Deke Duncan has spent the last 44 years playing for what he describes as “the smallest audience in the country,” which is his wife Teresa.

Deke never had a radio license, which meant that he could only “broadcast” through a speaker placed in the living room of his home in Stevenage, England, and he would often invite friends over to enjoy his show as well.

Deke and Teresa have since moved to Manchester, where he still loves to play records for her. Just when he thought his lifelong dreams of having his own show would never come true, something happened that he was never expecting!

Last month, BBC Archives tweeted a video interview they did with Deke back in 1974, and it quickly went viral as people desperately wanted to find the DJ.

#OnThisDay 1974: “The station’s entire audience has decided to go down the shops” Radio 77 held the dubious distinction of broadcasting to the smallest audience in the country. pic.twitter.com/xkUZnfAPpR

— BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) October 9, 2018

After Deke was finally found, the radio station asked him to co-present on a morning show with BBC Three Counties host Justin Dealey.

When Justin sat down with Deke, he reminded him that in his 1974 interview, he had said that his “ultimate ambition” was to DJ for his city of Stevenage, which has a population of about 87,000 people. He then surprised Deke by letting him know that his radio editor has decided to give him his own hour long show during Christmas that will be broadcast not only to one town, but for the hundreds of thousands of people living in Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, and Buckinghamshire.

Back in 1974, Deke Duncan ran a radio studio in his garden shed which broadcast to just one person – his wife. His lifelong ambition was to broadcast to the whole of Stevenage ?

This morning he co-presented a show with @justindealey and there was a very special surprise… pic.twitter.com/PGVWLhuN2k

— BBC Three Counties (@BBC3CR) November 18, 2018

Deke was both speechless and overwhelmed to hear this news, telling Justin to “pass the tissues.” Justin then brought Deke back to the home he had shared with his wife in the 1970s, and though the famous shed was no longer there, Deke described the moment as “magical.”

Deke Duncan and his Shed Radio story has gone viral. He’s waited 44 years for the credit he deserves. I love him. I took him back to his old house in Stevenage this morning where he built Radio 77. A station that was enjoyed by one person – his wife xxxx pic.twitter.com/jMXZQDbinK

— Justin Dealey (@JustinDealey) November 19, 2018

This serves as a reminder that you’re never too old for your dreams to come true!