Trevor Chappell (radio presenter)

Chappell was born and raised in Western Australia where, after completing high school, he moved into working in a range of odd-end jobs - including in mines, wheat bins in the far north-west, and as a builder's labourer.

When he turned 21, Chappell moved to Victoria where he studied teaching and then moved into youth work. Three years after this, he enrolled in an acting course at the National Theatre in Melbourne.[1]

Chappell hosts the Overnights program Australia-wide on Monday to Thursday mornings (Rod Quinn hosts the program on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings) from 2:00 am to 6:00 am AEST (midnight to 4:00 am AWST). South Australia and Northern Territory have their feed delayed 30 minutes to enable it to be broadcast in the same local time slot.

The program features a "How, When, Where, Why" quiz on minutiae of pop culture: television, popular music, movies, comic books etc., which stimulates discussions within that framework, with only occasional excursions into real life events. Regular guests include Scott Goodings (on television). The light-hearted atmosphere evaporates for the second half of the program, when adult subjects are discussed at a mature level, with guest interviewees and talkback callers featuring heavily. An overwhelming proportion of listeners, or at least respondents who go to air, are male, many of whom identify themselves as truck drivers. The program may be heard live on the ABC's Internet service and is available to be heard online for the following seven days. Chappell has listeners in Monterrey, Mexico; Portland, Oregon; Cheung Chau, Hong Kong; Tokyo, Japan; and Denver, Colorado. "Tom from Delaware" and "Harry", a lab assistant from Cootamundra, are regular callers.

Some callers during the quiz have said that Chappell does not give clues out during the quiz; however the technical operator and second host, Michael Pavlich, has become known as a "massive clue giver".

He is known for his dislike of the Beatles and his recall of the TV shows Owly's School, F Troop and popular Perth children's TV characters Fat Cat and Percy Penguin.

He is also a huge ABBA fan, with a special fondness for Bjorn; and he is known as a consummate Lapsang Souchong tea aficionado.

Some listeners believe Chappell should be recognised for his compassion on 8 February 2009 in the early morning program after the "Black Saturday" bush fires in Victoria.

• Trevor Chappell webpage