Go 4 It

Go4it is a children's magazine programme broadcast on Sunday evenings at 7.15pm on BBC Radio 4, and one of the few speech-based show on British national radio aimed at younger listeners. It started in 2001 and was originally hosted by Matt Smith, And included Cromarty the space cat and many jokes. Before he was replaced after exactly one year by CBBC presenter Barney Harwood on 5th May 2002 [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2002/04_april/28/barney.shtml]

With Harwood's arrival the show became less patronizing with the theme tune changed to that from Danger Man.

Perhaps unsurprisingly in the 21st century, audiences are tiny, with very few children listening.

When Harwood is off on holiday guest presenters are Kirsten O'Brien or Natalie Barrass.

The show typically centres around themes of books, poetry and literature. A typical episode will feature a guest author or poet and often a trip 'on location' to an event related to Children's Literature. Also included are games and competitions. Some shows are also themed, for instance an Arthurian theme (27th May 2007) or Enid Blyton (3rd June 2007). The programme included readings of serialized stories although this has now been dropped as the show has 'matured' instead listeners are encouraged to listen to sister programme Big Toe Books on BBC7.

The 4th May 2008 episode was a special on comics. Featured was Philip Pullman's new comic strip and Eagle (comic book) [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00b45sj]

During the first year the show was extensively parodied on the Radio 4 impressionist satire Dead Ringers for being about 'what people at Radio 4 "think" young people want to listen to', for instance Dylan Thomas poetry read by Richard Burton and Will Self stories. Matt Smith is singularly highlighted for what could be seen as a patronising attitude towards the audience, including excessive use of the word 'ace'.

Guests on the programme

Studio guests and people Natalie has interviewed:

*Philip Pullman and Dakota Blue Richards interviewed on her debut in the recently-released film "The Golden Compass", as the lead character Lyra Belacqua.cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_5120000/newsid_5128500/5128532.stm |title= Lyra cast in Dark Materials film |accessdate=2007-12-05 |date=2006-06-29 |publisher=CBBC Newsround] cite web |url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1809554,00.html |title=Dark Materials film gets green light |accessdate=2007-12-05 |date=2006-06-30 |publisher=The Guardian]

*Michael Morpurgo - Interviewed by a young fan.

*Morris Gleitzman [Natalie Barrass interviews author Morris Gleitzman about his latest book Doubting Thomas - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008m3w2]

*Rainer Hersch - musician

*Lynne Reid Banks [This page refers to her appearing on go4it (again interviewed by Natalie) http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2004_08_fri_06.shtml] Interviewed about her novel The Indian in the Cupboard is a 1980 children's book. In the story, a young boy discovers that when he locks a toy plastic Iroquois Indian in an old bathroom cupboard, the figure comes to life.

*Paul Jennings (Australian author)

*Michael Rosen - Talked of his grief of losing his son Eddie at 18, how his writing The 'Sad Book' helped him cope with such a loss on Children & Bereavement edition [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/gfi/bestbits/bereavement.shtml]

*Jacqueline Wilson

*Raymond Briggs

*Steve Jackson (UK game designer)

*Daniel Radcliffe his favourite when he was younger was Holes (novel) by Louis Sacher

*Nick Tocjek. He reads one of his poems, and writes a new poem with the help of the Go4it guests.Fact|date=June 2007 (20th May 2007)

*Kevin Crossley-Holland, author of a series of books set at the time of Arthurian legend.

*Author Philip Reeve is this week's guest- he is here to talk about his new book about King Arthur, which is a bit different from other books about the legends.(27th May 2007)

*Imogen Enid Blyton's daughter. (3rd June 2007)

*Eva Rice - Author of Who's Who in Enid Blyton.

*Jam, a member of the all-girl computer experts, the Frag Dolls.

*Kirsten O'Brien interviews the author of another book about a school where the pupils are trained to become super-villains! (10th June 2007)

*Author, Dan Freedman, who talks about his new book "The Kickoff", which is not only a story about a kid who works hard to become a top footballer, but also includes some tips for budding footballers. Dan also talks about how he used to work for the F.A., including an interview with Sir Alex Ferguson. We also interview the author of another book about football, which is rather unusual. (17th June 2007)

*Nick Green: author of "The Cat Kin".

*Natalie Barass interviews author Andrew Cope, about his book, which is about a spy dog, who is actually based on his dog, Lara. We listen in as Lara is put through her paces at a dog-training day. (24th June 2007)

*The author Catherine Lamb, who has written a book called "Penguin Problems", which tells people how they can help the environment, in a fun and entertaining way. The main characters, Evie and Lola, take being environmentally friendly to a new level.

*Natalie Barass interviews another author, David Gilman, about his book "The Devil's Breath", in which the hero, Max Gordon, fights to protect the environment in some of the most dangerous places on earth.(31st June 2007)

*Anthony Horowitz

*Philip Ardagh.(8th July 2007)

*Author Louise Rennison, who writes teenage fiction. [15 July 2007 19:15pm BBC Radio 4 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007sngv]

*Shirley Hughes, who's book "Dogger", has just won the "Greenaway of Greenaways" prize- it's been voted the favourite out of all the books that have ever won the Kate Greenaway medal. [http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/book/2086/Dogger-Shirley_Hughes.html]

*Minne Gray, who has just been awarded the Kate Greenaway medal for "The Adventures of The Dish and The Spoon", which picks up where the nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle" left off- we find out where the dish and the spoon ran away to. (22nd July 2007)

ee also

* BBC7 - The BBC digital comedy, drama, and children's programming station.
* Children's Hour
* The Big Toe Radio Show

References

External links

* http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/gfi/
*http://nataliebarrass.com/