Twenty Years of the Thunderclaps

You're right - that's great, and I think that shows you can achieve a sense of confidence and authority without an air of superiority. But I'd also argue the first News 24 countdown also achieved the same.

The kite definitely wasn't there at all at first - it wasn't added into the titles until around a year or so later. I didn't like the original version of the titles as they seemed to imply the programme was only for you if you were a business person or a city worker. Nor did I like the watered down version of the music.

I agree that the One O'Clock and Nine O'Clock News of the mid-80s were the best before it all went overly pompous in 1993. I liked the look of the virtual era, if not the music, until News 24 came along with a much fresher look and it suddenly all seemed incredibly dated in comparison .

Not much consistency either. Here for Election 97 they are using the 1986 theme from Breakfast Time, a theme which itself was scrapped eight years earlier in the 1989 rebrand, but using the 1993 theme for the region opt out.

Yes, I seem to remember the initial Breakfast News sequence from 1997 saw suited people walking amongst glass skyscrapers, people digitally imposed walking up Big Ben (!) and then ending with people walking along what looked a little like the Mall towards Buckingham Palace. The kite version that came in a little later was presumably in response to a need to "lighten the tone" and saw more casually dressed people at the end of the sequence at a beach / grassy cliff top (?) flying a kite.

It was a horrible edit of the original Breakfast News theme. I still love watching the original title sequence that launched in 1989 and ran through to 1993. Although the BBC had quite clearly dispensed with the populist approach of Breakfast Time by that point and viewers switched in their droves to TV-AM as a result, the original theme tune and title sequence for Breakfast News very confidently and stylishly (for the time) spelt out what it was about.

The "Headlines from BBC News" summary on my smart speaker (which was formerly a straight bulletin by a Radio 2 duty newsreader) has been replaced by a double-headed, dumbed-down thing, with a Lowe-esque headlines bed throughout. I can't find an example of it online though.

For me, the opening two or three bars (I think that it is the correct term) to the 93-99 Six O'Clock News music was immense. It rose from just a cymbal sound to a full orchestra belting out the tune in such a dramatic way.

I also loved the Breakfast News 93-99 music and the One O'Clock News reversion of the same era. I thought the Nine O'Clock News's theme tune was worse than the original 89-93 version but only marginally so - it sounded a lot more synthesizer driven. Of course, I believe the same era saw the introduction of an electric guitar to the Newsnight theme tune which, for me, worked well.

I loved the whole look of the 93-99 era too. Given how computer graphics have progressed in the time since, it would be really interesting to see how the look would have evolved had they stuck with it.

I have to differ with you on the countdown - I never liked it. I did like the flags to-the-hour sequence but I am and was a huge fan of the flags anyway. My big problem with the countdown since 2005 is the "reporter-as-hero" vibe - it's making the news more personality-driven, a development which I believe cheapens BBC News.

Perhaps the thing I miss just as much as the old 93-99 era was the era when reporters giving live interviews back to the studio presenter did not refer to each other by their first names and they did not thank them for giving them an update. Very American - and I love America and Americans but I am British, goddamn it!

Sounds like BBC Minute.

It’s a brand new bulletin which is run by a new team working on smart speaker audio projects. Which does also feature a new remix by David Lowe.

Wasn't that because there wasn't a long version of the 1993 Breakfast News theme (or 89, presumably)? I think the 1986 long Breakfast Time theme was used throughout the 90s whenever they needed a long version to put under some pictures. I think I've seen a Gulf War example somewhere using the 86 long theme (though I struggle to tell the difference between the 86 and 89 versions so could be wrong!)

Why is a radio bulletin double-headed, anyway? Seems a bit pointless for something that runs for a mere minute or two.

I actually think the over-thanking of colleagues on air has been a very BBC thing for many years rather than something new or American, but it does drive me mad.

I know many will totally disagree, and consider it polite and friendly, but so often it's unnecessary, and deadens a programme's pace. Breakfast is especially guilty of this with their banal, creaking, awkward links out of weather and sport, etc.. Just get on with it!

And don't get me started on regional presenters thanking the network host for throwing to them. They can't hear you, you know they can't hear you, we know they can't hear you, and we know you know they can't hear you! (Yes I'm looking at you, Look North Yorkshire).

Totally agree with you, especially about BBC Breakfast. What really annoys me is how Louise Minchin in particular shoehorns "morning!" into any kind of interview or transition. E.g. "we're joined now by our correspondent X. X, what's the plan now? Morning!" It's awkward and completely destroys the flow. And don't get me started on Naga!