BBC Cambridge New Premises and Look East Revamp

The new studio is pretty good. Julie could do with being further away from the desk, but that is a minor quibble.

What the new set does is makes Look East seem to be more formal. Stewart clearly did not know what to do with his hands, and he felt as uncomfortable as I did. Some may like the formality. I do not think of Look East like that.

I will miss the forum backdrop. If they are doing screens, why not pipe the same view in to the new screens?

Strange how a very similar set design feels better done by Norwich than for the News channel.

I don't think the images to the back of the studio are screens. I think it's a blown up image with a few lighting effects behind some of the monitors. A bit like the ITV News studio 99-2004 where they had a fake newsroom, yet some monitors in the newsroom appeared to animate.

I'm 99% sure there are no windows into the studio at the Forum. According to the plans released by the BBC when they moved into the building, the studio is on the first floor in the circular extension visible here.

Yes, I think you're right, looking at the screenshots on TVARK, the image behind is the wrong angle to be a window. I always assumed it was a big plate glass window like the view from their newsroom

Quite! I have no idea what they are on about, and neither has anyone else!

I think people thought, as dosxuk said, that the shot of the Forum used by Look East until now was a real window. People have obviously never been to the Forum or seen pictures of it as if they had they would know there is no red in the place at all which is not what the Look East background would have led you to believe.

There is however a large window into the atrium of the Forum from the newsroom (you can actually walk right in front of it) so perhaps this is what people were getting confused with.

I've been there several times, but I'm no expert on the building so I'm not entirely sure, but I believe the newsroom is on the second floor, with the public balcony only being on the first floor - the newsroom extends over this balcony giving an unobstructed view from there across the atrium. From the public balcony you can look into the radio studios which are adjacent and also have large glass windows.

Yes, my mistake as explained in my last post

I agree Stewart did look uncomfortable, I thought he would prefer a desk too! So much for the desk being a 'barrier' Would have been nice if they could of squeezed a sofa in for a soft set ala North West Tonight.

Nope - it's always been a projector. The Norwic studio isn't in a location that could get a decent view of the forum, and doesn't have a window. The presenter backdrop has been changed a couple of times I think. The most recent Forum view was heavily artworked to get some red into it so it nodded to the corporate look (and they didn't repaint the entire library!)

Was wondering what you were talking about when it came to windows.

There isn't one AFAIK - and if there is it's never been seen in vision. (Could be a little one in the door!)

Some people had confused the big projector - which originally (like the old beige/red One/Six/Nine and then Ten nationals set) had a real view fed into it, and then a heavily artworked view - with a window.

Haven't seen either Norwich or Cambridge on-air this week but will try to soon.

Stewart has presented behind desks and from informal areas in the past - I guess it just takes a bit of time to get used to the changes.

The show was desk based for most of the late 80s (when it was in the newsroom) and the 90s (when it went back into the studio and had a succession of different shaped desks - including the infamous dining table, which got sawed in half!)