The concept and idea
for the Ward 2 children's show was discussed in 1981 between PJ and Nick
Westlake. Nick's outgoing and chatty character made him the obvious choice
to put this together. The idea was to take the portable cassette player
down to ward 2 and interview all the children and get them to choose two
records. Then return to the studio the same afternoon and broadcast the
results at 5pm till 6pm.
The show was launched
with Nick at the helm and received a warm welcome from the staff and
the children. The show was launched as WD2 short for ward 2 which was the
children's ward at that time.
In 1982 when Nick
departed from the station PJ took over the reins and injected new ideas
into the show and he became a regular on ward 2. New posters and an
increase in time proved a winner and in 1983 the show was not to be
missed.
What helped to make the
show more successful was the ability to encourage members of the nursing
staff to be interviewed, tell jokes etc.
The staff involvement
included them thinking of ways to embarrass PJ whenever he turned up on
the ward. The staff would sing songs with the children and also compile
ditties which would receive laughter from all in earshot.
