Election 2010

ELECTION 2O1O

I would agree that 2005 was my favourite election coverage of the century- a great team of David Dimbleby, Peter Snow, Jeremy Paxman, Andrew Marr and Tony King, and a brilliant set, with all the "windows" overlooking Shepherd's Bush and the numerous shots of TV Centre. It was also probably the last election with umpteen reporters and the likes of Adrian Chiles and Lizo Mzimba being pressed into service, and of course the last one with Snow and King.

Dimbleby was in particularly playful mood and there was some great stuff with Paxman as well, the Galloway moment is the famous one (and everyone forgets as soon as it finished he turned to David Lammy and took up completely the opposite argument) but there was also some great chat earlier on with Shirley Williams and Lord Falconer having a really good-humoured argument about postal votes, and Boris Johnson, funnily enough, saying it was brilliant it wasn't a Labour landslide and then trying to explain he didn't mean it like that.

Also it was probably the last "boring" election where we came out of it pretty much the same way we started, so it was all about the fun and excitement of election night for its own sakes and the graphics and the chat and so on. Unfortunately that's the reason why everyone's forgotten about it and so it won't get regular repeats, but 2005 was a great election on the Beeb.

2005 was my favourite election set, the lighting was great and along with the 'windows' (which I'm sure at the time looked more convincing but now are very obvious screens) gave a different feel to the programme as night turned into day.

For me it was the BBC's 1997 Election Set that was the best. Expansive and full of authority plus it looked a TARDIS on steroids.

If you're looking for a type face atrocity, look no further than the sign on this door, I wish I'd taken a photo when I saw it, but it's in a similar vein, it's a bit blurred but I think you get the drift ?

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.510207,-0.1184099,3a,15y,266.23h,84.81t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sB_HHwDHzYCbjv1QPYkWbHw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

I think your favourite election lineup of presenters is a bit like everyone’s favourite Blue Peter era - for me I’ll always remember Dimbleby, Paxman and Snow as the “classic” lineup that got me into politics as a kid and teenager. I’m sad 2005 hasn’t ever got a proper repeat in the last fifteen years, it’s important as the last election that predates modern social media and Snow’s final General Election before Vine took over. It also only seems to exist online in blurry LP VHS, which is especially a shame with that brilliant version of Arthur used. This year would work nicely too as a 15th anniversary, but generally it would be nice to be taken back to being 16 years old again, watching the all-night coverage on my old analogue 4:3 CRT waiting for the day I could actually vote in these things.

2010 does at least hold some interest for me as it was the first general election I voted in (first ever was the 2008 London mayor election) and one where I noted down all my friend’s Facebook statuses to try and create my own “exit poll” of the result. As it predicted a Lib Dem landslide with just one vote each for Labour and Tory it didn’t turn out that accurate!

EDIT: Just found out that a far higher quality version of 2005 was uploaded a few months ago, great to see!

I would agree with that, it was very much the last of that era of BBC elections which dated back probably to the eighties. It was also the last one before it got completely integrated into the News Channel so it had its own bespoke graphics rather than just using the generic BBC News ones, and so felt like a proper one-off event instead of just a simulcast of the News Channel. As you say, it was Peter Snow's last, as well as Tony King's, both of whom had been there since 1983 (which in itself would have been a big change at the time, I think, as the first for decades without David Butler and Bob McKenzie, and the first with computer graphics).

2010 is probably the first election that looks like what we get now, I know there's no Dimbleby now but it has the same approach in terms of graphics and the structure of the programme, with fewer reporters on the beat and the introduction of the touchscreen and so on.

I have to say it again, Cllr. David Boothroyd's channel really is worth subscribing to. Lots of the surrounding stuff to each election, and local elections in between. And, for over a year now, in 50fps.

Would love to see an upload of Election 2010 from this showing (in parts) to YouTube as it's one of the only modern ones missing, if possible please?

Furthermore, a while back I had a watch back of what I think was Election 2015 and it felt like a breath of fresh air from the current news climate

I'm sure you can wait until next Friday!

It is interesting that the 1983 General Election was probably the most sterile General Election programme that the BBC ever produced. In the studio there was just Dimbleby, Snow and Sir Robin Day (and guests). All the production staff were hidden out of view and Tony King & John Cole only made sporadic appearances throughout the night. The computer graphics were very basic and lacked effect and Snow was seated most of the night, therefore not jumping about the set as we came to expect in later years. It was also a short broadcast. The programme started just before 11pm and finished by 4am, before resuming the next day. I think I read somewhere that it was possibly not even made in studio one, so downsized was the production. It was until 1992 that the BBC returned to the vast set, complete with rows of production staff in the background.

If you are interested in American election programmes this is an excellent YouTube channel. During the long hours of lockdown I have been enjoying the NBC Presidential election broadcasts of yesteryear. Tom Brokaw and John Chancellor were an excellent team.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7X0LKts7k4FT498Id_x5sg