The Yorkshire and Lincolnshire Thread

Good news to hear that YTV's 40th anniversary isn't going unnoticed. Rachel Phillips on today's lunchtime Calendar said that the 6pm bulletin tonight would have a special feature about children's programmes produced by Yorkshire and that more would be featured 'over the next few weeks'

I doubt we'll get any special programmes as such, if we ever did it probably would be tucked away one Sunday at 5:30pm or something like that, sadly.

Yes tonight there was a feature showing old YTV children's programmes, all from the 1970s it seemed, although they also mentioned My Parents are Aliens

There was a nice montage of chevrons in the background behind Duncan and Christine during this feature, although the Channel 3 "3" was also featured

I e-mailed "ITV Yorkshire" asking if any special programmes would be put together. I got this response from Will Venters at Calendar:



Hmm... well at least the celebrations aren't shoved to a dead-end slot on a random Sunday then...

Last nights 'Live' broadcast from ULL's tidal barrier saw the culmination of the year long marathon of prattling on about the ULL floods. With the exeption of Boston they managed to ignore the rest of the East Riding & much of Lincolnshire. The tedious marathon of reports were so poor that they managed to be a diversion from the real story but at least it ensured the survival of the non region broadcast centre for now.

The question on many peoples lips was why the ULL flood barrier. Its a tidal barrier stopping the river Hull flooding upstream and had no part whatsoever in the events of last year which was caused by the city of the Chavs being built well below sea level and various parties allegedly not maintaining pumps, ditches, sewers and drains. Many of the latter being filled with shopping trollies and assorted nicked goods from top hull pound shops.

Whilst sympathising with certain parties losses many of the reports show brand new designer kitchens. The carpet & sofa shops, not to mention the DIY places have never been busier - yet this consumer boom and cash injection is never mentioned.

With all the money that has been spent on setting up the BBC's journalism college & putting the mostly untrained Look ULL staff through it you would think that the odd bit of journalistic reporting would make it to the screen, but no, never let a good story get in the way from eating a pastie and staying at your desk.

Perhaps they have been saving the best stories for tonights floodfest of stories - provisionally titled - lessons to be learned - how we can make sure it never happens again - the flooding that is not the pasties.

I thought it was a shame Peter was on holiday as he would of made a lot better job of the live OB rather than Tim Iredale.

Why exactly do you have such an axe to grind with the BBC in Hull? Okay, Look North has got many faults, but you seem obsessed with ripping it to shreds at every opportunity.

You seem to show a degree of insider knowledge. So what is it - did you get sacked? Turned down for a job with them? Work for the opposition?

Just intrigued to understand your bitterness, which appears to verge on the obsessional.

I do tend to agree with him though - this new editor seems to have made a lot of bad decisions in my opinion. Bring back Roger Farrant!!

Is it just me or is either the lighting or racking in the Leeds studio crap? Harry Gration seemed to be really over exposed when sitting down, but when stood by the screen was fine.

Judging by the big S thrown on the floor by the lights, as seen in the wide shots on the bulletin tonight, I suspect the lighting was still set-up for the Super League Show?

Hello,

I'm quite happy to clear up the points in your post.

As far as I am aware i'm not obsessed with anything in particular. Please don't interpret my ramblings as bitterness or obsession. What I see on a daily basis is money wasted on pointless new buildings, designed to be iconic rather than practical production places. Money should be spent on screen and on production facilities (ie) studios rather than swishy offices with studios added as an afterthought.

Everything I have posted on this site is fact. I have watched the BBC management via the government quietly dismantle the BBC over the last decade or so. The BBC is owned by everyone who pays the licence fee in this country and until now has managed to avoid a lot of direct interference by the Government. The fact that Ofcon (sic) a government institution has the ability to interfere with direct running of the corporation is a serious problem.

As regards ULL, the place is an unmitigated disaster. It cost a fortune to build, caused the underfunding of two regions (LEEDS & ULL), it cannot serve the region it supposedly represents, and the standards are so low they break even the basic production techniques, establishing shots, level horizon, eye line etc.

I have not been sacked by the BBC. I know far too many highly skilled people who have, that is a loss to TV & Film production everywhere.

As far as production goes the BBC is, either intentionally or by accident, heading in the wrong direction.

Fair enough. To be honest I was in a completely foul mood on Friday when I posted that. Of course you're entitled to your opinion.



Hull may be an exception, but by and large, I don't think this is true of the other new BBC centres. The new Leeds building is unremarkable in its location above a curry house, and Birmingham and Norwich are in shopping centres - hardly iconic. The move to these smaller buildings has been a cost-cutting exercise, and not an exercise in splashing cash about at all. I would agree however that the studios look cramped and unattractive. But having said that, Hull's is far superior to Leeds' or Norwich's.



I think you may have gone a bit 'conspiracy theory' there. The reason the BBC has had to slim down is due to the huge change in the media landscape over the past decade and the resulting increase in the need to justify value for money under the licence fee.



Much of which is also evident on the national BBC news these days sadly. It really bugs me to see people being interviewed in profile.



I think had the idea of the new centre and region from Hull been floated now, it would never have got off the ground - rather like the other proposed new region from Milton Keynes which has been scrapped. So perhaps the BBC are actually heading now in a different, better direction - just that your experience from Hull is clouding your view of the corporation as a whole.

Regrettably I just cannot see any improvement at present. You only have to look at Salford to see the direction the wind is blowing. How the design was ever approved is a real mystery. There are so many basic design mistakes in the construction of this place. The Mailbox is another example of an ego trip for designers rather than a practical place to make a wide range of programming.

People who work in the media are generally used to change. One production is never the same as the next, it's what makes it worth doing for many. Whilst technolgy and platforms are far more advanced and diverse, at at the heart of it all are creative people with skills, ideas and experience. They need the right production tools. That is what makes BBC what it is and that is what the management of the BBC has ignored or taken for granted.