| The Sunday Hour | |
| Other Names: | Sunday Half Hour (1940–2013) |
| Format: | Religious broadcasting |
| Runtime: | 60 mins |
| Start Time: | 06:00 |
| End Time: | 07:00 |
| Runtime Note: | (30 mins until 2013) |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
The Sunday Hour was a long-standing show broadcast on the BBC Light Programme and then BBC Radio 2 in the United Kingdom, broadcast for 78 years between 14 July 1940 and 28 January 2018.[1]
For most of its life it occupied a Sunday evening slot, latterly between 8:30 pm and 9:00 pm but in 2013 it moved to a Sunday morning slot between 6:00 am and 7:00 am. It broadcast Christian hymns and prayer, and was one of only two remaining Christian-based shows on Radio 2, the other being Good Morning Sunday.
For its first fifty years, many presenters took part, and the entire show was hosted by a different church each week. From September 1990, the format changed so that the show was presented by a regular presenter from the studio, with recordings of hymns, some sung by a "featured choir", inserted between the discussion, prayers and dedications. Each week the show was centred on a specific theme: an event in the Church calendar, a passage of the Bible, or a more general area such as the family or the importance of carers. The longest-serving of the regular presenters was Roger Royle, an Anglican priest, who presented the show between September 1990 and April 2007. Brian D'Arcy, a Passionist priest from Northern Ireland, took over as the presenter in April 2007. Diane-Louise Jordan was the next presenter, replacing Father Brian in February 2012.[2] Jordan announced she was leaving in July 2017.[3] The show's final presenter was the Rev. Kate Bottley.
From 20 January 2013, the show was extended to an hour and moved to a new slot from 6:00 am to 7:00 am on Sunday mornings. The programme's name was changed to The Sunday Hour. Singer Michael Ball took over the Sunday evening slot with a new two-hour show.[4]
The show was axed and broadcast its final show on 28 January 2018 after 78 years in favour of a brand new format for Radio 2's Sunday breakfast programme, Good Morning Sunday, starting 4 February.[5]