The Newsroom

BBC Newsnight

(March 2010)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
ST
Stuart
No surprises here but Nick Watt from the Guardian is Newsnight's new Political Editor.

http://order-order.com/2016/03/12/nicholas-watt-new-newsnight-political-editor/

Presumably this removes him from his role as one of the weekly live twitteratti on Sunday Politics.
DT
DTV
I know the debate over the Newsnight segment in Catherine Tate's Nan has been left for a few months, but having actually watched that bit back on iPlayer for the first time it struck me that the answer is probably a lot simpler than some BBC edict from on high like we all suspected. The programme is a studio sitcom so was it not simply a case of doing it 'live' to the studio audience rather than a prerecord given that is a long segment and in such cases performers react to the audience and need to pause so dialogue isn't drowned out by laughter. In this case I would suspect that it was simply preferred to make a small recreation of the set in the studio rather than going to the effort of a prerecord from Studio B that would not have that audience feedback effect.

Given the nebulous consistency of other programmes discussed I expect that in general it has a lot more to do with studio/presenter availability as well as individual programme preference as opposed to a BBC wide policy.

43 days later

LL
London Lite Founding member
James O'Brien will be presenting from BH tonight as Evan Davis is up in Liverpool.

22 days later

SC
scottishtv Founding member
Even Victoria Derbyshire hasn't done this in Studio B:
RK
Rkolsen
Even Victoria Derbyshire hasn't done this in Studio B:
...


Quite a makeshift cooking set. I take it there's no place in NBH where a cooking segment be hosted or perhaps a piece of furniture that's designed for cooking segments? I'm thinking of a unit on rollers that has a built in cooktop and maybe an oven along with ample counter space.
SW
Steve Williams
Not sure that's especially a priority, to be honest.
NG
noggin Founding member
Even Victoria Derbyshire hasn't done this in Studio B:
...


Quite a makeshift cooking set. I take it there's no place in NBH where a cooking segment be hosted or perhaps a piece of furniture that's designed for cooking segments? I'm thinking of a unit on rollers that has a built in cooktop and maybe an oven along with ample counter space.


There are no general TV cooking shows made in NBH - it's a news building in TV studio terms (with the exception of The One Show). There are cooking segments on Woman's Hour (a radio show) sometimes, but they don't need 'TV friendly' cooking facilities. Cookery isn't news. (I know some US local news shows are quite soft and might include a cooking segment - but these days that really isn't what the BBC does in news programmes. Though in the '80s on - the very soft in places - BBC Breakfast Time there was a resident chef - Glynn Christian)

The One Show have done cooking occasionally in the past - and I assumed just hired in suitable facilities (it's relatively easy to hire a cooking set from a props company in West London) - though as ever with studio cookery you have to be aware of limitations (4 ring electric hobs are high current items, gas cookers require a very safe gas supply to be properly tested - even if from a gas bottle - and you need to risk assess how bottled gas is stored and moved - you certainly don't leave pressurised bottle of propane or butane hanging around in corridors... This is often why you see self-contained cartridge gas stoves or 'portable' twin electric hobs used)

The near total lack of set storage facilities in W1 (it wasn't designed for set-strike but for set-standing) mean that things like a cookery set that would be used once or twice a year make no sense to store locally, and it is far more cost effective to hire.

Of course you also have to ensure the right fire protection systems are inhibited and the inhibition is mitigated). There are a LOT of continuous news services on air 24/7 in the BBC W1 buildings, you really don't want to take them off-air because someone forgot to arrange for smoke detection to be disabled...
Last edited by noggin on 18 May 2016 12:09pm
SC
scottishtv Founding member
...which makes it all the more impressive that Newsnight was able to cobble together so quckly a lighter, pis.s-take item like this at short notice (for those not in the UK, it's related to Tuesday's furore over BBC recipes website).
RK
Rkolsen
Even Victoria Derbyshire hasn't done this in Studio B:
...


Quite a makeshift cooking set. I take it there's no place in NBH where a cooking segment be hosted or perhaps a piece of furniture that's designed for cooking segments? I'm thinking of a unit on rollers that has a built in cooktop and maybe an oven along with ample counter space.


The One Show have done cooking occasionally in the past - and I assumed just hired in suitable facilities (it's relatively easy to hire a cooking set from a props company in West London) - though as ever with studio cookery you have to be aware of limitations (4 ring electric hobs are high current items, gas cookers require a very safe gas supply to be properly tested - even if from a gas bottle - and you need to risk assess how bottled gas is stored and moved - you certainly don't leave pressurised bottle of propane or butane hanging around in corridors... This is often why you see self-contained cartridge gas stoves or 'portable' twin electric hobs used)


I couldn't think of the name of The One Show and I was thinking that they'd have a cooking set/ counter.

50 days later

DA
davidhorman
James O'Brien shared a little joke with an interviewee just now. Nothing wrong with that. But he was still chuckling when he spun in his chair and back to his autocue to start the next piece:

"<haha> The <hah> murder -... I beg your pardon..."

Embarassed

Probably at about 23:28 on iPlayer if you want to watch and wince.
SC
scottishtv Founding member
I was watching live, and to be fair to him, it was Ruth Davidson who offered the humour at the end of her interview and he was reacting to that. I thought he made a pretty quick recovery and didn't dwell on his mistake.

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