WO
That's what Wikipedia says, although the source article it cites for that 'fact' doesn't mention it at all. In any case, Genome suggests she wasn't down to present at all that week, and we know she'd stopped reading the news at that point anyway.
I am sure I read somewhere she was meant to be presenting the Six that day herself?
That's what Wikipedia says, although the source article it cites for that 'fact' doesn't mention it at all. In any case, Genome suggests she wasn't down to present at all that week, and we know she'd stopped reading the news at that point anyway.
IS
Maybe. I think it's more likely that they wanted a more familiar face to break the news. Also one who'd been across the story for a while and was more prepared for a difficult broadcast, not one who only had 10 minutes* since they came off air
*it was after the regional bulletin wasn't it?
Or perhaps the One presenter was a particularly close friend of Jill.
Maybe. I think it's more likely that they wanted a more familiar face to break the news. Also one who'd been across the story for a while and was more prepared for a difficult broadcast, not one who only had 10 minutes* since they came off air
*it was after the regional bulletin wasn't it?
SP
Is it not also possible that the One team would routinely come off air and go straight for lunch?
JO
I remember the CCTV shot of her in the computer shop with the Windows 98 computer like it was yesterday. 20 years later and advances in technology mean the killer would have likely been captured by a home CCTV camera fairly quickly.
There was some speculation at the time that she was targeted because she presented Crimewatch but they ruled that out, there are some other conspiracy theories floating about of course.
There was some speculation at the time that she was targeted because she presented Crimewatch but they ruled that out, there are some other conspiracy theories floating about of course.
SW
I don't think it's the case that the Six presenter would do the daytime summaries, certainly in the eighties, because Richard Whitmore did them for the first few years and he never did the Six. Indeed it said somewhere that he knew his days were numbered at the Beeb because Nicholas Witchell fell ill one afternoon and couldn't do the Six, and Whitmore was in the building doing the daytime bulletins and volunteered to do it, and they said they didn't want him and dragged in Andrew Harvey from home. And in the eighties and early nineties it would be people like Lynette Lithgow and Lisa Davidson who never did the Six either.
Obviously things may have been different in the late nineties but I'm pretty sure it was usually a different presenter for the daytime summaries - it was quite a long shift, starting at 9am and going on until 4pm. It is the case that Jennie Bond was doing the daytime summaries and the Six that day but I think that was very much an exception (as mentioned, she certainly wasn't billed as doing the Six in the Radio Times).
I would imagine it's no different to at the weekend now when there's a presenter on the news channel but someone else comes in to do the BBC1 bulletins.
Well, the current presenter of Desert Island Discs is Kirsty Young who are of similar ages and background, and I could imagine Dando doing something like that - especially as Kirsty Young does the Royal Weddings and things like that, and Dando was involved in things like the VE Day anniversary. As I say, I think someone like Fiona Phillips might be the nearest thing, doing various one-off docs and the odd series.
Yes, as mentioned she'd already stopped reading the news in February. Actually that obit does mention that at one point she was going to be part of the revamped news and potentially do the Six but some of the bosses weren't that sure about her being the lead presenter because she was too lightweight, so seemingly she decided that rather go through the process of having to do pilots and presumably all the gossip about who was and wasn't going to do it, she decided to just leave.
That definitely makes sense. My recollection of that era was that the Six second presenter read the daytime summaries. So, it wasn't out of the ordinary for Jennie to have presented the newsflash. The One presenter may have already left and Jennie was the duty bulletin presenter at that moment. That would have allowed the Six main presenter to prepare for the Six.
Is it not also possible that the One team would routinely come off air and go straight for lunch?
I don't think it's the case that the Six presenter would do the daytime summaries, certainly in the eighties, because Richard Whitmore did them for the first few years and he never did the Six. Indeed it said somewhere that he knew his days were numbered at the Beeb because Nicholas Witchell fell ill one afternoon and couldn't do the Six, and Whitmore was in the building doing the daytime bulletins and volunteered to do it, and they said they didn't want him and dragged in Andrew Harvey from home. And in the eighties and early nineties it would be people like Lynette Lithgow and Lisa Davidson who never did the Six either.
