BBC Breakfast

I think he could be a good choice. Based in the north and that's important because the BBC have to be developing talent based in the north. Has some one show experience so practised at switching between subjects. As always for Breakfast he isn't a complete unknown but also not someone who is going to take over HD become bigger than the show.

If he does takeover then Sunday's won't be changing anytime soon.

Does anyone know if Bill Turnbull is ill or something? Seems a bit radical (in BBC Breakfast terms, at least) to alter the presenting line-up for the first working week of 2016 when viewers will be expecting to see the familiar Bill / Louise and Charlie / Naga pairings. I agree that Dan Walker is a good presenter, though I've always associated him with sport.

Who know if he's ill, but he's leaving so I wouldn't be surprised to see him start to cut back on his hours.

The fact that Dan Walker is not down to present his 5 live show tomorrow, Tuesday or Wednesday makes me think this has been planned, rather than Bill being ill. If Bill was ill I'd be surprised if they'd call someone who'd never presented the show before as cover. Charlie Stayt, Jon Kay, Roger Johnson, Simon McCoy, Naga Munchetty, Sally Nugent, would I think all be on the list first.

Could it be a John Stapleton style exit for Bill? No goodbyes, no montages, no announcement...just sign off like usual?

Interesting choice - can't imagine him in the role really but he's always been a great sports presenter for the BBC. I guess if he got the role his Football Focus duties would see him take the Monday to Wednesday slot rather than Charlie move up and Dan host Thursday to Saturday.

I can't envisage them "ignoring" Bill Turnbull's departure - especially given that he broke the news on air to Breakfast viewers in the autumn, so it's expected. It's not like Susanna Reid in 2014, where her defection to itv (and their rival breakfast show, no less) meant it was a rather awkward situation. If memory serves correctly, Reid's departure wasn't mentioned and she was simply there one day and gone the next.

I imagine when the time comes, Bill will get an emotional exit rather like that Sian Williams received in 2012 (?) just before Breakfast moved to Salford.

It was John's choice, much like Alastair Stewart's choice not to have a big fanfare for his final 6.30 & NaT.

OK, fair enough... for some reason, though, I still think it would be highly unusual for Bill not to have some kind of an exit from the programme. I may well be wrong, though.

From whenever I've watched Breakfast (Christmas, New Year, weekends etc) he seems as understated as Alastair and John. They all seem to put the stories first before themselves as on screen talent.

He's been the main presenter for a decade or so, not an occassional stand in / reporter who had technically only been on the show he left for a few months. It was also a decision which led to more Kate Garraway on TV, something which shouldn't be celebrated.


And Alastair Stewart never got a goodbye package from the Evening News because he hadn't left the show, just had his days cut. I don't watch the bulletin on a daily basis but to be honest of the editions I have seen since the changes think I've seen Alastair front it more than Mark.

As for Bill with Breakfast being so news led it's actually quite difficult to compile a "best bits" compared to a presenter led format.

You haven't. The number of times Alastair has presented the evening news since he 'left' you could probably count on one hand. He doesn't even fill in every time Mark is off, we've had Rageh Omar and James Mates on duty some nights.

In any case, considering the type of show Breakfast is, and how light hearted the end of the programme is, I do expect a farewell, with clips shown, Steph and Carol joining in etc etc. The other two are examples aren't good examples because John Stapleton was barely on GMB, and Alastair hasn't fully left ITV News.