Jeremy Vine: Three Alarm Clocks

Summary

Sort Your Life Out Unpacked

Episode: Jeremy Vine – Three Alarm Clocks

Date: June 9, 2026
Host: Dilly Carter (BBC Sounds)
Guest: Jeremy Vine

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Episode Overview

On this episode of Sort Your Life Out Unpacked, organizational expert Dilly Carter welcomes broadcaster Jeremy Vine, famed for his long-running BBC Radio 2 presence and Channel 5’s morning show. Dilly “unpacks” three mystery objects from Jeremy’s home, each stirring stories and reflections on family, legacy, and personal organization. Alongside laughter and nostalgia, Jeremy discusses what matters to him, his approaches to tidying (and mess), and the sentimental value of the items he’s kept. The episode closes with Dilly’s gentle organizational interventions and Jeremy deciding what to keep, donate, or let go.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jeremy’s Relationship with Organization

Time: 02:06–04:42

• Jeremy describes himself as a “panic organizer” and a “lazy person cosplaying a workaholic”
  • “I think I'm fundamentally a very lazy person who is cosplaying a workaholic.” (02:11)
• His home is a source of pride because it feels like “home,” especially for his grown daughters.
• Bedside table: Features three alarm clocks due to his very deep sleep and early mornings.
  • “It's got three alarm clocks.” (03:21)
  • He sets them at different, odd times—“4:30, 4:36, and 4:41”—to ensure he wakes.
• Early wake-ups mean he sleeps in the spare room during the week, prompting family jokes.

2. Sentimental Items & Family Legacy

Item 1: His Father’s Gimlet (Hand Tool)

Time: 06:09–11:49

• Jeremy brings an old gimlet (hand tool) from his late father’s toolbox.
  • “That tool is called a gimlet.” (06:26)
  • The object represents a link to his father and a bygone era of DIY parenting.
  • “To me, that big, red, messy toolbox... was all about what dads did back in the day, which is to show their sons and daughters how things work.” (07:00)
• Jeremy shares how his father’s eccentricity shaped their family.
  • Anecdote: His father blindfolded himself to walk in the snow, only to walk in circles and bump into a goalpost. (09:30)
• The tool triggers reflection on grief and how, after loss, people continue to seek approval from their late parents.
  • “All we ever do is to try to impress our dads, even though they're not with us.” (08:28)

Item 2: Smiths Lyric Tattoo Template

Time: 11:53–16:19

• Jeremy shows a piece of paper with a lyric from The Smiths, which became a father-daughter tattoo shared with his now-adult daughter:
  • “For there are brighter sides to life...” (Daughter)
  • “And I should know because I’ve seen them.” (Jeremy)
• Jeremy is moved that his daughter chose a song from his youth for her tattoo.
  • “Here's my daughter aged 18 and she's listening to the same song. Do you know how that makes me feel? It's emotional, I bet. It's so incredible.” (13:20)
• Touching on generational connections and parenting philosophies; Jeremy says:
  • “Father, daughter thing is very powerful, I think, and you just want to be close to them, but you also know that they need their distance and independence.” (14:09)
• Dilly shares her own tattoo stories, including her husband’s name and the creative options if she needed to rework it after a divorce.

Item 3: The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

Time: 18:34–24:39

• Jeremy’s third object is a well-worn vintage copy of Agatha Christie’s The ABC Murders.
  • “Agatha is my queen.” (19:04)
• Childhood gift from his mother led to a lifelong love of whodunits and eventually, Jeremy writing his own cozy crime novels.
  • “When I turned 60... I'd always wanted to write cozy crime... The first [book] was a bestseller.” (20:05)
• Talks about journalism vs. fiction, and the emotional value of favorite books.
• His bookshelf organization style sparks a light-hearted debate: Jeremy groups by size, his wife by color.
  • “We are so different... I hadn't even thought of that.” (22:44)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On home as a refuge:
  • “It feels like a home... we see [my daughters] go through their ups and downs in life and... it feels like home.” (02:48)
• On his father’s toolbox and legacy:
  • “All we ever do is to try to impress our dads, even though they're not with us.” (08:28)
• On the tattoo shared with his daughter:
  • “It's the most wonderful thing that she could even think that she wanted to share a tattoo with me.” (14:10)
• On throwing out children’s drawings:
  • “I take them out, I say, Rachel, you won't believe what nearly happened. We nearly threw them all out... [She said,] ‘Yeah, we don't need them anymore.’” (23:04)
• On bookshelf organization:
  • “They're all together, absolutely. But they're different sizes, that they're grouped in size. Is that okay?” (22:17)
  • “We are so different.” (22:44)
• On future plans and poetry:
  • “I want to be able to ride around on a bicycle with... poetry books... you pay me five pence to read you a poem... just make me a cup of tea and I'll read you any poem.” (24:01–24:39)

