Oh - I saw her presenting the Meridian One O'Clock chat show with Andy Craig recently. Is Hannah concentrating on this, or leaving Meridian? Who is likely to replace her?
When I feel like a change from the Six, I normally watch Meridian Newbury - I think their desk is part of the most bizarre regional news set I have seen. They seem to be sitting in a multi-coloured 'news doughnut'.
(I really liked their first look when they took over from TVS - the music, titles and set really worked together - though they were very much of their time!)
No - I'm afraid I didn't see the item on the kid with the Meridian bedroom!
BTW I am impressed that they can do a separate programme from Newbury, as it didn't look like the Lunchtime Live show came from the same set, and I didn't think Newbury would have had that large a studio floor, as it was only used for local news shows.
I have always though that Meridian Newbury was under-rated. It is one of the most local news progs around, and actually covers the area it broadcasts to! (BBC South Today is good as well - in fact one of the better BBC regional shows - but it is far less local as its patch is so huge. It broadcasts one and a half progs - Southampton+Oxford sub-opt - to a patch covered by three ITV full shows - Meridian Southampton, Meridian Newbury and Central South Abingdon...)
I think it is a real pity the BBC couldn't have created a separate region covering the Meridian Newbury and Central South Abingdon patches when they decided to create new South East patches. I think Thames Valley+Oxford would make quite a good region, and would be large enough not to need a sub-opt.
In fact it would still be good if the Hannington transmitter (which carries Meridian Newbury) got the BBC Oxford sub-opt anyway. It would increase the newsiness of the sub-opt, and equalise the size of patches of the Southampton/Oxford patches. (It isn't likely to happen though, as Hannington is not fed directly by the Beeb - but rather is an off-air rebroadcast transmitter - effectively a big relay of Southampton...)
I like Meridian Newbury as it doesn't dumb down with too many fluffy stories, and just gets on with the basic news in a straightforward, clear and clean manner. It doesn't have all the graphicy/tricksy production bells and whistles of some shows, but keeping things simple is not always bad. (That said, last time I watched the lunchtime and late night bulletins they were very dull - single shot, basic astons etc...)
The only thing I don't really like is the graphics, a bit too curvy/primary for my liking, the weather is quite bizarre in its oddness!