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Did Moira ever lead the Six O'Clock News? (July 2018)

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LS
Lou Scannon
What did BBC1 NI show in the 6:30pm-7pm slot in those days?

A delayed Neighbours?

Considering that Neighbours without commercial breaks is/was less than 25 minutes, how could/did NI fill the 30-minute slot?

EDIT: Also, why did NI even have its main regional news in that pre-6pm slot, at odds with everywhere else?
MA
Markymark
Austin Tatious posted:
What did BBC1 NI show in the 6:30pm-7pm slot in those days?

A delayed Neighbours?

Considering that Neighbours without commercial breaks is/was less than 25 minutes, how could/did NI fill the 30-minute slot?

EDIT: Also, why did NI even have its main regional news in that pre-6pm slot, at odds with everywhere else?


My memory was that NI showed Neighbours 18:30 to 18:55, followed by a five minute local news round up ?
RI
Richard
Austin Tatious posted:
What did BBC1 NI show in the 6:30pm-7pm slot in those days?

A delayed Neighbours?

Considering that Neighbours without commercial breaks is/was less than 25 minutes, how could/did NI fill the 30-minute slot?

EDIT: Also, why did NI even have its main regional news in that pre-6pm slot, at odds with everywhere else?


It was Neighbours. They tended to record it off network at lunchtime and fade out the audio completely (well usually) if it had vo promoting afternoon programmes. They started doing this when there were other shows in the pre-6pm slot and when the national news finished at 6:35 it wasn’t a problem. When regional news elsewhere moved to 6:30 they added an “Inside Ulster Update” at 6:55 which, after a few years, had sign language.

The reason was presumably to be first with the news (before UTV). During the troubles, news was particularly important, and they always wanted to beat the competition (UTV has, for many years beaten BBC NI in the ratings for regional news).

The only this was, many people weren’t home from work by 5:35 so eventually it moved to 6:30 like elsewhere. At the time they publicised the move by editing together Neighbours clips to make it seem they were talking about the schedule change.

It’s worth noting that when there was an extended Six O’Clock News, BBC NI had to broadcast Neighbours at 5:35 and Inside Ulster at 6:40 or whenever.
RD
rdd Founding member
Richard posted:
JamesWorldNews posted:
I recall one occasion only when Witchell did a LIVE from the second seat whilst Lawley was in the main seat. It was a day of frantic political news so they had many LIVES and spun the monitor around to the respective presenter who was conducting it.

But as I say, I think this happened once only.

I've just also remembered a very last minute change on either the Six or Nine when they had no voiceover for the Presenters names. It was only "The Six (or Nine) O'clock News from the BBC".

Again, if I'm not mistaken, this happened once only. If I'm not mistaken, it was Frances Coverdale who was the last minute presenter. She ended up being a semi permanent replacement on both bulletins after that.


Before 1996, BBC NI’s local news went out at 5:35, and finished at exactly 6pm, with no trails and no clock into the 6 o’clock News. In 1993 this created an issue because the Virtual World version of the 6 didn’t announce the presenters. After a week or so the Inside Ulster presenters were told to say who was presenting the 6,


In the pre-virtual era, there would be a monitor beside the Inside Ulster presenter which would show the clock and the start of the Six O’Clock News titles (which BBC NI typically joined late in that period). They stopped doing this when the virtual era began though, and joined the titles from the very start.
RI
Richard
rdd posted:
Richard posted:
JamesWorldNews posted:
I recall one occasion only when Witchell did a LIVE from the second seat whilst Lawley was in the main seat. It was a day of frantic political news so they had many LIVES and spun the monitor around to the respective presenter who was conducting it.

But as I say, I think this happened once only.

I've just also remembered a very last minute change on either the Six or Nine when they had no voiceover for the Presenters names. It was only "The Six (or Nine) O'clock News from the BBC".

Again, if I'm not mistaken, this happened once only. If I'm not mistaken, it was Frances Coverdale who was the last minute presenter. She ended up being a semi permanent replacement on both bulletins after that.


