Last updated: 11 october, 2011 - 14:36 GMT

Matthew Bannister

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  • Born on 16 March 1957
  • In the 1990s he was a senior manager at the BBC, best known for making radical changes to Radio 1 to attract a younger audience
  • In 2000 he gave up being a boss to return to his first love - radio broadcasting
  • Has presented programmes on all of the BBC's networks apart from BBC Radio 3
  • A fan of the comic writing of PG Wodehouse and has a large collection of first editions
  • He loves rock music and used to play electric violin in a band

Our guests never fail to amaze and inspire me. It's a real privilege to be able to uncover the emotions, the courage and the strength of the human spirit that seems to flourish in even the most challenging situations.

Matthew Bannister

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