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Decluttering Decisions: What to Keep, Donate, or Sell

Time: 24:42–25:23

• Gimlet: Would donate to someone who needs it, to honor his father’s spirit.
  • “If it was passed on... I'd feel that would be honoring my dad.” (24:57)
• Tattoo Template: Must keep for emotional reasons.
  • “I have to keep the tattoo template because that's so emotional for me.” (25:13)
• ABC Murders Book: Willing to sell/replace.
  • “We'll sell that.” (25:23)

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Where Jeremy Finds Happiness at Home

Time: 25:29–25:54

• “My happy place is probably the front lounge where I have my drum kit... that's also where we kind of all gather when we're doing something together as a family.” (25:29)

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Dilly’s Organizational Advice, Woven Through the Episode

• Take decluttering one item at a time – Jeremy’s “one item per day” disposal habit earns approval
• Organize bookshelves by genre (Dilly), although recognizing some prefer sorting by color (like Jeremy’s wife)
• Regularly revisit keepsakes and discard things no longer needed; consider donating books to community boxes

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Episode Tone & Style

• Warm, candid, and gently humorous
• Jeremy is self-deprecating, nostalgic, and open about both strengths and foibles
• Dilly balances personal anecdotes with practical organizational advice and empathy

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment |
|------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
| 02:06 | Jeremy describes his organization style, three alarms|
| 06:09 | First box: father’s gimlet and toolbox memories |
| 11:53 | Second box: lyric tattoo and generational bonding |
| 18:34 | Third box: Agatha Christie book & love of whodunits |
| 22:17 | Bookshelf organization and family differences |
| 24:42 | Which items to keep, donate, or sell |
| 25:29 | Jeremy’s “happy place” at home |

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In Summary

This episode showcases Jeremy Vine’s home life and memorabilia, revealing the powerful emotional stories behind everyday objects. Through laughter and reminiscence, he and Dilly explore themes of family, legacy, and the daily negotiation between sentimental clutter and organization. Whether it's treasured tools, a tattoo symbolizing father-daughter connection, or battered crime novels, Sort Your Life Out Unpacked gently encourages listeners to reflect on their own belongings—and perhaps, where they might begin to sort their life out too.

Transcript

[Jeremy Vine]

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[Dilly Carter]

Mom, can you tell me a story?

[Carvana Ad Voice]

Sure. Once upon a time, a mom needed a new car.

[Jeremy Vine]

Was she brave?

[Carvana Ad Voice]

She was tired mostly. But she went to Carvana.com and found a great car at a great price. No secret treasure map required.

[Dilly Carter]

Did you have to fight a dragon?

[Carvana Ad Voice]

Nope. She bought it 100% online from her bed, actually.

[Dilly Carter]

Was it scary?

[Carvana Ad Voice]

Honey, it was as unscary as car buying could be.

[Dilly Carter]

Did the car have a sunroof?

[Carvana Ad Voice]

It did, actually.

[Jeremy Vine]

Okay, good story.

[Carvana Ad Voice]

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[Dilly Carter]

I'm Dilly Carter, the organized one, and this is Sort yout Life Out Unpacked. Get ready to unpack three boxes with my celebrity guest. Every box has an item from their own home, plus a load of stories and memories. And standby for my tips on on how to sort your own life out too. My guest this episode is a staple ingredient of lunchtimes around the country, having broadcast on BBC Radio 2 for over 23 years. He's also well loved around breakfast time, however, presenting Channel 5's weekday morning show since 2018. I can only presume that by dinner time he is very tired and ready for bed. He describes himself as a panic organizer, but says that below the mess on the surface, he's in fact a solid 8 out of 10 at organisation. It is the legend that is Jeremy Vine. Welcome. Hello. Thank you.

[Jeremy Vine]

Very exciting.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, so exciting. So tell me, in which ways are you disorganized and organized at the same time?

[Jeremy Vine]

I think I'm fundamentally a very lazy person who is cosplaying a workaholic. And actually the sun is starting to come out and I'm looking at the chair in the garden and thinking I come home from work and I have my coat on and I'm just gonna sit and stare at plants and birds and instead of that, I just race around all the time.

[Dilly Carter]

Because you are a known workaholic.

[Jeremy Vine]

I think I, as I say, I want people to think I am because I'm scared of being the opposite.

