JW
Not forgetting the trio of Messrs Stewart, Suchet and Snow LIVE at the fall of the Berlin Wall.
BA
Here's most of the bulletin (courtesy of David Boothroyd)
It was the BBC that didn't really anchor on location much, if at all. The first memory I've got is from, I think, 1999. Didn't the last day of the virtual era have some bulletins anchored from Edinburgh?
Here's most of the bulletin (courtesy of David Boothroyd)
SW
This was quite an interesting election, presentation-wise. On the night, the main BBC1 programme came from Glasgow, with Kirsty Wark and Peter Snow, with Huw Edwards, a few days before he took over the Six, in London.
https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1999-05-06#at-22.55
Then the following morning, as Wales weren't counting overnight, Huw went to Cardiff to present further coverage...
https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1999-05-07#at-11.25
I remember Huw saying at the end they were continuing on BBC Wales alone.
Here's most of the bulletin (courtesy of David Boothroyd)
This was quite an interesting election, presentation-wise. On the night, the main BBC1 programme came from Glasgow, with Kirsty Wark and Peter Snow, with Huw Edwards, a few days before he took over the Six, in London.
https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1999-05-06#at-22.55
Then the following morning, as Wales weren't counting overnight, Huw went to Cardiff to present further coverage...
https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/1999-05-07#at-11.25
I remember Huw saying at the end they were continuing on BBC Wales alone.
LV
Sir Trev presenting ITV News at Nine from Kuwait during the Iraq war always sticks out to me, regarding anchoring out of the studio.
Remember it pulling in big audience numbers, being a pretty big deal for ITV to have it on at 9pm, & sadly they had to report on the loss of a colleague.
Remember it pulling in big audience numbers, being a pretty big deal for ITV to have it on at 9pm, & sadly they had to report on the loss of a colleague.
RD
Yes, which meant Martyn Lewis’ last bulletin for the BBC wasn’t in the studio but on location.
My recollection was that the elections were the Thursday and the on-location bulletins from Edinburgh were the Friday. However, this wasn’t quite the last day of the virtual era - the late bulletin on the Sunday night (which might not actually have been at Nine but a bit later) was the last virtual set bulletin. My recollection (might be faulty!) is that Michael Buerk did that one.
rdd
Founding member
It was the BBC that didn't really anchor on location much, if at all. The first memory I've got is from, I think, 1999. Didn't the last day of the virtual era have some bulletins anchored from Edinburgh?
Yes, which meant Martyn Lewis’ last bulletin for the BBC wasn’t in the studio but on location.
My recollection was that the elections were the Thursday and the on-location bulletins from Edinburgh were the Friday. However, this wasn’t quite the last day of the virtual era - the late bulletin on the Sunday night (which might not actually have been at Nine but a bit later) was the last virtual set bulletin. My recollection (might be faulty!) is that Michael Buerk did that one.
Last edited by rdd on 12 May 2020 5:55pm
JW
He’s also seen anchoring News at Ten LIVE from Soweto in 1990 on the eve of the release of Mandela in the clip at the top of this thread. He interviews Desmond Tutu in the process.
On the subject of the documentary I mention in the first post, does anyone have any idea what the strange “hangman” shaped structure is between Sandy Gall and Anna Ford? (Approx at 34mins).
Enjoyed the light hearted comment from Jon Snow about his ongoing Friendly rivalry with BBC’s Brian Barron and Barron dispatching Snow’s plane without crucial cargo onboard. Real swashbuckling days of tv news.
And, I wonder if Tom Bradby has inherited that office from Trevor McDonald? (We see Trevor packing up and switching his lights off and heading home one night after NaT).
Sir Trev presenting ITV News at Nine from Kuwait during the Iraq war always sticks out to me, regarding anchoring out of the studio.
Remember it pulling in big audience numbers, being a pretty big deal for ITV to have it on at 9pm, & sadly they had to report on the loss of a colleague.
Remember it pulling in big audience numbers, being a pretty big deal for ITV to have it on at 9pm, & sadly they had to report on the loss of a colleague.
He’s also seen anchoring News at Ten LIVE from Soweto in 1990 on the eve of the release of Mandela in the clip at the top of this thread. He interviews Desmond Tutu in the process.
On the subject of the documentary I mention in the first post, does anyone have any idea what the strange “hangman” shaped structure is between Sandy Gall and Anna Ford? (Approx at 34mins).
Enjoyed the light hearted comment from Jon Snow about his ongoing Friendly rivalry with BBC’s Brian Barron and Barron dispatching Snow’s plane without crucial cargo onboard. Real swashbuckling days of tv news.
And, I wonder if Tom Bradby has inherited that office from Trevor McDonald? (We see Trevor packing up and switching his lights off and heading home one night after NaT).
IT
I believe that was so they could insert the inset image over the shoulder of the newscaster, as seen here: https://www.tvark.org/?page=1973#. It looks quite primitive when compared to modern newscasting techniques, doesn't it?!
If you're interested in behind the scenes at ITN, then these are worth a watch:
itsrobert
Founding member
On the subject of the documentary I mention in the first post, does anyone have any idea what the strange “hangman” shaped structure is between Sandy Gall and Anna Ford? (Approx at 34mins).
