As a village parson more into nosiness than knowledge, I was reassured by Mark Damazer. During his talk, I found out that listening to Radio 4 didn't mean I was pretending to be "up there" with the great and the good, but "down here" with the rest of the listening mob, looking for good radio, intelligent speech, and more information. Also, I was able to do away with a stereotype. The words "Controller of Radio 4" conjured up the image of an umbrella-swinging, brief-case carrying, pin-striped, mandarin, catching the 7.10 from Purley, putting down minions for eight hours, and returning to his "des res" for a nicely-mixed G&T.

Instead, we found somebody ordinary, down-to-earth, who drops his wife off to work on his way in to work, is passionate about his job but honest enough to admit mistakes, and bold and discerning enough to make necessary changes. That includes a willingness to be shot at dawn for removing the English “folk jingles” from the early morning slot. Also, he shares our unsmiling reaction to rubbish comedy. Anyone who gets the job because he was born on the day of Grace Archer’s death is worth having. At the same time, he is loyal to his colleagues.

Mark also showed an excellent sense of humour, as shown by his reaction to some of the hilarious letters and e-mails he receives. For example, there was one from someone complaining about a show on Channel 4 who wrote "I don't know their address, so I'm telling you!!" We learned that Radio 4 is not exclusively for pensioners from the south, nor is it as costly to run as TV. Unfortunately for me, Mark didn’t promise to rush back to the office and arrange for vintage comedy to be transferred from Radio 7, but at least I know he is a fellow-member of the sadly-not-over-subscribed “Count Arthur Strong is Funny” Club. It all made for a very memorable evening....never mind the credit crunch - now I know that the licence fee is worth paying! - Rev Stephen Jones, Wootton
 I remember as a child getting ready for school with the Today programme in the background, but being only an occasional listener these days, I was curious to see whether the talk given by Mark Dazazer could lure me back to Radio 4. I thoroughly enjoyed the talk and its delivery and Mark's enthusiasm for his job was evident. He provided the audience with a good mix of the serious subjects tackled so well by Radio 4, as well as entertaining us with some amusing anecdotes. This was yet another success in the great series of speakers that Wootton has come up with. I will certainly be returning to attend future talks in the series.- Helena Doucas, Stonesfield
 Mark Damazer gave a fascinating talk on his role within the BBC. He explained how he has to tread a fine line in keeping the broad-ranging Radio 4 audience happy - showing the importance of appearing to keep the status quo whilst, at the same time, being aware of how the audience is always changing (and catering fo those changes). He came across as being a very human face of the BBC. It was an illuminating and very enjoyable evening - another great success for what is a truly unique series of talks at Wootton -.Charlotte Tomlinson, Oxford