The biggest pain I feel in writing this is that I never told Al how his one act of kindness / faith / opportunity he gave to me had such a profound impact on my life. I hope he knew how significant it was.

I first met Al when I started working at Total Media. Having left school with a less than impressive list of qualifications, I adopted a ‘beggars can’t be choosers approach’ to employment. Through blind luck I found myself working in the exciting world of media, unfortunately in the less than exciting role of credit controller. Al, being one of the nicest, most approachable, and easiest people to talk to, I asked him for some career advice. No more than 5 minutes later he suggested we have a chat at the local pub. Little did I know it was really an interview to join his team.

And just like that I took my first step into the world of TV under the wing of Al Munday, showing me the ropes where my days became packed with nuggets of advice I carry with me to this day, including, ‘know your schedule’, which randomly saw me spending large chunks of my time scouring the Radio Times with a highlighter as if I was an elderly in the lead up to Christmas. I never worked out if this was a serious task; something he gave me to do to keep me out of trouble or for his own amusement, akin to how an apprentice would be treated on a building yard. Either way I did it, because Al asked me to and in my eyes, he knew it all. He’d been there, done it and proudly wore the t-shirt. I very much saw myself as a Luke to his Yoda.

My time working with Al was cut short when he left to go travelling, but the subsequent 12 years of my working life have remained within the TV sphere. Al, I owe you a massive thank you for giving me a chance when others didn’t and for allowing me to learn from the best.

Eternally grateful, your Padawan – Sam