Becka on the Beeb

On the 17th December 2005 I was put in contact with Thomas Heap from BBC Radio 4 who wanted a classic Beetle for a radio programme. Now I know it sounds odd asking for a car for a radio programme, but I said they could use Gemma anyway and waited to see what exactly a radio programme would want with a car.

I got up early on the day and spent hours washing, shampooing, drying, waxing, polishing, buffing, cleaning inside, vacuuming and sweeping only to stand back admire her gleaming beauty and for it to start raining two minutes later.

However I was not to be fazed, I was picked up at my house by two people from the BBC who were really great, they covered her back windows with ‘Nuclear Power? No thanks!’ stickers and drove Gemma up to London where we picked up Mr. Heap and continued to interview several of the top nuclear power specialists and the head officers of the anti nuclear groups. It was extremely interesting to see how radio is made, and being interested in that kind of thing as a career I was really pleased to have such a great opportunity and to see Gemma in her public debut on radio!

When we were nearing the end of the day, and after most of the people we had interviewed had complemented my car, we drove her to a side road where they recorded the introduction of the radio programme saying – “ I've got my hands on a classic 1971 Volkswagen without us even having to ask! The reactions to her made me feel proud to be a Beetle owner, they were all so good!

The rest of the programme was not about the car but was about the nuclear debate, something which is much more interesting to me now having followed them around hearing the sides of the argument. I enjoyed my day with them immensely. They treated me so well buying me lunch and getting me a full tank of petrol at the end of the day.

They were great to watch and even invited me along for work experience which I enjoyed so much, the work experience was really what I needed and they have kept me on file and are going to contact me regarding more work experience soon. So not only did my pride and joy make her Radio debut, but I got to enjoy watching her do it!

Rebecca Hague (Becka's Beetle)

More pictures below - click on thumbnail to see the full size picture