It has gone from much-mocked backwater to the nation's favourite. Steve Pratt talks to the Controller of Radio 2 about her own journey from fan of Metro radio to Terry Wogan's boss.

LESLEY Douglas's five-year-old daughter Sarah became aware of what her mother did for a living when Terry Wogan started talking about her on his radio show. All the same, she's probably not quite grasped that her mum is considered one of the most powerful women in UK radio - and Wogan's boss.

"She just knows that presenters talk about me," says Newcastle-born Douglas, who became Controller of BBC Radio 2 at the start of the year.

Four months into the job, her latest signing is no less than Hollywood heart-throb Brad Pitt to present a documentary about singer-songwriter Nick Drake, who died in 1974, age 26. Quite a coup, although pleased as she is, Douglas is disappointed that she didn't get to meet Pitt. His comments have been recorded on his home ground of America rather than Broadcasting House.

Far from being a publicity stunt, she sees attracting the likes of Pitt to Radio 2 as evidence of something that often gets overlooked - that the production teams and editorial management are immensely strong and full of ideas. They heard Pitt was a fan of Drake and asked him to take part in the programme. It was as simple as that. The programme, Lost Boy - In Search of Nick Drake, is being broadcast on May 22.

She doesn't think of herself in powerful women terms. "It feels like I am doing a job that I love with a network I love. I do think I have the best job in radio," she says.

When she joined the BBC 20-odd years ago, she never in her wildest dreams imagined she'd end up running Radio 2, whose 13 million-plus listeners make it the most listened to station in the UK. Her ambition was to become a researcher - something she never achieved.

She worked as a production assistant in a research department before moving to the David Jacobs show in 1985. She was a producer in the music department and then Promotions, becoming Editor, Radio 2 Presentation and Planning in 1993.

Four years later she was made Radio 2's Managing Editor, and then Head of Programmes, as well as deputy to then-Controller Jim Moir from whom she inherited her current job.

GROWING up in Newcastle, radio made a far bigger and more lasting impression than TV on the young George Stephenson High School pupil.

"Obviously Radio 1 had a huge impact when I was a child, and Noel Edmonds is my breakfast show presenter," she says

"In the North-East at the time Metro was a huge station and James Whale was presenting the late night programme. I've never met him but used to listen to him late at night with my little trannie. Even then he did a phone-in and was controversial, but he managed the audience so cleverly."

Alan Robson is another local presenter she mentions as helping to shape her listening habits. While at university in Manchester, Piccadilly radio was massive and helped develop her listening tastes.

"I have listened to Radio 2 for a very long time. Although I watched television, it didn't have that intimacy and spirit," she explains. "I loved music with a passion and was intoxicated by it."

Working on the David Jacobs lunchtime show broadened her knowledge as she was introduced to different kinds of music, leaving her able to mention glam rock, punk and Bruce Springsteen ("he's been with me throughout") in the same breath.

"Working here broadens your interest in music. I'm open to so many genres," she says. "Last month we covered South By Southwest, the biggest music festival in the world. I went across as it was the first time we'd done it. There I was with presenters Mark Lamarr and Stuart Maconie trying to decide which gig we should go and see. I thought, 'it doesn't get much better than this - sitting with two people like that teaching me about music'."

Radio 2 programming is a continual evolution, and is about words as well as music. The proof, as far as she's concerned, is in the output which moves from brass band and organ music to the story of rap. Her only proviso is "that whatever we do we need to tackle in a way that's relevant to people in 2004".

Much has been written and said about the transformation and rise of Radio 2 into a respected and much-listened to station, no longer regarded as the dull, middle-of-the-road oasis of the BBC's network. While conceding that people's perception has changed, she points out that it's always been successful.

RADIO 1 DJ Steve Wright's move to Radio 2 made the industry think about the station's role. "He knows radio and listeners, and took the leap to Radio 2 before anyone else," she points out.

"I don't think Radio 2 thought, 'we need to do something about our image'. As Jim Moir said, it gave the media a reason to write about Radio 2.

"The other major change was when Jonathan Ross joined. The impact he had has been immense. Others, like Terry Wogan, have been there all the time."

As Controller, Douglas's role within the station has changed. Before, she was making things happen. Now, she's looking outward in the industry and thinking about Radio 2's place in it. Policy rather than production, I suppose you could sum it up.

"As head of programmes, I was making sure we had the right presenters and were keeping them happy, and making sure we had the right production teams working with them. Now the big difference is to stop doing that," she says.

She doesn't work in isolation, talking to those who run Radios 1 and 3 to see how their various music policies can complement each other. The media may point out Radio 1's falling audience figures but she believes the station is doing an immense job in building a younger audience.

She's arranged a transfer for two of Radio 1's presenters, Mark and Lard, to her station. Mark Radcliffe is set to join Radio 2, while Mark Riley, aka Lard, will be heard on BBC 6 Music, the digital music station for which Douglas is also responsible.

Away from the BBC, she and her music engineer husband have two small children - Sarah, five, and Leo, two - so home life tends to be dominated by children's TV shows like the Teletubbies and Walt Disney rather than radio.

She also owns up to being a Sunderland fan, although she was born in Newcastle. "My dad came from Sunderland, all of his side of the family came from there so my football began being taken to Roker Park from the age of seven," she explains.

She loves the game but doesn't harbour ambitions to run a sports station. "I think I am just a fan. I love listening to Five Live, but think, 'could I do that?'," she says.