Before 1996, BBC NI’s local news went out at 5:35, and finished at exactly 6pm, with no trails and no clock into the 6 o’clock News. In 1993 this created an issue because the Virtual World version of the 6 didn’t announce the presenters. After a week or so the Inside Ulster presenters were told to say who was presenting the 6,


In the pre-virtual era, there would be a monitor beside the Inside Ulster presenter which would show the clock and the start of the Six O’Clock News titles (which BBC NI typically joined late in that period). They stopped doing this when the virtual era began though, and joined the titles from the very start.

The change actually happened in 1992 when they had the Inside Ulster revamp. Previously, the opening few seconds of the Six O’Clock News music was played over a wide shot of the studio with, as you say, the Six titles on a monitor. The Six music acted, in a way, as the closing music of Inside Ulster even though they were completely different.

The 1992 IU revamp meant the programme had a proper close with its own music. The Six titles then started full screen immediately afterwards.
MA
Markyboy81
Moira did lead the Six in early 1999. She presented alongside Edward Stourton. My understanding is this only happened once
JamesWorldNews and Custard56 gave kudos
IT
itsrobert Founding member
Markyboy81 posted:
Moira did lead the Six in early 1999. She presented alongside Edward Stourton. My understanding is this only happened once

Unless it was a last minute occurrence, the BBC Genome database suggests otherwise. A search brings up only one occasion when they were scheduled to present together and that was in 1996. Ed's name is listed first, suggesting he led the bulletin.

https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?adv=0&q=moira+stourton&media=all&yf=1923&yt=2009&mf=1&mt=12&tf=00%3A00&tt=00%3A00#search
DE
DE88
Steve Williams posted:
itsrobert posted:
Having checked the BBC Genome database, it would seem Moira presented with Peter Sissons that day. I would very much guess that Peter would have led as he usually did.


He always did, because as he points out in his autobiography, he actually had it written in his contract that he would always be the senior presenter whenever he was on air. He says that Anna Ford once told him that he was the only presenter she would be willing to play second fiddle to, and he didn't have the heart to tell her she was actually contractually obliged to do that anyway.


Of course, Martyn Lewis moved from the Nine to the Six in 1994, trading places with Peter.

AFAIK, he too always led the bulletin. And Genome suggests that Anna never presented with him - if she did, then presumably it wasn't planned.

Quote:
The flying fish fingers era Nine was probably the one with the most equal partnership, because one presenter got to say good evening and read the headlines at the start, but the other presenter would read the headlines and say goodnight at the end. Presumably this came about because when John Humphrys and Julia Somerville started on the Nine they were doing it on their own, and when it went double headed they didn't want either of them to feel like they'd been demoted.


I thought they alternated reading the headlines at the start? Jules and John certainly do so in this clip from early on in the era:



And from the very end of the era, here's Martyn alternating with Mike Smartt:

MC
mccanmat
Quite a rare clip
Of Mike Smartt- I think I might have seen a clip of him on 6 o’clock news too
SP
Steve in Pudsey
Richard posted:
It was Neighbours. They tended to record it off network at lunchtime and fade out the audio completely (well usually) if it had vo promoting afternoon programmes.


Occasionally the recording would fail, so they would have to try again with the 5.35 showing, and hope that there was a clean start rather than Edd the Duck being mixed into it.
RN
Rolling News
mccanmat posted:
Quite a rare clip
Of Mike Smartt- I think I might have seen a clip of him on 6 o’clock news too

Another rare clip, here of Clarence Mitchell presenting the 6 with Anna Ford in 1997. I thought the only presenting he did was overnights on News 24 around the turn of the millennium?

EX
excel99
I'm sure Clarence Mitchell did some weekend BBC1 bulletins.

Talking of which, in the days when a senior presenter came in only for the late BBC1 news at weekends, did one presenter do the all the other bulletins - eg on Saturdays the 0725, 1300, BBC1 Teatime News and the BBC2 bulletin that aired around 1900? Or where these split between two presenters?

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