[Dilly Carter]

It's all a facade.

[Jeremy Vine]

That's My analysis.

[Dilly Carter]

So before I look at your items that you've bought in today, I just need to ask you a quick fire. Home truths. What about your home are you most proud of?

[Jeremy Vine]

It feels like a home. I. When I've got teenage daughters or teenage. One is 19 and one is 22 now, they still live at home and, you know, we see them go through their ups and downs in life and what I like is I do feel they come home and it feels like home. And with my parents, they had the sofa in the living room that was the same sofa for 40 years and if everything was going wrong, you could go and sit on it.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Vine]

And I think we've got a sofa. That's what I'm proud of.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, how lovely. Complete the sentence. My bedside table is.

[Jeremy Vine]

It's got three alarm clocks.

[Dilly Carter]

It's got three alarm clocks dot. Because I suppose you get up very early.

[Jeremy Vine]

I do and I. I sleep so deeply I can't even tell you. I mean, the alarm clock every morning is a complete shock.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Vine]

I think I'm in nuclear war or something. There's one that's a light that comes on like, you know, sunrise light.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Vine]

Then there's one that is like a fire alarm and then the third one would be like a. More insistent. You've got to get up now, Jeremy.

[Dilly Carter]

You set them all at the different times, like 4O'.

[Jeremy Vine]

Clock. This is a great question.

[Dilly Carter]

4O', clock. 4:15. 4:30.

[Jeremy Vine]

Yeah. 4:41. But then 4:30 and 4:36.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh my gosh.

[Jeremy Vine]

Is that crazy?

[Dilly Carter]

Sorry. No. Is your. Is your wife up too?

[Jeremy Vine]

No, no.

[Dilly Carter]

Well, she's managed to see.

[Jeremy Vine]

Embarrassing because she said, if you're going to get up with three alarm clocks at 4:30, you're going to have to go in the spare room. So in the week. Yes, I am in the spare room. And when I say this in the hearing of my daughters, they always go, marriage in crisis. And I say, no, girls. It's just because I have that and

[Dilly Carter]

it's a spare room. Just got a bed in it.

[Jeremy Vine]

Yeah, pretty much. And a cupboard and I have. You'd love to look around it because you would throw so much stuff away. I don't know, I. I worry that I've got a hoarder mentality and I. I tried to do. I don't know if you approve of this, Dilly. I thought to myself every day on my way to work, I'll take one thing with me and drop it in the local bin.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, no, I do approve of that.

[Jeremy Vine]

In one Thing. And then by after about five years, the whole house will be empty.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah. If I turned up unannounced, which room would you ban me from entering?

[Jeremy Vine]

The basement. And the reason that sounds like you probably don't want to go there anyway.

[Dilly Carter]

I don't know if I want to go to Jeremy Vine's basement.

[Jeremy Vine]

My basement. Okay. Well, that suits both of us. And the reason is this, that having turned 60, I went to a doctor and I said, what do I need to do to live to be 100?

[Dilly Carter]

And did you actually ask that question?

[Jeremy Vine]

Yeah, I just want to. Just out of interest, am I missing anything? You know, she said, you need to build muscle.

[Dilly Carter]

Yes.

[Jeremy Vine]

You said when you get to 60, it starts to wither.

[Dilly Carter]

Yes.

[Jeremy Vine]

And this is such a shocking thought. I said, look, that sounds like an emergency, so what should I do? So she said, get some weights. And I'm going to put you in touch with my best friend who is a trainer online. And this is a woman called Natalia de Perez, who's based in Rio de janeiro.

[Dilly Carter]

Wow.

[Jeremy Vine]

So three times a week I'm online on WhatsApp.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Vine]

And I'm just pounding out on the weights and all that in the, in the basement. But as you know what, as soon as I say, this is the thing

[Dilly Carter]

you've got to counsel me on Natalia in the basement.

[Jeremy Vine]

As soon as I start, I say, I've got a trainer, a Brazilian. For some reason everyone.

[Dilly Carter]

I didn't want to mention that, but everyone starts laughing and no one sees her.

[Jeremy Vine]

I mean, nothing to see. She's just a Brazilian.

[Dilly Carter]

Nothing to see. She's just a Brazilian.

[Jeremy Vine]

Nothing to see. Here,

[Dilly Carter]

shall we have a look at your first item?

[Jeremy Vine]

I've taken out the box.

[Dilly Carter]

So in the box Jeremy has taken out, it looks like a very old fashioned corkscrew. It doesn't look like it's got enough of the screwy bit.

