Call Nick Ross was a ground-breaking phone-in on BBC Radio 4 between 1989 and 1997. Its significance was in the resources Radio 4 applied to what had, until then, been largely a cheap way of making radio shows, combined with the editorial skill of its presenter Nick Ross

Nick Ross

Nick Ross is a British radio and television presenter across a wide range of factual programmes and during the 1980s and 90s he was one of the most ubiquitous of British broadcasters, but he is best known for his long-running co-hosting of the BBC TV show Crimewatch which he left on 2 July 2007...

 and editors including Nick Utechin. Replacing the superficially similar "Tuesday Call", the programme was heard each Tuesday between 9am and 10am, immediately following the Today programme

Today programme

Today is BBC Radio 4's long-running early morning news and current affairs programme, now broadcast from 6.00 am to 9.00 am Monday to Friday, and 7.00 am to 9.00 am on Saturdays. It is also the most popular programme on Radio 4 and one of the BBC's most popular programmes across its radio networks...

, and so attracted an audience of politicians and journalists who were encouraged to phone in themselves. It was not uncommon for a listener to be able to talk directly to a government minister or someone else who was making news that day. The series won Nick Ross an award as broadcaster of the year, but was cancelled in 1997 soon after Ross left the show.