Absolute Radio will broadcast a breakfast show from Whitby

It is a NATIONAL radio station called Absolute Radio is coming to Whitby on Tuesday 31st of March where it will be broadcasting live from the harbour.
The breakfast show DJ Christian O'Connell will be launching a brand new competition to find the nation's next top radio DJ, DJ Idol.

In celebration of Richard Curtis' latest blockbuster, The Boat that Rocked, Christian will be taking to the sea to broadcasting his national breakfast show from Whitby boat and ex-Royal Navy vessel, The Chieftain which is moored in Whitby Harbour.

He is encouraging local budding radio DJs to come down to the ship to audition for DJ Idol on Tuesday 31st of March between 6am and 10am.

Contestants taking part in DJ Idol will have to prepare a radio link and introduce a song live on Absolute Radio making sure not to talk over the vocals – one of the trickiest skills a DJ can master.

Some of the best local DJ from Whitby will join Christian and his team in a grand final in London on Friday 3 April
Overall winner will win the opportunity of a lifetime to co-present the Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio for a morning gaining national radio experience.

Locals will be getting involved with the Whitby Gazette, ghostwalker, Harry Collett, lottery winner Jane Surtees and a real-life Postman Pat being just some of the guests joining him on the show.

The live broadcasts are to celebrate the release of The Boat that Rocked, a film about pirate radio in the 60s by Richard Curtis which follows a band of DJs broadcasting from the North Sea.

If you think you could be the next Christian O'Connell you should make their way down to Whitby harbour on Tuesday from 6am to 10am to enter DJ Idol.

People can tune into the show on DAB or 1215AM as well as on Sky, Freeview and Freesat or log on to www.absoluteradio.co.uk

l The Boat that Rocked film will undoubtedly bring back memories for many along the Yorkshire coast of the Oceaan-7 radio ship.

The ship, pictured below, was the home of Radio 270 which ceased transmitting back in 1967 when it berthed in Whitby Harbour.

The Panamanian-registered ship had been under the command of Capt T O Hodgson of Snainton and had a crew of three.

The ship – built in 1938 – was a Dutch lugger before it was used by the Nazis in the Second World War to transport Dutch prisoners to the Rhine.

It was converted and became the home of Radio 270 on 1 April 1966 until its final broadcast in August the following year.

The ship was sold in 1968 to a scrap dealer in Hartlepool.

Before it left the harbour in November, its 150ft mast and radio equipment was stripped and sold off to comply with government regulations