Glory days: Johnny Vaughan and Denise Van Outen on the Big Breakfast. Photograph: Channel 4
Two weeks from yesterday, in what can be viewed as either a brilliantly audacious or horribly desperate attempt to pull its breakfast show back from third place in London, Capital Radio will reunite one of the great double acts of early morning television: Denise Van Outen and Johnny Vaughan.
The two key words here are not Outen and Vaughan, but radio and television. It's a big ask: not only will the duo have to rediscover their Big Breakfast charisma - last spotted in 2001 - but also translate it from the small screen to the airwaves. If it works, it will be a coup and an almost certain audience-sweller. If it doesn't, it will be a horribly public reminder that going back - whether to a lover you've dumped, a holiday destination, or a high-profile presenter partnership in the full glare of the media - is never a good idea.
But news of their reunion has also had me thinking about what makes a great radio double act, and who the best duos have been. For me, there's no contest, really: it has to be Mark and Lard on Radio 1. Although the show ended in 2004, and because of pesky daytime work commitments, I'd missed a lot of the afternoon shows in the last couple of years, I can still remember how hard I laughed at particular features, catchphrases and bits of nonsensical banter. It was affectionate, silly, arrogant (especially about the music they had to play, and the media dominance of London Village) and foolish. In our house, we still refer to emails as emithers, and have to stop ourselves adding extra, nonsensical syllables into county names.
Solo radio presenters, at best, draw on radio's famed intimacy, leave you wanting to be their friend. But a great double act is all about creating the feeling of a gang you want to be part of, a world of mutual understanding - hence all the catchphrases, hilarious characters, and general comedy caper with Mark and Lard.
So who is your favourite radio double act of all time? Were you thrilled by Jo Whiley and Steve Lamacq? Do you cherish Fearne and Reggie? Adam and Joe on 6 Music? Does your day start happily with Nicky Campbell and Shelagh Fogarty? Or are you fondest of Big Brother's Dickie and Dolly, now gracing Gaydar Radio in maximalist, overstated fashion on Sunday afternoons?