[Jeremy Vine]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

On the bottom to actually screw into a wine bottle. It looks more like it's an actual tool. Yeah, yeah, it's a tool.

[Jeremy Vine]

It's a tool from my dad. And that tool is called a gimlet.

[Dilly Carter]

A gimlet.

[Jeremy Vine]

And do you know what? Have you heard that before?

[Dilly Carter]

I've not heard of it. I feel like a gimlet. Am. I think. Why do I think a gimlet is also a cocktail?

[Jeremy Vine]

Cocktail. I think you're right.

[Dilly Carter]

Yes.

[Jeremy Vine]

But so what, what you do with this is that you use it to, to push into the wall where you're going to put a screw. So you put it between your fingers like this. The wooden handle inside your palm. You close your fist and you push really hard, and you will gradually create a guide hole screw.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay.

[Jeremy Vine]

And what's interesting about this tool is slightly broken, but my dad died in 2018. And when we had our conversation, me and my brother and sister, about what? Is there anything we want from dad's possessions? I said, look, there's only one thing I really want, which is the toolbox. Because to me, that big, red, messy toolbox, which is full of so many things, was all about what dads did back in the day, which is to show their sons and daughters how things work and take the top off things and fix them and screw them in. And he died. And this thing has passed. It's gone. This, you know, repairing plugs are sealed. No one can change a light fitting anymore.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah, people don't do as much themselves.

[Jeremy Vine]

They don't. And to be honest, last time I tried to change a light fitting, stupidly, I did it at night. So I was plunged into darkness and I nearly blew myself up. So. Yeah. And I miss my dad. You know, when. Died at 80, had Parkinson's, was really hard at the end. And they always say, you know, after time, your memories of him fit and healthy replace the time, the later memories of him struggling. But actually, I still am stuck with thinking of my dad's really suffering when he was ill. So. So I. You know, this is a lovely thing. I. I would.

[Dilly Carter]

So that brings you joy.

[Jeremy Vine]

It brings me a lot of joy to think my dad is still with me. Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah. And where is his toolbox? Where do you keep.

[Jeremy Vine]

It's in my. Well, in the basement.

[Dilly Carter]

It's in the basement.

[Jeremy Vine]

So. Okay, now there's a reason for you to visit the basement.

[Dilly Carter]

So Natalia is keeping your dad company.

[Jeremy Vine]

Natalia has not seen my toolbox.

[Dilly Carter]

That's a good thing.

[Jeremy Vine]

Yeah. All right. There's. I was talking to someone recently about. About how. Who was it? It was a conversation I was having that was so interesting about all we ever do is to try to impress our dads, even though they're not with us.

[Dilly Carter]

That is so true.

[Jeremy Vine]

It was Kezia Gill. And she got in touch with me and said, do you want to come see me perform in Islington, London? And then she sent the band off the stage and she said, you know what? When I'm with you on my own, there's only one song I want to sing. And. And it's a song about my dad, and he died five years ago. She said, but people always say he'd be very proud of you. And I've never ever been able to say before now, yes, he would. But tonight, looking at you all sold out, gig in Islington, I can say my dad would be proud. And I found that so moving. Yeah, I thought that's. She's performing for her dad who's dead. Maybe. I'm. Yeah, I'm holding this gimlet and I'm thinking of my dad. And it's the way, like you say, they're still with us, of course.

[Dilly Carter]

How would you describe your parents?

[Jeremy Vine]

Oh, my dad was very, I think, quite eccentric. When he died, there was lovely memorial service and loads of people came and there were stories about him that made me think about him differently. So, for example, his colleague Dave Clark, who was a fellow lecturer, said that, dad, it was a cold, dark morning and my dad walked in with a black eye. And Dave said, what's happened, guy? And my dad said, well, I thought because there was snow on the ground, I would do an experiment where I blindfold myself and I try to walk in a straight line. Cause I'll be able to take the blindfold off and see how straight the line was. And then he smashes his face on a goalpost from the football and he takes the blindfold off and all he can see is all these circles where he's gone round and round and round in the snow. And my dad. My dad was very eccentric. Clearly. I didn't really realize that until after he died, that because we just. I just saw him as my dad. And I now think that thing of being eccentric or being creative is a very precious thing.

[Dilly Carter]

Do you not think that some of that to your dad's being eccentric has rubbed up on you?

[Jeremy Vine]

Yeah, I think it has, but I don't see it. It took my daughter to say, come on. Yeah, that's right. So it took my daughter to say, dad. You know, you say. You say your dad's, etc. Yeah, I know, I know.

