Other presenters between 1979 and 1983 included Russell Harty, Benny Green, Des Lynam, Elaine Stritch, Valerie Singleton, Ned Sherrin, Mavis Nicholson, Pete Murray, Noel Edmonds, Henry Kelly and Clare Francis.

[6] In 1986, then-producer Victor Lewis-Smith employed cockney comedian Arthur Mullard as stand-in for Purves who was on holiday.

25 years later iPM ran a programme profiling what Purves described as "a piece of post-modern neo-dada performance art subverting the entire genre of Radio 4.

Rivers angrily rejected his suggestion, accusing him of implying she was a racist and called him a "son of a bitch".

According to a Radio 4 spokeswoman, around twenty people contacted the station, subsequent to the live broadcast, some critical of the swearing, but most "called to say they really enjoyed the debate".