Cue Garry

Seasoned listeners to the Today programme will be familiar with sports presenter Garry Richardson's waspish wit and laconic delivery of even the most boring of items (usually concerning Olympic funding).

This past week, however, he excelled himself with a couple of comedy turns surpassing even the heights of a non-interview with Brendan Foster. One involved that old staple: a mobile phone going off in the middle of a report, which he promptly worked into his bulletin like a stand-up comedian responding to a sharp heckle.

The other, for which there doesn't seem to be an audio file available, came the day after, when Garry was stranded at home snowed in and was doing his reports "down the line". Much banter ensued, mostly along the lines of "don't worry about the noise, it's just the kids running up the stairs", topped off with an email read out by John Humphrys from your archetypal Today listener (concerned yet whimsical) about the amount of money the BBC could save by always having Garry do his bulletin from his house. "In fact, why have any presenters travel into the studio at all? For one thing, the BBC's carbon footprint could be shrunk considerably!"

Gags about carbon emissions just after some doomed horse racing tips? The perfect blend.