[Dilly Carter]

How was your house growing up?

[Jeremy Vine]

Small house. Cheam, Surrey. Boring Cheam. But now, obviously, as you get older, you long for the boring places. Cause you see peace and quiet things that you want. But at the time it seemed to be just so gray and dreary. When my kids look at my photos of my childhood in the 60s and 70s and they say, oh, God, they're black and white. I say, no, no, the photos aren't black and white. The whole world was black and white then. Yes. And my mum had lots of people around sort of church groups. And I think they had Tupperware Parties and stuff like that.

[Dilly Carter]

Tupperware parties.

[Jeremy Vine]

My dad built this treehouse in the garden. This thing was 12 foot high.

[Dilly Carter]

No planning. You didn't need any planning permission.

[Jeremy Vine]

No, we stayed the night in it. We all slept in it one night with my dad. It was lovely.

[Dilly Carter]

Because you've got a brother, haven't you, as well?

[Jeremy Vine]

My brother Tim, my sister Sonia.

[Dilly Carter]

And did you play in the treehouse a lot?

[Jeremy Vine]

Yeah. Yeah, all the time. So that was a lovely. In a way, I suppose it's a sign that the parent had time.

[Dilly Carter]

Yes.

[Jeremy Vine]

And when I look at photos of the treehouse that we have, which is an elaborate thing, it's like the Taj Mahal or something, was a sign of my dad spending hours in the garden building something that only we could enjoy.

[Dilly Carter]

Can we move on to your second item? Okay, let's have a look in that box.

[Jeremy Vine]

Okay.

[Dilly Carter]

So can you pass the box to me and I can have a look?

[Jeremy Vine]

The box.

[Dilly Carter]

The box.

[Jeremy Vine]

It's almost. I don't know what. I can't. Remind me. What I put in there I don't want to see. Now I'm going to be in your

[Dilly Carter]

second box is a piece of paper. And on the piece of paper it says, for there are brighter sides to life. And then at the bottom it says, and I should know because I've seen them.

[Jeremy Vine]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

So explain what this piece of paper means.

[Jeremy Vine]

This is a very, very precious piece of paper because. So my daughter, when she turned 18, said to me, I want to have a tattoo. And I said, well, that's not happening. And she said, well, actually, dad, when you're 18, you can actually make decisions about your life.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, wow.

[Jeremy Vine]

So I can have a tattoo. So I said, yeah, but it's still not happening. So she said, what I want to do is I want to have a Smith's lyric.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Vine]

And I want to have half of it, dad, and you have the other half.

[Dilly Carter]

Well, clever.

[Jeremy Vine]

So I said, let's do it tomorrow.

[Dilly Carter]

So you suddenly agreed.

[Jeremy Vine]

Of course I did. This is the incredible thing, Dilly. The smiths were actually 1983 to 1986. So I was 18 in 1983. And their first album had a song called Still Ill on it, and it had this line for there are brighter sides to life. And I should know because I've seen them, but not very often. So here's my daughter aged 18 and she's listening to the same song.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Vine]

Do you know how that makes me feel?

[Dilly Carter]

It's emotional. I bet.

[Jeremy Vine]

It's so incredible, to the point where when I go to bed kind of early and she's still up and she's playing music upstairs in the room above that's keeping me awake. But I don't care because it's the music I was listening to when I was 18, and I don't even know how it's happened. I'm not the sort of dad who says, you gotta listen to this. I honestly. I promise I'm not. I'll take my shirt off here, so you can see.

[Dilly Carter]

So we went unbuttoning his cuff, by the way. He's not taking his shirt off so you can see. Look at that.

[Jeremy Vine]

So there is the tattoo she has for. There are brighter sides to life, and I have. And I should know because I've seen them and the. The last bit, which is. But not very often. We couldn't fit on either of our arms. So I've got essentially a meaningless arm here.

[Dilly Carter]

It's not meaningless at all, though, is it?

[Jeremy Vine]

It's the opposite.

[Dilly Carter]

It's the opposite of that.

[Jeremy Vine]

Everything.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Vine]

I think it's the most wonderful thing that she could even think that she wanted to share a tattoo with me. Father, daughter thing is very powerful, I think, and you just want to be close to them, but you also know that they need their distance and they need their independence. And so if she ever moves out of her little private island and says, dad, I'd like you in here. It's an incredible moment. So every time I look at this, I feel happy.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh.

[Jeremy Vine]

And I. And I always say to her, if she's struggling, I say, the cavalry's coming. The cavalry is coming.

