Who Murdered John Peel?

Shift-patterns are detrimental to health. Fact. I've lived the call-centre dream first-hand, so I know. Everyone who's ever worked nights or late-shifts knows it. It's not called a graveyard shift for nothing.

People who work nightshifts as part of their job may be at greater risk of heart disease, say researchers.
A team from the University of Milan has found that the heart does not respond well to being made to work hard in the middle of the night.
This is because the body is programmed to slow down during the night - and changes to sleep patterns appear to have no effect.
The researchers found that nerve activity that accelerates the heart is lower in people working an overnight shift than when they work in the morning or afternoon. BBC website, 17 October 2000.

I'm healthy(ish) and in my thirties, and would feel the strain. Imagine what it must be like if you're in your sixties.

Urine tests from workers on the [late] shift revealed that levels of melatonin, the sleep-regulating hormone normally secreted at night, did not become synchronised to the new sleep times after shift changes. As well as being more tired and less attentive on the job, these unadapted workers showed signs of being at risk of long-term health effects. The men had abnormally high levels of fatty acids circulating in their blood after meals, compared with the day shift or adapted workers. This increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes and other metabolic disorders. New Scientist, 23 April 2005.

In the mid-nineties, Radio One repaid their debt to their longest-serving DJ in the only way they knew how- by giving him short shrift. Notably at a time when "alternative" music was truly seeping into the mainstream, the BBC beancounters clearly saw him as a spent force, albeit with cult status. With multiple reschedules, Peel was forced to work later hours and make the long journey from Suffolk to London and back. This stress was intensified in 1996, when his wife Sheila suffered a brain haemorrage. The BBC switched and reduced his slots to ease the pressure, but six months later he was back on a regular late start for 3 days a week. For a while his show was starting at an "early" 20:40.

In 2001, Peel was diagnosed with diabetes. Out of compassion, the BBC soon had him back on a late night slot (starting 22:00). A few months before his tragic death, the BBC decided to turn the screw a bit more, and bump his show back to a 23:00 start.

Two weeks before he died, Peel told Andy Kershaw that the move to the 23:00 slot:

"caused him a lot of stress and that he felt marginalised and unappreciated" Wikipedia.

John Peel

Well done, BBC, you've done us proud. John Peel's later shows were available to listen to 24/7 on the internet, as well as being broadcast live on radio. As the BBC are so keen on promoting digital media, you have to wonder why they failed to allow an elderly employee, in ill heath, to record the shows at a reasonable time, to be broadcast later at any time they chose. Instead, they cause further damage to his body-clock and related biochemical processes. At best, they are criminally neglient, at worst, well... anyone for corporate manslaughter?