.. his Thather-era sidekick Gordon the Gopher. Presumably any kids of the thatcher era are going to expect an on-air fisticuffs between Schofield and Mr Gopher. I know I will be.
The sudden death of the leader of the opposition has happened during the lifetime of most of us, John Smith in 1994. that was totally unexpected
Very true - though mercifully (from the news perspective) early in the morning, and before rolling news.
This behind the scenes video of BBC News from 1989 deals with a situation which may have seen a political obit used - resignation of Nigel Lawson as Chancellor -
Thanks for the clip. It's amazing to play spot the names as you go through - so many people on that clip are current/recent management.
How would our world have been different if some other average woman had been born, by accident of birth, into the same role? In other words, precisely how has she influenced political or other historic events over the past 60 years?
Who knows? We can never know. Even if she hadn't just the fact of how long she's been in office and what has happened in that time makes her of extreme historical importance.
Compare her to Queen Victoria. In terms of direct influence she had as much as Elizabeth 2nd but that doesn't stop her from being a major historical figure. Her death will mark the end of an era more than anything else and the changes that have taken place in the 2nd Elizabethan era are certainly on a par, if not more than, those of the Victorian era. Whether or not those monarchs actually directly influenced those decisions is irrelevant
Quote:
(And yes, I know that foreign heads of state get to have their pictures taken with U.S. presidents, and if they're in office for a long time, the collections of photos can get pretty extensive.)
Of course those photos are more a symbol of stability and continuity that a monarch brings, but do you really think that when she meets these leaders they just talk about the weather?
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 12 April 2013 2:07pm
Incidently, the producer featured, Adrian Van Klavern is the former controller of 5 Live who got moved aside during the Savile affair and is now in charge of the World War 1 anniversary
Incidently, the producer featured, Adrian Van Klavern is the former controller of 5 Live who got moved aside during the Savile affair and is now in charge of the World War 1 anniversary
also a brief appearance by the new DG
And the editor in charge of the Nine O'Clock News is Mark Damazer - former Radio 4 controller.
Schofield and Wiloughby aren't actually "covering the funeral" though are they, they are presenting This Morning which will include bits from the funeral.
ITV have presumably realised that the mixed feeling about this particular event means there isn't much pressure to cover the event properly. I don't think it has any bearing on what may or may not be done for future events.
Who knows? We can never know. Even if she hadn't just the fact of how long she's been in office and what has happened in that time makes her of extreme historical importance.
Again, I would argue that longevity alone does not equal historical importance. To me, the importance of a historical figure is determined primarily by how that person has changed the course of historic events. Any book about post-WWII history is likely to discuss Thatcher and her legacy in great detail, while mentioning the Queen in passing. But I guess we'll have to -- and sorry for using that tired cliche -- "agree to disagree."
Compare her to Queen Victoria. In terms of direct influence she had as much as Elizabeth 2nd but that doesn't stop her from being a major historical figure. Her death will mark the end of an era more than anything else and the changes that have taken place in the 2nd Elizabethan era are certainly on a par, if not more than, those of the Victorian era. Whether or not those monarchs actually directly influenced those decisions is irrelevant
I would argue that this merely underscores the fact that they are essentially figureheads. Terms such as "the Victorian era" and "the Elizabethan era" are primarily convenient historical shorthands to describe specific periods of time (the 19th century and the post-WWII era, respectively) and have little to do with the monarchs themselves -- although Victoria's involvement in politics was considerably greater than Elizabeth II's,
Last edited by WW Update on 12 April 2013 4:22pm - 3 times in total
Schofield and Wiloughby aren't actually "covering the funeral" though are they, they are presenting This Morning which will include bits from the funeral.
ITV have presumably realised that the mixed feeling about this particular event means there isn't much pressure to cover the event properly. I don't think it has any bearing on what may or may not be done for future events.
Perhaps not, but the event will presumably be so big that it will consume the entire footprint of TM on the day. I can't envisage "in a few moments, we'll cross over LIVE to St. Paul's cathedral to see the arrival of The Queen for Baroness Thatcher's funeral. First though, over to Gino in the kitchen for a sausage surprise."
Why not just drop TM for one day or, if necessary, ignore the funeral completely and leave it to the BBC.
The Andrew Marr documentary - it looked like it had been on the shelf for a while - because everyone looked younger than they do today. Presumably he recorded his voiceover well before his stroke? Or did he update it this week? I'm wondering about his health, and whether there is any news?
Update: googling around it seems it was a repeat anyway.
