I have a confession: I am a huge fan of Radio Four. Not for me the terrifying early morning enthusiasm of most breakfast presenters: I wake up to the dulcet tones of John Humphrys shouting at somebody in a suit. This admission is often met with mockery: Radio Four is often unfairly stereotyped as a station for the middle-aged middle classes: thoroughly Middle England. This, however, is unfair and risks obscuring the wealth of quality broadcasting that the station has to offer.

Gwyneth Williams, who has been the Controller of Radio Four for just over two years, is the woman who is looking to nullify that stereotype. I meet Williams, arguably one of the most powerful women in the BBC, at Fitzbillies, where her primary concern is the infamously delicious Chelsea bun in front of her: not as intimidating as I thought, then. In fact, Williams is not intimidating at all: she is a warm and engaging interviewee, with an obvious passion for what she describes as “the best job in the BBC”. Originally born in South Africa, she was educated at St Hugh’s College, Oxford, before going on to rise through the ranks of the BBC, taking on enviable positions such as Editor of the Reith Lectures and Director of the English World Service.

The BBC itself turns ninety on the 14thNovember (unfortunately timed, during the midst of the furore over the Jimmy Savile revelations) and Williams speaks eloquently about the rewards of being in control of Radio Four in particular: as a station it is, she believes “deeply embedded in our national life”, and she counts herself lucky that the station’s audience are primarily looking for intelligent broadcasting, across all genres. The Radio Four audience is, she insists, “the most articulate and demanding audience anywhere in the world”.

 She is vocal about her dislike of the necessity of thinking in demographics: Radio Four appeals to listeners of all ages who have a passion for what she aptly describes as the “intimacy of radio” and the desire for an intellectually stimulating listening experience – a refreshing attitude in the days where the headlines regularly discuss the replacement of presenters (most frequently on Radio One, it has to be said) for those of an age that is deemed more fitting to that station’s particular demographical target. Williams is open about her dislike for the “marketing algorithms” that so often define what we are exposed to: they close people’s minds, she believes, leading us to a “blinkered state” where we only investigate things that are similar to what we already know we like.

Williams’ mission, then, is to continue and increase the eclectic nature of Radio Four’s programming: she intends to up the international and cultural focus of the station and has already instigated more science-based programming, including a primetime discussion show on Tuesday mornings. She is obviously passionate about the multi-genre aspect of the radio station, emphasising the importance of what she terms its “new Renaissance thinking” with regards to the heterogeneity of the schedule. She speaks with passion about every corner of the station’s programming, calling ‘In Our Time’ “arguably the most pioneering and brilliant discussion programme anywhere in the world” and defends the oft maligned ‘Thought for the Day’, arguing the case for the necessity of a “spiritual and religious corner” amongst increasingly secular interests.

Williams is emphatically not worried about the future of radio – we have after all, as she points out, an ageing population – but she is not blind to the danger of complacency and recognises the need for proactive decisions, particularly in spreading a taste for Radio Four amongst emerging generations: “we need to fight to preserve this. We all need to fight to keep this going”. The listening figures for the station during her time as controller have been overwhelmingly positive, with the Today programme recently beating Chris Moyles’ last ever breakfast broadcast in the ratings. She is confident that part of the reason for this is that Radio Four are currently filling a niche that nobody else is managing to, their particular type and quality of broadcasting unmatched, and the enduring popularity of radio in general as a medium: it “gives people a different imaginative space to play in”.

The increasing digitalisation of society, however, does present a new challenge for Radio Four, and radio in general: unlike the obvious ease with which print journalism (a separate issue from the struggling newspaper business) has adapted to the ubiquity of the internet, with Facebook plugins and tablet editions, the path for radio is less obvious. Williams is aware that the time for Radio Four to move into the internet age has arrived, and declares that her plan is very much focussed on exploring what the station could gain; particularly in terms of archiving. Radio Four is the only radio station currently in possession of its very own ‘Digital Archivist’, and Williams is focussing on widening access to the station’s “treasure trove” of archive material: she wants it to become a “virtual city of culture”.

I leave Gwyneth Williams after a thoroughly enjoyable hour with the unshakeable impression that Radio Four is in the hands of someone keen to expand its audience and increase its  reach: this can only be a positive thing, if only to save me from the early-middle-aged mockery.