BBC Breakfast

If you're a freelancer, regularly deciding you don't fancy working odd days is not conducive to people wanting to employ you for regular work.

Also most freelancers will have a contact which sets out what they are required to do in order to get paid. If as a freelancer you're required to work 4 days a week on one job, then you work 4 days a week on that job. Unless you negotiate a change or exception to that contact, you can't just announce you won't be there on that day. If I (I freelance) am booked to do 5 days on an event in London. I can't decide a couple of weeks before the actual job that I'd rather not do the Sunday, because I may well find my employer decided to cancel my entire job. It's also going to mean I'm less likely to be booked for the next job they do.

I always found it odd that it was always the female presenter on Sundays who was the one selected to be the newsreader on Andrew Marr's show at 9am.

I was therefore surprised to see Roger Johnson pop up on Marr this morning, that I'm just watching on iPlayer.

Perhaps Naga had a 09:15hrs appointment to get her nails done at The Trafford Centre ?

Jokin' apart - intu Trafford Centre doesn't open until about 10am!

Not particularly surprising on a Sunday.

Ha, no. I drove up to Manchester very early a few weeks ago for a 9am appointment, I found myself passing the Trafford Centre at 7:40, so I dropped in in search of a coffee. I can tell you the place is deserted and running on emergency lighting at that time, in the gloom there was a woman at a Costa bar, she took pity on me. I don't think I'd want to be there on the Saturday before Christmas!

Or anytime at the end of November through to 2nd week in January - mayhem is not the word for it and the local motorway network becomes worse than a typical day on the M25!

Nice surprise to see Matt Smith doing the sport for the first time this morning, I really do think he's an excellent presenter. I hope this becomes a regular gig for him - and indeed, I wouldn't mind it if he moved a couple of seats along the sofa as Billy's replacement. He seems to tick all the boxes - he lives locally, he has experience of news through his Five Live days, he's presented thousands of hours of live television and he's a bit of a silver fox so I think the old ladies would love him.

That's a good call.

A much better backdrop used for Westminster interviews this morning:

Began a few days ago, created by Salford graphic designer James Mobbs.

Two new backing loops for Westminster / London that I've made with @smithedit for @BBCBreakfast #graphicdesign pic.twitter.com/tq2pnebFX8

— James Mobbs (@jamesmobbs) October 26, 2015

Nice to see Kent House/LWT on the one facing towards the city.