The Big Breakfast

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

I seem to remember Jasmin was there to read a news round up in between the more in depth reports.

It's been said that Johnny Vaughan started a week late, because he was due to start that Monday after Diana died?

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.

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?

Yes, look you can see her...
http://wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.haircutsonline.co.uk/channel_4_news_2001_09_12.mp4

Demon Headmaster again

Sky News' James Rubin when he was USA's James Rubin

This guy?

Justin Rowlatt from the BBC

It overran a little bit

Jasmine Lowson there

The End, just one promo for a forthcoming programme and then...

...Bewitched was on. This episode featured Dick Sargent as Darrin. At the same time on BBC One...

This Guy?

If Richard Bacon had been presenting the show in the days after 9/11, I think he would have been more than capable of handling it. He was a journalist first and that's obviously what he's gone back to now on 5live.

I think even then, with the journalistic background he already had, he'd have been up to it.