On 1 March 1994 the BBC announced that Allen was to host its new "Breakfast" programme on BBC Radio 5 Live. In 1997 "Breakfast" was extended by half an hour. Also in 1997, "The Times" described the "witty repartee" of Allen and co-presenter (and future protagonist) Jane Garvey as the best illustration of the station's tone, "friendly, informal, brisk, and mercifully, not terribly politically correct". Garvey describes him as "the legendary Peter Allen who taught me a lot about broadcasting, and even more about confectionery".