Glossary

Criteria
Peel's catchphrases and references over the years will be familiar to regular listeners, but some of the more esoteric lines will escape those who did not grow up with his shows. This 'mini-dictionary' aims to cover those grey areas, in places where the subject itself does not warrant a page of its own or maybe if the listener simply needs a quick explanation. Please add any further items that are felt to be necessary alphabetically, with any appropriate references either to Wikipedia or to this Wiki.

A

 * "Actually...". Normally used as a sentence adverb to indicate that the following statement contradicts what the speaker has just said, but (over-)used by JP to highlight any surprising fact.

B

 * Beast, The. Not at all affectionate nickname for Simon Bates.
 * Breasts. John's obsessive labelling of himself as 'fat' led him to include a number of references to this part of his anatomy. However, he seemed to find similar mentions with regard to females unbearably sexist.

C

 * Coronation Street. Seemingly interminable Northern soap opera that has been running on British TV since 1960. Peel's occasional references to it are less than flattering.

D

 * Desert Island Discs. (See also Desert Island Discs.) Long-running (since 1942) talk / music programme where famous guests are invited to choose eight records to take with them to a desert island. Peel appeared once in 1990, and thereafter frequently bemoaned the fact that he was not invited again, since his choices would inevitably be different. (He also mistakenly believed that Arthur Askey had been on the programme three times: it was twice, 1942 and 1955.) He was interviewed by the third presenter of only four in the show's history, Sue Lawley.

G

 * Gardener's Question Time. This long-running (since 1947) BBC panel show was mentioned by John whenever he wished to vent his feelings about the Corporation wiping invaluable session recordings, viz. 14 August 1982 (Peel's Pleasures): "Tapes were sent back and reused for something like Gardener's Question Time, which are now kept forever in steel-lined cases in a mineshaft somewhere in the Home Counties." The implication is that the BBC misdirected their priorities.

L

 * Laird, The. Affectionate nickname for David Jensen and a reference to his Scottish heritage.

N

 * "Not, I suspect, the name he/she was born with." Indication by JP that the artist concerned was not only operating under a pseudonym (e.g. Ricardo Autobahn), but also that he felt this pseudonym to be obviously over the top.

P

 * Peel Acres. John's home in Stowmarket since 1973, but also used before that to describe anywhere he was living at the time.
 * Pig, The. Peel's (believe it or not) affectionate nickname for his wife Sheila, referring to her habit of snorting like a pig when she laughed.

S

 * "Shocking." Whether John ever meant this epithet to be taken seriously is open to conjecture: it could refer to anything from people admitting taping his programme at home to swearing on record.

T

 * "Thanks for listening." Peel's sign-off at the end of a show, used throughout his radio career.