BBC News nostalgia, including BBC World

That was N8. That desk is roughly where the right hand "pod" was on the last set design.

This link should take you roughly there on Google Street View - you can see the flag design installed for that set etched on the glass in the newsroom railings.

I think you might be getting slightly confused there. In 1997 News 24 launched in N9 and did its own thing initially. The set seen in James's video didn't exist then. BBC World was its own separate 24-hour a day operation broadcasting out of N1. They used to use a newsroom background for bulletins but it was most definitely N1. I think this might be what you are thinking about overnight in the early days of News 24 as they used to dip in and out of World for a short bulletin:


From some time in, I think, early 1998 the joint overnight service launched between World and News 24 with N9 (News 24) being used most often.

Then, in autumn 1998 News 24 moved into the set depicted in the video posted by James - N8. News 24 remained in N8 until it moved to N6 in 2008. That original N8 set was used 24-hours a day on News 24 including the overnight joint service. World then moved into N9 later in the autumn of 1998 and stayed there until they moved into N8 in 2008.

Blimey. I've only skimmed through that, but there are plenty of curios there. I never knew World did hits into News 24 like that overnight (with their own Astons). I've also spotted Dan Corbett doing a weather trailer, USA Direct from a Washington studio with a real window, a bit of Richard Quest plugging viewers' websites, Rob Watson on the phone from the UN, and a live hit from Fishguard at 3.10am.]


her replacement was Emma Clarke, who has had plenty of BBC appearances too (such as this recent documentary about the history of the lift)

Overnights definitely came from that unknown set for a period of time, or at least sometimes, as shown in this clip (skip to 46 seconds in).

Samira's sitting where Gavin is in the video originally linked.

I don't recall seeing this shot used on News 24 before?



Had they decamped to a section of the N9 newsroom set to allow for maintenance in N8?

Yes, that's right - N8 only opened for the first time in autumn 1998 and became the standard News 24 set 24 hours a day (replacing N9 which World moved into). It was indeed used for the overnight simulcast with World but once it opened it was the News 24 set - so it was used all day. Sorry, the way you phrased it confused me.

Incidentally that first set in N8 (and News 24's second since it launched the year before) was affectionately known as the "car crash in a shower" set if I recall correctly.


I remember that weekend - autumn 2001 if I recall correctly. In fact, I recorded that clip and it's obviously been ripped off for YouTube Anyway, it was a maintenance weekend and I think there were some joint bulletins with World. On the hours where World only had a short summary they did that from elsewhere (probably a CSO set up, maybe in N6?) and News 24 could use its own branding in N9. Maxine is sat in the usual World newsreader's position on the main N9 set there but for some reason they varied the camera angle on the News 24-only hours. The World simulcast hours looked a bit more standard and used the overnight vamp and generic titles.

On the subject of N9, looking back after all these years it strikes me how much I preferred the look of the set as it was from April 2000 until August 2001:


During summer 2001 they made some cosmetic changes for the (re-)launch of The World Today. The major change they made was to replace the desk with the 'bumper cars' version which had a big gap in the middle. The cream panelling behind the newsreader was removed and the red wall behind the plasma screen was changed to a mirror to reflect the newsroom to make it look bigger. I thought all of those changes were inferior. The lighting also appeared much darker after the changes than it was before. The only change I liked came a bit later again in about April 2002 and that was to insert two red columns on either side of the entrance to the gallery which were behind the presenter in the MCU. That was quite effective, I thought.

Here is the result of all those changes in 2002:

I got my satellite installation just to watch bbc world news in 2000 it looked so good back then, two questions really what camera lenses did they use as N9 seemed to look a lot bigger particularly the main presenters shot, the red and beige backing behind the business/sport presenter, I actually thought it was some card right behind the presenter but I swear I saw people walk past it, so was it in the distance ?

The pace of the headlines in that second video 😍 compare to the long-winded rambling we get these days.

The good old days indeed.

I wonder who’d win the vote in a Studio N9 versus Studio C referendum?

Studio N9 for style and backdrop. I love the style and shape of Studio C but that awful newsroom backdrop makes it look like their broadcasting from a war zone.

Just been watching this video and the end sequence leading up to the Six:


It just reminds me - particularly seeing them in widescreen - how wonderful the flags were. What a build up to the top of the hour with such dramatic music. I'd say 1997-1999 was the absolute pinnacle of BBC News presentation for me - the fantastic flags motif on News 24 and World and the "virtual era" presentation on the main BBC1 news bulletins. I also loved the 1997 Breakfast News branding as well, much preferring it over the 1993 presentation. Looking back everything was absolutely sublime. What strikes me is just how colourful the flags were. I wish the channel still looked like that instead of boring red and white everywhere. It had a bit more character when it first started.