I believe that was so they could insert the inset image over the shoulder of the newscaster, as seen here: https://www.tvark.org/?page=1973#. It looks quite primitive when compared to modern newscasting techniques, doesn't it?!
If you're interested in behind the scenes at ITN, then these are worth a watch:
JL
Yes, Martyn Lewis presented the Six from Edinburgh for his last bulletin, the day after the first elections to the Scottish Parliament.
As I say, the Beeb didn't really do much because there were separate departments within the Beeb who all had their own fiefdoms. As well as events there was also current affairs, responsible for programmes like Nationwide, Panorama and indeed the party conference coverage, while news were responsible for news bulletins (they were physically separate too, with news at TV Centre and current affairs at Lime Grove). So if the news was being anchored from the party conferences that would presumably tread on the toes of current affairs, so they didn't do it.
There were rare occasions of outside broadcasts. Michael Buerk presented the Nine from Washington in 1988 for the US elections, and Peter Sissons mentions "the only three times" he did it in his autobiography, which were Dunblane in 96 (A short clip of this was seen in his recent obtiuary, but I've never seen the full bulletin), during the Lewinsky scandal in 98, and Concorde crash in 2000.
Although, I think Sissons misremembered part of it, because he talks about having technical difficulties during the 1998 example, and saying George Alagiah was ready to take over in the studio if needed. I'm guessing this was actually the case for during Concorde, as I don't think George ever presented in the Virtual era, unless I'm mistaken?
It was the BBC that didn't really anchor on location much, if at all. The first memory I've got is from, I think, 1999. Didn't the last day of the virtual era have some bulletins anchored from Edinburgh? I really don't recall as much on location presenting from the BBC as ITN - they seemed to pioneer it, really.
Yes, Martyn Lewis presented the Six from Edinburgh for his last bulletin, the day after the first elections to the Scottish Parliament.
As I say, the Beeb didn't really do much because there were separate departments within the Beeb who all had their own fiefdoms. As well as events there was also current affairs, responsible for programmes like Nationwide, Panorama and indeed the party conference coverage, while news were responsible for news bulletins (they were physically separate too, with news at TV Centre and current affairs at Lime Grove). So if the news was being anchored from the party conferences that would presumably tread on the toes of current affairs, so they didn't do it.
There were rare occasions of outside broadcasts. Michael Buerk presented the Nine from Washington in 1988 for the US elections, and Peter Sissons mentions "the only three times" he did it in his autobiography, which were Dunblane in 96 (A short clip of this was seen in his recent obtiuary, but I've never seen the full bulletin), during the Lewinsky scandal in 98, and Concorde crash in 2000.
Although, I think Sissons misremembered part of it, because he talks about having technical difficulties during the 1998 example, and saying George Alagiah was ready to take over in the studio if needed. I'm guessing this was actually the case for during Concorde, as I don't think George ever presented in the Virtual era, unless I'm mistaken?
LV
On the subject of the documentary I mention in the first post, does anyone have any idea what the strange “hangman” shaped structure is between Sandy Gall and Anna Ford? (Approx at 34mins).
Looks like it’s for the over-the-shoulder graphic.
On the subject of the documentary I mention in the first post, does anyone have any idea what the strange “hangman” shaped structure is between Sandy Gall and Anna Ford? (Approx at 34mins).
Looks like it’s for the over-the-shoulder graphic.
ST
On the subject of the documentary I mention in the first post, does anyone have any idea what the strange “hangman” shaped structure is between Sandy Gall and Anna Ford? (Approx at 34mins).
Looks like it’s for the over-the-shoulder graphic.
Yes, it was just a metal structure to hold the 'blue screen' next to the presenters
to allow CSO graphics. It was before the days of using a DVE insert.
On the subject of the documentary I mention in the first post, does anyone have any idea what the strange “hangman” shaped structure is between Sandy Gall and Anna Ford? (Approx at 34mins).
Looks like it’s for the over-the-shoulder graphic.
Yes, it was just a metal structure to hold the 'blue screen' next to the presenters
to allow CSO graphics. It was before the days of using a DVE insert.
JK
I was always impressed with how ITN News provided some very good presentation, considering the lack of studio space. In their Wells Street home from 1969 to 1991 I think, they had just two studios, one was 2,000 Sq Ft and the other 700 Sq Ft. When they moved into Grays Inn Road at least the two basement studios were a bit larger, but still coming short compared to the space BBC News had at Television Centre.
The 1983 general election from ITN was truly excellent, as they had to squeeze a balcony set into that 2,000 Sq Ft studio, quite a feat, using wide angle lenses on cameras to make it look bigger, as they tried to compete with the BBC in their 8,000 Sq Ft election studio, which was one of the four medium sized ones at TVC, either TC3, 4, 6 or 8, am not sure.
The 1983 general election from ITN was truly excellent, as they had to squeeze a balcony set into that 2,000 Sq Ft studio, quite a feat, using wide angle lenses on cameras to make it look bigger, as they tried to compete with the BBC in their 8,000 Sq Ft election studio, which was one of the four medium sized ones at TVC, either TC3, 4, 6 or 8, am not sure.