Obviously things may have been different in the late nineties but I'm pretty sure it was usually a different presenter for the daytime summaries - it was quite a long shift, starting at 9am and going on until 4pm. It is the case that Jennie Bond was doing the daytime summaries and the Six that day but I think that was very much an exception (as mentioned, she certainly wasn't billed as doing the Six in the Radio Times).
I would imagine it's no different to at the weekend now when there's a presenter on the news channel but someone else comes in to do the BBC1 bulletins.
However it's sad to say but there is still a degree of ageism in broadcasting, if you look at her contemporaries in TV they've a mixed bag of career paths. Would she have been a Carol Smilie and gone elsewhere then disappeared? Would she have been got rid of from her long running gig and then been just a contributor like Carol Vorderman? Or would she have left the public eye to raise a family and do other things, then come back in low profile gigs like Anneka Rice? The nearest person in terms of age and talents I can think of is Lorraine Kelly who has basically been doing the same thing for 30 years.
Personally I think she'd have done Crimewatch with a few odd factual series here and now she'd probably have a high profile radio gig, Desert Island Discs or lunchtime Radio 2 would be the two she'd have been best suited to, or Woman's Hour
Personally I think she'd have done Crimewatch with a few odd factual series here and now she'd probably have a high profile radio gig, Desert Island Discs or lunchtime Radio 2 would be the two she'd have been best suited to, or Woman's Hour
Well, the current presenter of Desert Island Discs is Kirsty Young who are of similar ages and background, and I could imagine Dando doing something like that - especially as Kirsty Young does the Royal Weddings and things like that, and Dando was involved in things like the VE Day anniversary. As I say, I think someone like Fiona Phillips might be the nearest thing, doing various one-off docs and the odd series.
That's what Wikipedia says, although the source article it cites for that 'fact' doesn't mention it at all. In any case, Genome suggests she wasn't down to present at all that week, and we know she'd stopped reading the news at that point anyway.
Yes, as mentioned she'd already stopped reading the news in February. Actually that obit does mention that at one point she was going to be part of the revamped news and potentially do the Six but some of the bosses weren't that sure about her being the lead presenter because she was too lightweight, so seemingly she decided that rather go through the process of having to do pilots and presumably all the gossip about who was and wasn't going to do it, she decided to just leave.
IS
Talking of the Soho nail bomb later that week, I was working at TVC that night and remember it well. Me and my colleague/flatmate had a mutual friend who worked in Old Compton Street and we were desperately trying to get hold of him*
There were newsflashes at virtually every junction on BBC1, so a really busy unpredictable evening. I always used to record programmes I wanted to watch even if I was working on the channel and that evening I'd recorded the repeat of Only Fools and Horses we'd put out.
The episode where Del Boy and Rodney go 'up west' and end up at one point in a gay bar! No one spotted that one and it would have been too late if we had.
*he was in a basement with no phone reception. Wouldn't be a problem these days, he'd be doing Facebook live videos in HD these days
There were newsflashes at virtually every junction on BBC1, so a really busy unpredictable evening. I always used to record programmes I wanted to watch even if I was working on the channel and that evening I'd recorded the repeat of Only Fools and Horses we'd put out.
The episode where Del Boy and Rodney go 'up west' and end up at one point in a gay bar! No one spotted that one and it would have been too late if we had.
*he was in a basement with no phone reception. Wouldn't be a problem these days, he'd be doing Facebook live videos in HD these days
BR
I don't want to go too far down that route but wasn't the man convicted ultimately cleared, and therefore is the case still technically unsolved. I guess if it hadn't been axed this special would probably have been branded a Crimewatch special.
Also looking at Jill Dando's wiki (and I know it's wiki) but they say she was the 1997 BBC Personality of the Year. Was that a thing - obviously we all know about SPOTY but didn't realise at one point there was POTY as well.
