Alex Lester

Alex Lester (born Walsall, West Midlands, 11th May 1956) is a British broadcaster who presents the weekday overnight/early-morning programme on BBC Radio 2.

The Best Time Of The Day!

The programme currently starts at 3am, ending at 6am, and has become something of a national institution with an enormous and fiercely loyal cult audience of nightshift workers and early risers. The meaningless but catchy show slogan is Slap My Top (thought to be a variation on the music hall soundbite slap my thigh - but reserved exclusively for people with bald heads) and listeners have marketed the show by writing the phrase in the dirt on the backs of trucks and vans. There was a limited edition range of T-shirts with the slogan written in Cantonese developed by a listener, which Lester awarded to people who came up with the most innovative uses of the slogan - winners included a local radio reporter who got the expression into a story; a man who wrote and recorded a song with the slogan as its title; a mystery girl, for placing an ad for Lester's show in the small ad's section of a local newspaper and a man who developed a website which remains a communal meeting point for the programme's listeners, and is listed in the External Links section below.

Related Topics:
Cult - Slogan - Music hall - Truck - Van - T-shirts - Cantonese - Reporter - Song - Website

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Despite the ungodly hour, Lester prides himself on calling his programme The Best Time Of The Day. Though one of the longest-serving broadcasters on the network, he is now rarely heard on Radio 2 during the daytime except when regular presenters are away.

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