I approached this with a completely open mind, because for the last few months I didn't believe that ITV were going to do this relaunch any justice and we would end up with just a sad imitation of the old programme. I have also been an avid BBC News viewer for as long as I can remember, so didn't want to dish the dirt unfairly. However,
The title sequence is better than expected; the slowing down as we "fly" around the London Eye is quite dramatic when mixed with the music, although my mind tells me that there are one too many beats of the bass drum before the bongs.
Despite my numerous posts about how tacky a CSO set would look, I was impressed. It looks amazing, and can only imagine how it would look in HD. I actually liked the "glass panels" far more than I thought from the publicity shots.
The graphics and stings throughout were subtle and matched the style of the programme.
The closing sequence took me back more years than I care to remember. I'd forgotten how good that music actually sounds.
On the whole, an excellent return. ITV certainly haven't wasted the opportunity on the evidence of the first night. The only real negative point for me was Trevor McDonald. But his rather false over-emphasis of particular vowels has always annoyed me.