The Rule Book

(If you listen regularly to my BBC Radio Wales morning show, you can probably skip the first few paragraphs of this. The opening is just filling people in on all the fun they've been missing out on!)

So I don’t know what I did, I don’t know who I worried or offended, but earlier this year a copy of the BBC Rule Book arrived on my desk.

It's a big green book comprising 368 pages of editorial guidelines and, unsurprisingly, when given a book of rules, the first thing that flashes through your mind is, "I wonder how many I can break"?

So that’s what I've been doing at 5.45am every Sunday this year as part of my BBC Radio Wales show (because if you break a rule before 6am it just doesn't seem as serious).

Lines crossed and conventions smashed so far include paying a contributor to talk about a criminal offence (I gave £10 to someone willing to admit they'd had a speeding ticket), endangering members of BBC Staff (I left a CD on a high shelf), the use of strobe lighting (the book never specifies it's a TV only rule) and several regulations surrounding covert recordings - In fact, I hit 5 in one fell swoop by not just playing a clip of a friend talking about a small piece of plastic, but then repeating it without filling in the appropriate form.

However, next week, I'm going to need some help as the rule I want to break is 19.4.1:

"Our commitment to our audiences is to ensure that complaints and enquiries are dealt with quickly, courteously and with respect".

So it’s simple enough - next week, I'm going respond to all enquiries (or complaints, of course) without courtesy or respect. But to do this properly, I'm going to need something to respond to.

If you'd like to send me something, there are two ways... The first (and probably best) is to my twitter account: @garethgwynn.

Alternatively, you can send me an email to gareth@bbc.co.uk (these get automatically copied to my boss too, by the way, so it's going to be especially exciting once it all gets going. I haven't actually warned him about this).

Then, all going to plan, you can hear me respond to these in a suitably petulant and surly manner live on BBC Radio Wales on Sunday at 5.45am. Or on iPlayer. Don't worry, I'm not operating under any illusion about this.