[Dilly Carter]

And you were in a band as well, weren't you?

[Jeremy Vine]

I was in a band called the Flair Generation, but we were sort of countercultural. We were the idea that we are the least cool band in Britain. We got Radio 1 and stuff like that. So we had a little moment.

[Dilly Carter]

Very, very good.

[Jeremy Vine]

Had a moment.

[Dilly Carter]

I've seen a picture of your band. Very, very cool.

[Jeremy Vine]

Very, very square.

[Dilly Carter]

Black and white picture.

[Jeremy Vine]

Of course.

[Dilly Carter]

Of course.

[Jeremy Vine]

The world was black and white. My brother's a musical talent. He is phenomenal.

[Dilly Carter]

What did he think of your tattoo when he found out you were having a tattoo?

[Jeremy Vine]

He would be cool about that. He would love it. My mum may be less so. My mum was.

[Dilly Carter]

Does she know you've got.

[Jeremy Vine]

She saw it by accident once, yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

Did you say it comes off?

[Jeremy Vine]

No, I didn't. I think she got over it eventually.

[Dilly Carter]

I've covered in tattoos and I still.

[Jeremy Vine]

I just noticed that.

[Dilly Carter]

And I still tell her that they come off.

[Jeremy Vine]

Okay, I will try that. Wow, you've got a lot there.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah, I've got. I've probably got about 40 tattoos.

[Jeremy Vine]

Why is that, then? What's the. What's the story?

[Dilly Carter]

Well, my husband is covered in tattoos. We got together when we were in our 30s, and because he was covered in tattoos, I then thought I wanted some tattoos. And I was only going to start with one. And, you know, as you do with tattoos, they're addictive. And then it just. One turns into two, which turns into 10, which turns into 20, which. Yeah.

[Jeremy Vine]

I don't know if any of yours have got your husband's name on.

[Dilly Carter]

I've got his name there. So it's very unfortunate if I do divorce him, because, you know.

[Jeremy Vine]

What does it say, though?

[Dilly Carter]

Well, it says his name. Charlie.

[Jeremy Vine]

You could change it into Charlie's Angels.

[Dilly Carter]

Charlie's Angels.

[Jeremy Vine]

Because there's somebody who had Ryan tattooed. I don't know if you heard about this. And they. They got divorced from Ryan and then they turned into Ryanair. So you'll be all right with Charlie? You'll be right with Charlie.

[Dilly Carter]

Charlie. Charlie's Angels. I might tell him that tonight. Just say if anything happens, I've been given some very good advice.

[Jeremy Vine]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

And that is exactly what I'm gonna do.

[Jeremy Vine]

If you ever move into the spare room, that's what you do.

[Dilly Carter]

Once she had that one tattoo, she now allowed as many as she likes.

[Jeremy Vine]

She may be having another one. She did. She was talking about having a fig tree or something. I just. I think at this point, I'm. I'm out.

[Dilly Carter]

You're fine now.

[Jeremy Vine]

I'm not. Well, I just.

[Dilly Carter]

You're not going to match her for every tattoo, really.

[Jeremy Vine]

You got to really pick your battles as a parent.

[Dilly Carter]

Yes, you do.

[Jeremy Vine]

There's no point fighting, losing battles.

[Dilly Carter]

No. And do you think you're going to keep the piece of paper?

[Jeremy Vine]

God, yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

Where do you keep it?

[Jeremy Vine]

That's it? Just. Well, bedside table.

[Dilly Carter]

That's in your bedside table.

[Jeremy Vine]

Under the alarm clocks.

[Dilly Carter]

Under the three alarm.

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[Jeremy Vine]

Mom, can you tell me a story?

[Carvana Ad Voice]

Sure. Once upon a time, a mom needed a new car.

[Jeremy Vine]

Was she brave?

[Carvana Ad Voice]

She was tired mostly. But she went to Carvana.com and found a great car at a great price. No secret treasure map required.

[Dilly Carter]

Did she have to fight a dragon?

[Carvana Ad Voice]

Nope. She bought it 100% online from her bed, actually.

[Dilly Carter]

Was it scary?

[Carvana Ad Voice]

Honey, it was as unscary as car buying could be.

[Dilly Carter]

Did the car have a sunroof?

[Carvana Ad Voice]

It did, actually. Okay, good story, car buying. You'll want to tell stories about. Buy your car today on Carvana. Delivery fees may apply.

[Dilly Carter]

Thanks. Shall we move on to your third item?

[Jeremy Vine]

My third item.

[Dilly Carter]

Okay, pass me over your third box. Third item.

