Laura, or ‘Lol’ as we all call her, is Pat Marsh’s right hand woman; she’s the one in ‘mission control’ and has the most infectious laugh on the station. | "Topol used to give me a pomegranate every Thursday!" | |
Although you rarely catch Lol in a serious mood, her job is an important one - she produces one of the most popular shows at BBC Radio Kent. “My job consists of producing Mr Pat Marsh and that means booking all the guests in the show, doing all the features like the therapy zone, listeners letters, thinking of ideas and competitions and making sure all the guests are in the right studio at the right time.” One of Lol’s top priorities is looking after the needs and demands of Mr Pat Marsh. “Pat’s needs are many and varied. She starts to smile. “They consist of bananas, water and mini rolls. That’s about as far as his needs go!” And again she gets the giggles and you can’t help but join in. Arriving at the radio station twelve and half years ago, Lol started her career with the BBC covering reception, but she has always had a passion for the theatre. A Kentish lass Born in Swanley, Laura moved to West Kingsdown as a child and then at 17 she joined Greenwich Young People’s Theatre and went to live in southeast London. Auditioning for the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, Laura secured a place and spent three years studying community theatre.
Whilst at college, Laura worked as an usherette at the London Palladium. “My job was to take ice round to the dressing rooms – I met loads of different people. Topol used to get a basket of fruit delivered to his dressing room and every Thursday he gave me a pomegranate!” she laughs. “I don’t really like pomegranates but I didn’t like to say no!” “One day I met Dustin Hoffman and he stood and had a little chat with me. Then an American woman came up to me and said,” (Lol puts on an American accent.) “Oh, my God! Do you know who that was? That was Dustin Hoffman!’ Of course I knew who he was - and he said goodbye to me! I think he probably fancied me because I was a stunner back then - I don’t know what went wrong!” she says, as she collapses into hysterics. In the last term of the course, Laura got a job as a character actress and children’s entertainer with a theatre group called Smart Alec which was based at Butlins. “It was a little bit naff because I had to play Leonardo the Turtle at one point,” she starts to laugh again, “and Mrs McNasty in Ghostbusters! But it was really good grounding and excellent experience; the audiences were huge and the theatre was immense. So there I was - after three years of studying Stanislavski and Brecht - bouncing around in a turtle suit!”
Staying with the group for over three years, Laura started to direct shows and then decided to set up her own theatre company touring with a show called ‘West End to Broadway’. It was during this time that she met her husband Kevin who was the musical director for the pop group Buck’s Fizz. After she got married, Lol decided to get a ‘proper job’. She saw the vacancy for receptionist advertised at BBC Radio Kent, went for it, got it and has been with the station ever since. Laura now lives in Maidstone and has two daughters Megan who is nine and Sophie who is four. She spends most of her spare time looking after her children. “When I’m not at work I’m running around after Megan and Sophie. I enjoy swimming but don’t get much time for it anymore. As a child, I used to swim for Whiteoak swimming club in Swanley. The proudest moment of my life was standing on the podium when I won the under 10s cup!” She then adds: “This is why I’m so v-shaped, you know, because of swimming!” Pat and Lol have been working together on the show now for four or five years and so it can sometimes be hard to think up new ideas. “We have interviewed some actors and stars a lot. It’s up to Pat to keep the interviews fresh, and it’s up to me to keep the reason why he’s interviewing them fresh too.” The challenge
The best part of the programme for Lol is ‘The Challenge’ because she enjoys talking to the listeners when they phone in with their stories. “The challenge is different everyday; it’s decided by John Warnett and people phone in who possibly wouldn’t usually phone a radio station. For example, we once we did a challenge about Phil Collins and one of his ex-band members happened to be driving through the county. So he phoned in and said “yeah I used to play the bass for Phil Collins! We also did one about Elton John and as lady phoned in to say that Elton John was a pageboy at her wedding! You’d never get those calls ordinarily unless you did ‘The Challenge’ - so that’s my favourite part of the show.” Occasionally, when Pat is away, Lol gets the chance to sit in the hot seat. “Sometimes I’m lucky enough to present the show. I haven’t got a burning ambition to be a presenter I don’t think, and although I do enjoy it when I sit in, I like my role just chirping away in the background, having a laugh and then leaving all the serious stuff for Pat to do!” When asking Lol her plans for the future she says: “I’m happy where I am because I enjoy what I do. Sometimes I think that when my children are older I may go to London, but every time I’ve been up there, I always come running back. I actually quite like it here, so I don’t know what the future holds, I may just stay here forever and grow old,” she laughs. “Me and Pat will still be here in 25 years time!” Then, in a frail voice she adds: “Time for the challenge, dear?” | 
