The Marathon Show

BBC Radio 1's Longest Show Ever with Chris Moyles and Comedy Dave for Comic Relief, more commonly known as The Marathon Show, was a 52 hour long broadcast by Chris Moyles and David Vitty which occurred between 16th and 18th March 2011 in order to raise money for Comic Relief.

Background

The premise of the show was to break the previous record for the longest Radio 1 show, held by Simon Mayo since 1999. On the first day of the challenge, the team announced they would attempt to set a brand new Guinness World Record for 'Radio DJ Endurance Marathon (Team)'. This would have involved broadcasting for 51 hours 30 minutes, but Chris decided to round it up to 52 hours.

Listeners were asked to donate £1 by sending in a text message. On the evening of the final day of the show, 18 March 2011, the total amount raised by Chris and Dave was £2,622,421. the final total was later announced as £2,821,831.

The show was broadcast live on BBC Radio 1, in sound and video on the Radio 1 website and available to watch on the BBC Red Button.

Shows

Wednesday 16 March 2011

0630 - 1000 The Chris Moyles Show

The show began with the usual breakfast show. The team were joined by chef Gino D'Acampo, who played a game of Car Park Catchphrase.

1000 - 1245 Fearne Cotton

The team joined Fearne Cotton, and pop band The Wanted played a song live.

1300 - 1600 Greg James

During this show, Greg James stripped naked. Guests included former This Morning presenter Richard Madeley and current presenter of the same show, Phillip Schofield.

1600 - 1900 Scott Mills

Scott and the team were joined by fellow Radio 1 presenter Edith Bowman and Radio 2 presenter Paul O'Grady.

1900 - 2100 MistaJam

MistaJam, Chris and Dave were joined in the studio by rapper Chipmunk.

2100 - 2200 Vernon Kay & Jimmy Carr

After Chris did a live link on BBC One, he was joined by fellow Radio 1 DJ Vernon Kay and comedian Jimmy Carr for an hour. Greg James did a surprise outside broadcast from London's BT Tower, which displayed messages of support for Chris and Dave on its giant LED screen.

2200 - 0000 Nick Grimshaw

Chris and Dave joined Nick Grimshaw on his evening show. During the show, it was alluded to that Chris and Nick didn't get on very well, with the two pledging to give friendship a go. Nick took over as host of the Breakfast Show 18 months later. During the show, guests included singer Katy B, Lily Allen, Kelly Osbourne and EastEnders actor Shane Richie, who was a mystery guest who Chris and Dave had to guess who he was.

Thursday 17 March 2011

0000 - 0200 Davina McCall

TV personality Davina McCall joined Dave and Chris and the rest of the Breakfast Show team at the beginning of day two.

0200 - 0400 Benji B

Dave and Chris both took part of their allocated breaks during this show, as well as attempting to mix dance tracks with the DJ Benji B.

0400 - 0630 Dev

Much to the annoyance of Chris, Dev played old clips of him when he presented The Early Bit from 1997-1998. Former Radio 1 DJ Clive Warren called in to the show, as did Jude Adam, who was the Broadcast Assistant on Chris' Early Bit and who later went on to produce the acclaimed Adam and Joe radio show on BBC 6 Music.

0630 - 1000 The Chris Moyles Show

24 hours into the longest show ever, the second Breakfast Show had regular guests Andi Peters and Jon Culshaw joining the team, as well as fellow Radio 1 colleagues Sara Cox and Tim Westwood offering support. TV and radio host Claudia Winkleman played Car Park Catchphrase. The total money raised for Comic Relief by the end of this show was close to £500,000.

1000 - 1245 Fearne Cotton

Craig David was a guest on this show and at 10:40am, the show linked up live to ITV's This Morning, presented by Philip Schofield and Fearne's close friend Holly Willoughby. Chris suddenly announced to a shocked Fearne that an intruder had got past security, only for it to be revealed as actor Ricky Gervais, who had popped in to the BBC to be part of the show.

1300 - 1600 Greg James

After the break for Newsbeat, the Marathon Show continued unabated. Coronation Street actress Jennie McAlpine (Fiz in the long-running soap) was a guest, as was the comedian Jack Whitehall. During this show, co-host Greg James appeared naked on the webcam for three minutes, prompting Chris to exclaim "oh my God! I can tell what religion you are!"

1600 - 1745 Scott Mills

Singer Olly Murs joined Chris, Dave, Scott and Becky from the show for a game of Innuendo Bingo, which prompted complaints from Dave that Becky was deliberately spitting water at him. The total raised for Comic Relief by the end of this show was near £1 million.

1800 - 2100 MistaJam

Midway through the show, at 7:31pm, Chris and Dave broke Simon Mayo's record for the longest-ever BBC Radio 1 show, held since 1999. Mayo joined the duo in the studio to mark the occasion. Guest Maverick Sabre played a couple of songs, and also the Chris Moyles Show team were present during the show.

2100 - 2200 Jaymo & Andy George

?

2200 - 0000 Nick Grimshaw

Joining Chris, Dave and Nick were comedy actor James Corden, who performed Hip Hop Karaoke. Model and presenter Abbey Clancy and former X-Factor judge Louis Walsh phoned in to the show.

Friday 18 March 2011

0000 - 0200 Kissy Sell Out

DJ Kissy Sellout played a mix of 1980s tunes chosen by Chris and Dave. Guests on this show were the TV personality Patrick Kielty, and he was joined by actress Thandie Newton, who recorded a saucy link for Kissy, which caused him some embarrassment. American singer Katy Perry popped in with some supplies for the flagging duo Chris and Dave, including an adult magazine. Dave took a short break during this show.

0200 - 0400 Annie Nightingale

An excited Chris presented with Radio One legend Annie Nightingale; the station's longest-serving presenter. Dave took another break during this show.

0400 - 0630 Dev

The threesome were joined by fellow Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe, who arrived back from Australia suffering from jet lag.

0630 - 1000 The Chris Moyles Show

A very tired Chris and Dave were joined by the rest of the team; Aled, Dominic, Tina and some others. Former sports presenter Carrie Davies guested on the phone; Chris and Dave were unable to guess who she was, but they were very tired. Dave's then-wife Jayne, Kaiser Chiefs singer Ricky Wilson and singer Gary Barlow appeared in the studio. The total raised up to 8:40am was announced as £1,808,424. Gary presented the pair with the Guinness World Record certificate for the longest team radio show.

1000 - 1030 Fearne Cotton

The show concluded after 53 hours. In an emotional moment, Dave's three year old daughter Nicole offered to donate her pocket money to the fund, which stood at £2,406,648 by the end of the show, and later rose to £2.8million. Fearne appeared in a swimsuit on the webcam and TV feeds, causing the Radio 1 website to crash as perverts logged on in their thousands to catch a glimpse.

After the show

Chris and Dave took two weeks off following the show. It was later confirmed that an average of almost three million viewers watched the live coverage on the BBC Red Button; one of the highest-rated events on the digital service. The record was broken in November that year by two German presenters who were on air for 73 hours.