Daybreak - the launch onwards

Why don't they go the whole hog and get a pot plant too!!

No, joking aside, I agree that it feels a little bare at the moment - so a few extra touches would be welcome. But then you run the risk of making it to "Homely, This Morning like" which I don't think the new team are going for.

Oh yes, definitely. I forgot to mention pot plants. Apparently one materialised today before quickly vanishing again. Perhaps they'll put it back once the leaves have fallen off the trees, to inject some life back into the background?

is this a new studio they are using or the old London Tonight studio?

I'm sorry, but what did Christine Bleakley actually do? She just put her obligatory, fake serious face on, and then cackled in an unsightly fashion. Adrian, umming and erring, unable to string a sentence together, was clearly the main main, asking the questions, and taking the driving seat. What would happen if she had to anchor the programme by herself? Adrian was clearly trying too hard to be funny, with a sense of humour that not all of us really find appealing. I found the Adrian-Christine relationship rather flat and not very warming. It's as if it's all about them, and not the viewer at home. They need to connect more with the audience. It's really nothing new.

Tasmin was far too serious, thinking her deep, serious voice would exude authority and credibility. Why didn't they keep Claire? She looks enough like Lucy, but Claire just seemed more natural and friendly.

They think that their reports (seriously out-dated) made the programme more newsy. Yes, the news bulletin was longer, but a lack of interesting reports made it very stale after watching several of the bulletins. They should be concise, but not to the point of boredom. The reports didn't have a real human impact; they didn't grab my attention.

Adrian and Christine didn't really follow through with extra coverage of today's main headlines. They basically left the news to Tasmin, and that is all of your news. A small interview on the sofa would suffice.

I may have been misinformed about the date of the windows - but apparently they didn't go for the Rosco dual polarisers because whatever glass is in the windows does some polarisation funniness of its own. I may also have been misinformed about this - but I doubt it.

It's TLS Studio 7 - which was were LNN's London Tonight used to come from. It has been upgraded to HD, and has a new set for Daybreak.

It's pretty normal to pre-record the opening and menu sequence for live programmes - they're generally quite a complicated sequence, and pre-recording it allows you to make sure you get it right. Other complicated sequences can also be pre-recorded for the same reason.

I tend to trust noggin in these matters.

Not that my opinion matters a jot!

It's not unusual for a live programme to pre-record the opening. It's fairly common for regional news programmes, especially those with complicated headlines sequences.

Yep, it was built in 1992 specifically for London Tonight. There is definately extra tinting on there than there was in the LNN days, but then there are many different camera angles being used than there were on LT

It's a fantastic studio and looks really good as the setting to Daybreak, when the sun finally rises. It's a shame that the set looks either bland and empty or just a bit sterile.

That's ok, I tend to trust you in absolutely nothing!

As an aside, I found this close from GMTV in September last year (26/09/09).

It was a nice wideshot of the studio, which is perhaps why it's still on my ever-expanding HDD of events...or that it was a bit of a jokey ending from Ben & Penny...

...and perhaps prophetic of the end of GMTV (however unwitting)!
(neither said they left through a salary issue, and I am not suggesting they did)