This was previously only open to children wanting help with their homework (hence the title) but was soon expanded to any general questions from anyone.

Confessions

Main page: Confessions (radio)

Confessions (radio)

Confessions is a popular and occasionally controversial feature first appearing on the BBC Radio 1 weekday breakfast show in the early 1990s, devised by its host, Simon Mayo....

Carried on from Simon's previous radio shows on BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1

BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...

, listeners send in embarrassing or funny stories about them offending, injuring, or playing practical jokes on people, that they never owned up to at the time it happened. The stories are judged by a panel composed of Simon, Rebecca Pike

Rebecca Pike

Rebecca Pike is a business and economics correspondent for the BBC. She has worked as a reporter on a number of Radio and TV news programmes, including the Today programme, Radio 4’s Six o’clock News, Radio 5 Live, BBC One’s TV news bulletins and the BBC News channel.Pike attended Bedales School...

 (business reporter), Matt Williams (sports reporter), and the "Mother Superior" (Sally Boazman

Sally Boazman

Sally Boazman, known to many of her listeners as "Sally Traffic", is a British radio traffic reporter, best known for her work in the afternoons on the national BBC Radio 2, with more than eight million listeners. Her reporting "revolutionised" United Kingdom traffic news with the addition of live...

, traffic reporter) and are granted forgiveness on the basis of remorse by the culprit, or (more frequently) the humor of the story.

The Quiz

(Also played on Fridays)
Towards the end of the show Simon, Rebecca and Matt quiz each other on their respective specialist subjects (general knowledge (sometimes simply music), business news and sport, respectively), and a score is kept throughout the week. The looser from the week has to buy the rest cookies or cake (though whether this actually happens is not known).

The Showstopper

Listeners vote from a list of songs - all of the same musical style as the specialist music show following Drivetime on any particular day - which is heard right at the end of the show. At present the different styles are:

• Monday - Blues (preceeding Paul Jones
  Paul Jones (singer)
  Paul Jones is an English singer, actor, harmonica player, and radio personality and television presenter.-Career:As P. P...
  
  )
• Tuesday - Jazz (preceeding Jamie Cullum
  Jamie Cullum
  Jamie Cullum is an English pop and jazz-pop singer-songwriter. Though he is primarily a vocalist/pianist he also accompanies himself on other instruments including guitar and drums. Since April 2010, he has been presenting a weekly jazz show on BBC Radio 2, broadcast on Tuesdays from 19:00.- Early...
  
  )
• Wednesday - Folk (preceeding Mike Harding
  Mike Harding
  Mike Harding is an English singer, songwriter, comedian, author, poet and broadcaster. He is known as 'The Rochdale Cowboy' after one of his hit records...
  
  )
• Thursday - Country (preceeding Bob Harris
  Bob Harris (radio)
  Robert Brinley Joseph "Bob" Harris, OBE , known as "Whispering" Bob Harris, is British radio host who currently works for BBC Radio 2, presenting music two nights a week...
  
  )

Nigel Barden's Recipies

(Thursdays only)
The show's resident chef, Nigel Barden, cooks the team some (sometimes unusual) dishes.