Editing Start the Week (section)

==History==
===Richard Baker (1970&ndash;1987)===
The original programme differed from its current form; for the first year or so it was entirely pre-recorded.<ref>Richard Baker on ''Start the Week'' (40th anniversary special), 27 December 2010</ref> Produced by Michael Ember,<ref>{{cite book| first=David |last=Hendy | title=Life on Air: A History of Radio Four | location=Oxford | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2007 | page=236}}</ref> a flamboyant producer from the BBC Hungarian Service, the 1970 show was supposed to be intelligent banter on a weekly theme held together in a jocular fashion by Richard Baker, a well-known television newsreader. 

If that week contained Valentine's Day, for example, the show would start with some hints as to proper behaviour for that day, a bit of history, then a tape recorded by Doug Crawford, a former [[pirate radio]] DJ, consisting of a montage of music, archive recordings, opinions recorded on the street and the like, presenting the public's image of the day in question. 

After eight minutes or so, the programme returned to the live studio for anecdotes and discussion from a variety of guests. Regulars included [[Lance Percival]], a satirist from TV shows of the time who sang the ''Start the Week'' intro theme as a topical [[Calypso music|calypso]], cookery with [[Zena Skinner]].<ref name="indepnotes" /> 

The programme had a regular following but was thought to be too light-hearted and irreverent for 9.00am on Monday mornings by a new Director of Programmes.

===Russell Harty (1987&ndash;1988)===
The programme turned towards being a chat show during Harty's year in the chair; [[Melvyn Bragg]], a friend of Harty's first appeared on the programme as a substitute presenter before illness led to Harty's death in 1988.

===Melvyn Bragg (1988&ndash;1998)===
After Harty's death, several presenters were tried out, including [[Kate Adie]], [[Sue Lawley]], [[George Melly]] and Melvyn Bragg.<ref name="indepnotes"/> During Bragg's tenure the programme gained "a new reputation for ''[[gravitas]]''";<ref>David Hendy ''Life on Air: A History of Radio Four'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, p.309</ref> and also a larger audience, which by 1996 was "at one to one and a half million, slightly more than the far more [[Middlebrow|middle-brow]] programmes such as ''[[Midweek (BBC Radio 4)|Midweek]]'', ''[[Desert Island Discs]]'' and ''[[Loose Ends (radio)|Loose Ends]]'', which occupy the slot on other days."<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/do-we-need-start-the-week-1344014.html | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121103175838/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/do-we-need-start-the-week-1344014.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= 3 November 2012 | title=Do we need ''Start the Week''? | first=Peter |last=Popham | publisher=[[The Independent]] | date=25 March 1996| access-date=18 May 2011}}</ref>

According to ''[[The Independent]]'', "rows, however innocuous some of them seemed at the time, have become a trademark under Bragg: among the most notable have been [[Ben Elton]] vs [[Brenda Maddox]], [[Rosie Boycott]] and Bragg vs novelist [[Kathy Lette]], [[Armistead Maupin]] vs [[Libby Purves]], and Bragg himself vs (separately) [[Joan Smith]], [[Michael Dobbs]], [[William Cash]], [[Tony Parsons (British journalist)|Tony Parsons]] and [[Jean Aitchison]].<ref name="indepnotes"/>

The programme's prominence in Radio 4's schedule meant that Bragg's elevation to the [[House of Lords]] as a [[life peer]] necessitated Bragg's relinquishing of an involvement in the programme.<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.theguardian.com/Columnists/Column/0,,1500897,00.html |title=Plato or Nietzsche? You choose | date= 7 June 2005| publisher=[[The Guardian]]| access-date=18 May 2011}}</ref>

===Jeremy Paxman (1998&ndash;2002)===
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Paxman's tenure was relatively short for a broadcaster of his stature because his aggressive style of interviewing was not considered compatible with the programme.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}}

===Andrew Marr (2002&ndash;2020)===
{{Expand section|date=May 2011}}
Andrew Marr took over as the programme's presenter in 2002. Occasional stand-in presenters in recent years have included [[David Baddiel]] and [[Sue MacGregor]]. In January 2013, Marr suffered a [[stroke]] and went on sabbatical from the show, though he did chair a one-off episode in November<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-11-04/andrew-marr-to-return-to-radio-4s-start-the-week-next-week-ten-months-after-his-stroke|title=Andrew Marr to return to Radio 4's Start the Week next week ten months after his stroke|first=Ben|last=Dowell|work=Radio Times|date=4 November 2013|access-date=27 January 2014}}</ref> and several episodes in December 2013. He thereafter returned as the presenter of the show, but not on a full-time basis. Since 2013, he has alternated with various presenters, currently [[Tom Sutcliffe (broadcaster)|Tom Sutcliffe]], [[Kirsty Wark]], [[Adam Rutherford]] and [[Amol Rajan]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006r9xr/broadcasts/2013/12|title=Start the Week: Episodes by date|publisher=BBC Radio 4|access-date=27 January 2014}}</ref>