The Newsroom

20 years of the BBC News Channel (BBC News 24)

Thursday 9th November 2017 marks 20 years since it's launch (November 2017)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
GE
Gareth E
I took this screengrab on Thursday afternoon, but then got side-tracked by work and forgot about it until now. This was from one of the archive headline sequences, showing Chris Eakin and Maxine Mahwinney in N9, the soft set opposite, and - my favourite bit - a sport or weather presenter caught mid-yawn on the wall monitor Smile

*


Which programmes actually used that soft set? I only remember Zero 30 using it, but was that the only programme to use it?


IIRC Weekend 24 made use of it on Saturday mornings, back in the days when it was simulcast on BBC Two at 8am.
NG
noggin Founding member
I took this screengrab on Thursday afternoon, but then got side-tracked by work and forgot about it until now. This was from one of the archive headline sequences, showing Chris Eakin and Maxine Mahwinney in N9, the soft set opposite, and - my favourite bit - a sport or weather presenter caught mid-yawn on the wall monitor Smile

*


Which programmes actually used that soft set? I only remember Zero 30 using it, but was that the only programme to use it?


IIRC Weekend 24 made use of it on Saturday mornings, back in the days when it was simulcast on BBC Two at 8am.


Europe Direct used to come from the sofa set, as did some of the afternoon sequences (Active World, Active UK etc.) when they went single-headed for the back-half hours, or when there was a strand programme like the science stuff they used to do in the mornings. I'm trying to remember if the phone-in show 'Interactive' also came from the sofa?

If a business presenter had an interviewee then often business would come from the sofa set too.
VM
VMPhil
Hi noggin, do you know more about 'Interactive'? I was asking about it earlier in this thread as it seemed to share the same opening titles as UK Today. Sounds as though it wasn't at all similar then?
NG
noggin Founding member
Hi noggin, do you know more about 'Interactive'? I was asking about it earlier in this thread as it seemed to share the same opening titles as UK Today. Sounds as though it wasn't at all similar then?


Pretty certain that UK Today was originally called Active UK (change of name to UK Today came either in, or a bit before, Nov '98 when News 24 moved from N9 to N8 and started generating BBC One England DSat and DTT regional News content at 1330/1830) - I wonder if the 'Active' bit of the original name is causing some confusion? (There was originally an 'Active World' equivalent in a different back half)

From memory some of the daytime stings - like Active World, Active UK and the Science strand were very short... Kind of just like an explosive fuse 'fizzle'.

Interactive was the evening phone in show (from hazy memory).
VM
VMPhil
Hi noggin, do you know more about 'Interactive'? I was asking about it earlier in this thread as it seemed to share the same opening titles as UK Today. Sounds as though it wasn't at all similar then?


Pretty certain that UK Today was originally called Active UK (change of name to UK Today came either in, or a bit before, Nov '98 when News 24 moved from N9 to N8 and started generating BBC One England DSat and DTT regional News content at 1330/1830) - I wonder if the 'Active' bit of the original name is causing some confusion? (There was originally an 'Active World' equivalent in a different back half)

From memory some of the daytime stings - like Active World, Active UK and the Science strand were very short... Kind of just like an explosive fuse 'fizzle'.

Interactive was the evening phone in show (from hazy memory).



Here are the two screenshots I posted showing the Interactive and UK Today versions of the same graphics:

NG
noggin Founding member


Here are the two screenshots I posted showing the Interactive and UK Today versions of the same graphics:



Yep - that 'look' was used for a couple of brands on the channel - even though the shows had little in common. I don't think that UK Today was originally called UK Today though - pretty sure it was Active UK initially (though the re-name to UK Today may have happened sooner than I thought).
JO
johnnyboy Founding member
Weekend 24 - my only daytime exposure to the channel when it launched so I lapped up every minute of it.

From memory, weren't the opening titles set in a couple's front room and displaying on their TV were different sequences of flags? I can't remember for the life of me what the theme tune was like, though.
VM
VMPhil


Here are the two screenshots I posted showing the Interactive and UK Today versions of the same graphics:



Yep - that 'look' was used for a couple of brands on the channel - even though the shows had little in common. I don't think that UK Today was originally called UK Today though - pretty sure it was Active UK initially (though the re-name to UK Today may have happened sooner than I thought).

Thanks for that information noggin. I was trying to figure out if both shows had some connection as they shared graphics, evidently they didn’t.

TV Ark had a screenshot of those graphics for ‘UK Tonight’ as well - I don’t think they made the Today/Tonight distinction in the name after the 1999 revamp.

67 days later

RI
Richard
Weekend 24 - my only daytime exposure to the channel when it launched so I lapped up every minute of it.

From memory, weren't the opening titles set in a couple's front room and displaying on their TV were different sequences of flags? I can't remember for the life of me what the theme tune was like, though.

Yes, I remember those titles. Think the theme tune was nothing remarkable!
BR
Brekkie
I'm guessing this is what News 24 did at 10pm in it's early years - did they have special titles for it?
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y163/brekkieboy2001/n24.jpg
TF
TellyFan
I don’t know, but she looks like she’s just rolled out of bed.
RN
Rolling News
Who is that presenter?

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