I remember the CCTV shot of her in the computer shop with the Windows 98 computer like it was yesterday. 20 years later and advances in technology mean the killer would have likely been captured by a home CCTV camera fairly quickly.
There was some speculation at the time that she was targeted because she presented Crimewatch but they ruled that out, there are some other conspiracy theories floating about of course.
There was some speculation at the time that she was targeted because she presented Crimewatch but they ruled that out, there are some other conspiracy theories floating about of course.
I don't want to go too far down that route but wasn't the man convicted ultimately cleared, and therefore is the case still technically unsolved. I guess if it hadn't been axed this special would probably have been branded a Crimewatch special.
Also looking at Jill Dando's wiki (and I know it's wiki) but they say she was the 1997 BBC Personality of the Year. Was that a thing - obviously we all know about SPOTY but didn't realise at one point there was POTY as well.
TI
I do feel it’s important to say that at the time Jill Dando
was
the BBC, at least in the eyes of many viewers. She was the most prominent public face that the Corporation had. The mix of news, factual programming and light entertainment that she presented combined to make her the main face of the BBC. Like the aforementioned Desmond Lynam she had a real gift for connecting with the public.
SW
There was another infamous moment that night, as C4 showed an episode of Smack The Pony where one of the sketches was a parody of glossy adverts with a posh woman striding around a posh flat, the joke being that all the on-screen captions were slagging her off for being so posh and smug, the final one being "a small explosive device would **** this up nicely".
At the end of the programme they did an apology about the reference to explosives, saying it was "too late" for that sketch to be edited out. Of course, that was no excuse and if that had really been the case they'd almost certainly have just dropped the show completely. They clearly just totally forgot it was in there.
There were newsflashes at virtually every junction on BBC1, so a really busy unpredictable evening. I always used to record programmes I wanted to watch even if I was working on the channel and that evening I'd recorded the repeat of Only Fools and Horses we'd put out.
The episode where Del Boy and Rodney go 'up west' and end up at one point in a gay bar! No one spotted that one and it would have been too late if we had.
The episode where Del Boy and Rodney go 'up west' and end up at one point in a gay bar! No one spotted that one and it would have been too late if we had.
There was another infamous moment that night, as C4 showed an episode of Smack The Pony where one of the sketches was a parody of glossy adverts with a posh woman striding around a posh flat, the joke being that all the on-screen captions were slagging her off for being so posh and smug, the final one being "a small explosive device would **** this up nicely".
At the end of the programme they did an apology about the reference to explosives, saying it was "too late" for that sketch to be edited out. Of course, that was no excuse and if that had really been the case they'd almost certainly have just dropped the show completely. They clearly just totally forgot it was in there.
SW
That was in something like the Variety Club or TRIC Awards, nothing organised by the Beeb.
Also looking at Jill Dando's wiki (and I know it's wiki) but they say she was the 1997 BBC Personality of the Year. Was that a thing - obviously we all know about SPOTY but didn't realise at one point there was POTY as well.
That was in something like the Variety Club or TRIC Awards, nothing organised by the Beeb.
AN
With the mix of news and factual programming, you could possibly say she held a position a bit like what Fiona Bruce has done over the last few years.
All this arguing over who was or wasn’t hosting the news. This shows that the much derided process of making a log of who was presenting the news is useful, if only someone did this 20 years ago!
Andrew
Founding member
I do feel it’s important to say that at the time Jill Dando
was
the BBC, at least in the eyes of many viewers. She was the most prominent public face that the Corporation had. The mix of news, factual programming and light entertainment that she presented combined to make her the main face of the BBC. Like the aforementioned Desmond Lynam she had a real gift for connecting with the public.
With the mix of news and factual programming, you could possibly say she held a position a bit like what Fiona Bruce has done over the last few years.
All this arguing over who was or wasn’t hosting the news. This shows that the much derided process of making a log of who was presenting the news is useful, if only someone did this 20 years ago!