Reminiscing The Big Breakfast

On the 1000th Big Breakfast it was mentioned in Snap, Crackle & Pop that the boudoir had been decorated 5 times and showed all variants of it in order, although two shots clearly show it with the same wallpaper from the Lily Savage era. This clip dated 17th June 1996 still shows the bedroom decorated for Vanessa Feltz so it must have been changed again not long after this?

The clip above really must have been one of Mark Little’s last shows. I didn’t realise he was on it as late as June 96. Chris Evans’ R1 Show would have really been at its peak at this point, and presumably taking viewers from the BB.

Zoe really isn’t enjoying it is she? And she gets completely spoken over at the end. Though her delivery is so limp, no one is missing much.

Maybe it was a foreshadowing of them hiring Sharron Davies but I never understood the logic behind hiring Vanessa Feltz. My only guess is they were panicing from losing Gaby Roslin so felt she ticked some of the boxes Zoe Ball didn't.

Going from Paula Yates to Lily Savage to Vanessa Feltz highlights the absolute mess they were in with regards to hiring on screen talent. It's as if they couldn't decide on an identity.

I love the discussion about this show. It seems to have been successful for a combined total of 15 minutes and the rest of the time flailing about trying to recreate different parts of those 15 minutes, which somehow makes it the most interesting show to talk about

I'm not sure how fair a description that is to be honest. The programme was successful for a lot longer than that, but it had an 18 month period of huge popularity which no one at Planet 24 or Channel 4 could have predicted in their wildest dreams.

Even by 1999 The Big Breakfast allocated for 5% of Channel 4's entire advertising revenue, and was an incredibly profitable venture for the station.

It certainly was in my case. Actually because I always stuck with shows that had gone off the boil for far too long (see also Noel's House Party), I used to switch The Big Breakfast on but also listen to Chris Evans during the adverts on whenever there was a boring bit. By this point I was pretty much switching Chris Evans on at 7.01 and barely turning the sound back up on The Big Breakfast.



Lily Savage wasn't intended to be a permanent replacement for Paula, after Paula's abrupt departure there was a gap and then, presumably because there was a boudoir that needed filling, they looked to replace her. Initially Paul O'Grady was only announced as being for two weeks in the summer (presumably they were going to try others) but they went down so well they kept on inviting him back, well into the autumn, even though they had other commitments including the Prisoner musical in the West End so they could only appear once a week, they were so desperate to keep him on as it was the only success they were having. I do remember we missed his last show in May 1996, though, because we had a power cut.

By the time Vanessa had taken over the role had become a bit tenuous and there didn't seem to be much difference between what she was doing and the other presenters. She had a reputation at the time for being suitably outrageous so she sort of fitted in the Paula role, obviously her TV persona is not quite so much these days.

Of course there were a couple of people who refused to get on the bed with Paula, like Tony Benn and Cecil Parkinson because they were too serious for that kind of thing, so they sat on chairs instead. I remember Paula saying Nigel Benn, I think, refused to get on the bed because his religion forebade him as it had connotations with fertility, and she told him how lucky he was he had a religion that allowed him to beat people up but not sit on a bed.

It was a deliberate exaggeration on my part since the discussion of the show seems to mostly revolve around its failings rather than its successes as that’s what makes it fascinating.

That's true enough, as Morning Glory says one of the big problems was that it was at its peak after twelve months, and from then the only way was down - but there was another eight and a half years of it.

When Vanessa started I remember a C4 promo advertising her as starting at 0830. It was the first time I recall them promoting a specific part of the programme and a specific time and seemed a deliberate attempt to copy what GMTV were doing with their 0830/0900 Lorraine slot.

Don’t forget her ITV show was also running at this point (can’t remember if it was at 0925 or in the afternoon and whether it ran most of the year like This Morning). But it felt like the BB- for the first time in its history- wasn’t attempting to be as distinctive and alternative as its earlier days. Her slot seemed incredibly staid compared to the rest of the show.

Yes, Lily Savage made sense and bought something different to the show, almost carrying at times during a turbulent year. After that Vanessa seemed incredibly bland, but to be fair I think anyone would have done. At least the 1996 revamp gave her a clear role and slot with the regular beauty/fashion items and then the interview.

Have to wonder if it's ultimate demise was as much down to C4 becoming more successful in primetime and bringing in the revenue with Big Brother and other reality shows as it was it's own issues. As other areas of the schedule grew the money the show bought in became insignificant.