[Jeremy Vine]

My tattoo is exposed here. This is quite a. You can keep it intense, this conversation. I'm enjoying it.

[Dilly Carter]

I'm so glad. Okay, so in this third medium sized box.

[Jeremy Vine]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

Is. It's a book. It's an old book, but it is the ABC Murders. Poirot Detective story. Agatha Christie.

[Jeremy Vine]

Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

Now this is. Oh, my gosh. I mean, this is a very old book. Tell me what this means to you.

[Jeremy Vine]

Agatha is my queen.

[Dilly Carter]

Agatha is my queen.

[Jeremy Vine]

When I was 11, my mum gave me a book called Hercule Poirot's Christmas. And from that moment, I was hooked.

[Dilly Carter]

Because this is like paperback. It's a very. It's quite a soft transplant.

[Jeremy Vine]

Yeah. Yeah. It's a really old version there. Yeah. I mean, it could have been maybe printed in the 40s or 50s. I'll tell you about the ABC murders because I didn't want to bring in Murder on the Island Express. I didn't want to bring in Death on the Nile or any of the really obvious ones. I thought I'll bring in a really unusual one. This book is about a sequence of murders where the first murder victim is something like Alan Ashton in Andover, and the second one is Betty Burrows in Burton. That's Just an example of her genius. And at this stage in life, when I turned 60, I had. I'm going to sound like I'm blowing my own trumpet a bit here, but I just let me do this one thing, which is that I'd always wanted to write cozy crime or whodunits. I went to a publisher and I said, I'd really like to write one. And she said, we'll give it a go. And so I wrote two. And the second one comes out in April.

[Dilly Carter]

Congratulations.

[Jeremy Vine]

Thank you. And the first was a bestseller when I was just turning 60, so I had this incredible moment of the whole thing coming full circle.

[Dilly Carter]

Did you ever think about having a career in fiction over journalism?

[Jeremy Vine]

I don't know if you can plan for that, because it's so unreliable. I mean, people can sell one great book and then they don't write any more great ones. And also, I think journalism feeds the imagination as well.

[Dilly Carter]

What do you think have been some of your career highlights?

[Jeremy Vine]

I was thinking the other day about a series I did for Radio 2 called the Songs My Son Loved, and it was about going to moms whose sons had died in Iraq or Afghanistan and asking them to remember their sons through the music they loved. And, of course, the funny thing, as we've been talking about music, is that they probably didn't really much like this, the music their son was blasting out, but now he's gone, they've only got the music.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Vine]

And the most incredible conversations. I mean, I don't think I've ever done anything like that before, but I. I don't know, I spent ages as a reporter and I remember going, you know, one day you do sheep racing in Dorset and then you'd be sent to Serbia or something, and all around the world and Russia. Yeah. It was incredible. And it was like a. I always thought a holiday at high speed, you're sort of taking so much in, so. Yeah. And I now love what I do with just. I say hello to Brian in, you know, Cumbria, and Brian says, here's what I think has gone wrong. And he's got the answer.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Vine]

And it's the revelation that when I was on Newsnight, I thought, we tell the audience the news. Now I'm on radio, too. I realize the audience tell us we haven't got a clue what's going on.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Vine]

And that's the right way around.

[Dilly Carter]

What does your bookshelf look like at home?

[Jeremy Vine]

So my bookshelf has got a lot of stuff from stories I've done and people I've interviewed. And all that. And I'm actually, I need you to come around and declutter me because I'm. Now it's organized, but it's, it's still got my first year reading list at Durham University, you know, it's still got Harold Pinter plays and things that I sort of. They've got an emotional connection, but only with me.

[Dilly Carter]

Yes.

[Jeremy Vine]

And I think I should probably just chuck them all out. So it's quite hard to get.

[Dilly Carter]

Would you have all your Agatha Christie's together?

[Jeremy Vine]

They're all together, absolutely. But they're different sizes, that they're grouped in size. Is that okay?

[Dilly Carter]

Well, I would say when we're organizing a bookshelf, I always like it to be by genre first. So if, you know, for example, you've got all your fiction, your non fiction, you know, your art, your gardening, your cooking. I know there's a lot of people that organize their books by color, which doesn't ever make any sense.

[Jeremy Vine]

No. Well, I've got to tell you that I said to my wife, how should we do this? And she said, we're doing it by color.

[Nordstrom Rack / BILT Ad Voice]

Oh.

