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The Big Breakfast

Where life used to start at 7. (January 2014)

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MA
mannewskev
David posted:
Include surnames please. I have no idea who you are talking about. Jayne who?


Middlemiss, as was stated previously.
MA
mannewskev
David posted:
I think I read a story which was that C4 were feeding everything to the BB House where the clock was added and sent back to C4. They had left everything set up, unattended, over Christmas, but the kit failed during transmission one morning. Channel 4 put the recordings to air directly and later managed to add an alternative clock.


I think you read this...
http://www.tvforum.co.uk/forums/post617328#post-617328
which is what I was trying to remember too.


That's a good bit of detail. I remember the clock failing on Christmas morning in, I think, 97, and an ad hoc clock being generated that didn't match up with the show's regular captions.
WH
Whataday Founding member
David posted:
I think I read a story which was that C4 were feeding everything to the BB House where the clock was added and sent back to C4. They had left everything set up, unattended, over Christmas, but the kit failed during transmission one morning. Channel 4 put the recordings to air directly and later managed to add an alternative clock.


I think you read this...
http://www.tvforum.co.uk/forums/post617328#post-617328
which is what I was trying to remember too.


That's a good bit of detail. I remember the clock failing on Christmas morning in, I think, 97, and an ad hoc clock being generated that didn't match up with the show's regular captions.



Interesting that I have no memory of taking part in that discussion. But on the subject of graphics, the clock seems to fail when the aston appears with Mark's name.

I seem to remember the famous clip featuring Johnny Vaughan's snot included the sunburst 'coming up' graphic but without the text. I wonder if astons were linked to the clock software, and therefore they don't feature on off-air recordings either.
SW
Steve Williams
Ant and Dec weren't on in May, but were earlier in the year IIRC. Richard and Denise did all the Bigger Breakfasts in May, July and August 1997, bar those news specials for Diana's death. I think she died in the middle of (what was meant to be) a 2 week stand-in run for Jayne Middlemiss. She didn't appear the Monday after Diana's death nor the Friday. (I think Richard presented with, randomly, Joely Richardson on the Friday?)


I was getting a bit confused there, I had more or less given up on it by that point. As I remember, on the Monday after Diana's death, it was Richard Orford and Vanessa Feltz in The Mall, reading out faxes, reviewing the papers and introducing extended news bulletins, and it ended at 9am and C4 continuity took over for the rest of the morning.

I think on the Tuesday Vanessa presented again until 9am at which point Jayne Middlemiss took over for The Bigger Breakfast, then on Wednesday and Thursday it was more or less business as usual. On the Friday, though, because the funeral was the next day it was another news special. This was an OB, I don't think they ever said where from, with Richard Orford and, as you say, Joely Richardson plus also a returning Peter Smith as an interviewer, I remember Bob Geldof among the guests. Think that might have finished at 9am as well. Then Johnny Vaughan started the following Monday, as planned.

Though a little awkward, they certainly managed better than they would often do when a big story was breaking. The one I always remember is the day after Dunblane which was just a really awkward compromise because you had extended news bulletins but a lot of the regular features, so there were loads of very jarring changes of mood, it just seemed a bit tasteless, which is a problem you were always going to have with a show like The Big Breakfast but especially so with inexperienced presenters and producers. There was also a huge cock-up that day because C4 had an ident with Mark Little firing a gun at the camera, and they forgot to take it off the system and played it at 7am, and they had to do an apology.
WH
Whataday Founding member
I was getting a bit confused there, I had more or less given up on it by that point. As I remember, on the Monday after Diana's death, it was Richard Orford and Vanessa Feltz in The Mall, reading out faxes, reviewing the papers and introducing extended news bulletins, and it ended at 9am and C4 continuity took over for the rest of the morning.




I think on the Tuesday Vanessa presented again until 9am at which point Jayne Middlemiss took over for The Bigger Breakfast, then on Wednesday and Thursday it was more or less business as usual.




The Bigger Breakfast clip is noticeably more calm than usual.
BR
Brekkie
Definately jarred at times but I think as a nation we sometime need something that just lightens the mood and offers an alternative rather than something that dwells on the story.
WH
Whataday Founding member
Definately jarred at times but I think as a nation we sometime need something that just lightens the mood and offers an alternative rather than something that dwells on the story.


I think it depended on the calibre of the presenters. I remember the morning after Paula Yates died Johnny managed to be respectful without making it feel awkward.

I also think they got it right with Diana, particularly with the BB News Special on the Friday (which I would love to see again). It was hosted by Peter Smith in the garden as I recall. Bob Geldof famously threw a copy of The Sun into the pond.
AN
Andrew Founding member
It does depend on the presenter involved. A bit like what you'd expect a news special with Chris Moyles to be like compared to one done by Nick Grimshaw on Radio 1. They'd leave it to Newsbeat to deal with and ignore it within the show thesedays.

Of course towards the end after 9/11 they abandoned The BB entirely and ran a Channel 4 News special instead, as none of the presenters involved at that point could barely present The BB let alone a serious one. I wonder if Jasmin lewson as duty newsreader was involved at all in those news specials.

It's been said that Johnny Vaughan started a week late, because he was due to start that Monday after Diana died?
DA
David
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8m8fK3RzH0


Interesting clip. I had never seen this before. I wonder where their calls were going that day and what was wrong with using the 020 7985 1111 number.
WH
Whataday Founding member
Of course towards the end after 9/11 they abandoned The BB entirely and ran a Channel 4 News special instead, as none of the presenters involved at that point could barely present The BB let alone a serious one. I wonder if Jasmin lewson as duty newsreader was involved at all in those news specials.


I seem to remember Jasmin was there to read a news round up in between the more in depth reports.
BB
bbcfan2014
David posted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8m8fK3RzH0


Interesting clip. I had never seen this before. I wonder where their calls were going that day and what was wrong with using the 020 7985 1111 number.


yikes, Richard Orford wasn't a great presenter was he?
WH
Whataday Founding member
David posted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8m8fK3RzH0


Interesting clip. I had never seen this before. I wonder where their calls were going that day and what was wrong with using the 020 7985 1111 number.


yikes, Richard Orford wasn't a great presenter was he?


I count him along with Mark Little and Donna Air as one of the presenters that really outstayed their welcome.

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