[Jeremy Vine]

So she went spinal. She said, it's. If it's orange, it's on the bottom shelf. And if it's. And I'm thinking like I'm not. You know, sometimes when you're, you're, you love someone, you're married to them, you'll have a revelation.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Vine]

And you think we are so different. Yeah, because I hadn't even thought of that. We had this thing the other day where I, I, you know, putting the rubbish out and I, and I look in the bin and there's all these sketches in crayon by my kids where they were 3, 4 and 5. And I take them out, I say, Rachel, you won't believe what nearly happened. We nearly threw them all out. I don't know what's. And she said, yeah, we don't need them anymore.

[Dilly Carter]

She'd thrown out all the kids drawings.

[Jeremy Vine]

She'd thrown out the kids drawings. I know that's your thing to just say none of this. We throw it all away.

[Dilly Carter]

Well, I don't just throw everything away. I just wanna make sure that we're keeping the things that we love and that we're throwing away the things that we definitely don't need.

[Jeremy Vine]

Right.

[Dilly Carter]

And it's also important that we're revis all the time. So all the things that we do keep up in the loft in boxes, you know, even our Agatha Christie books, although we might not want to part with Them. It might be that we're looking at other books on the bookshelf that we definitely don't want.

[Jeremy Vine]

But what do we do with other books?

[Dilly Carter]

We donate them. There's lots of places now in lots of towns where you will have a community box where people will swap over books.

[Jeremy Vine]

Well, I certainly would be in favor of that. I do have an ambition, which is that when I stop doing what I'm doing, I want to be able to ride around on a bicycle with one of those boxes on the front with about a hundred poetry books in. And you would. If you're an older person, you'd pay me five pence to read you a poem, and you could order the poem and I come round and read it to you, and that would be it.

[Dilly Carter]

How lovely. Why 5p? Just.

[Jeremy Vine]

It's just gotta be a small. It's gotta be something that's a transaction, but not in any way that involves a lot of money.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah. I feel like you'd be doing it for free, to be honest. I probably would be, yeah. You're too nice.

[Jeremy Vine]

I don't know. Just make me a cup of tea and I'll read you any poem.

[Dilly Carter]

Oh, see, that's lovely. It's been so lovely to hear about all your different items. Before you go, what item would you sell, donate, or keep? Ooh, that's hard, isn't it?

[Jeremy Vine]

This is hard. Okay, well, listen, in the end, the gimlet, we. If it was passed on to somebody who had a need for a gimlet, I'd feel that would be honoring my dad. I have to keep the tattoo template because that's so emotional for me.

[Dilly Carter]

Even though you've got it on your arm?

[Jeremy Vine]

No, I think that this is.

[Dilly Carter]

This is more emotion.

[Jeremy Vine]

That's the more she did before it was on my arm. And as for the book, we'll have to just.

[Dilly Carter]

We can replace that.

[Jeremy Vine]

Sell that.

[Dilly Carter]

We'll sell that. And my last question to you, where in your home is your happy place?

[Jeremy Vine]

I would say it's probably the front lounge where I have my drum kit.

[Dilly Carter]

You've got drum kit as well? To mention that.

[Jeremy Vine]

I didn't mention it. Well, the drum kit is one of those electric ones, sadly, so it doesn't make any noise. But, yeah, I think they're. Because that's also where we kind of all gather when we're doing something together as a family.

[Dilly Carter]

There's a lot of noise in that

[Jeremy Vine]

room, and that's just me. Yeah.

[Dilly Carter]

Yeah. It sounds bliss. Sounds blissful. Jeremy, thank you so much. It's been such a joy to sit here with you and such an honor to sit opposite you. I really appreciate your time. Thank you.

[Jeremy Vine]

I'm going to get back home and declutter now.

[Dilly Carter]

Good. That's what we like to hear. I can't wait to be back with you. For more revealing home truths, organizational hacks and celeb unboxings, sort your life out. Unpacked is presented by me, Diddy Carter. You can watch us on iplayer and listen on BBC Sounds. And don't forget to subscribe on BBC Sounds and have push notifications turned on to make sure you don't miss an episode. I'm Shari Vall and I've been investigating fraud for decades. Now I'm shining light on the secret techniques criminals use to steal your money with insight from guest experts and the real people involved in these scams. So you can see see the fraudsters coming before it's too late. That's the new series of scam secrets. Listen now on BBC Sounds.

[Jeremy Vine]

Perfecto. Try le recivon a coticacion list. Del pro desk Accede Amel ese productos masayada yen lo 10s paras projectos adelante a si de fazi Elo.

[Dilly Carter]

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[Jeremy Vine]

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[Dilly Carter]

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[Jeremy Vine]

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[Dilly Carter]

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