New BBC Centre for Hull

It has been announced today that Hull is to get a new 25 million Broadcast Centre. The centre will create a new Look North region delivering news to Hull, the East Riding and Lincolnshire 7 days a week.

I've just seen this report, and I am completely utterly devastated. I feel like a teddy bear that's lost all its stuffing, winded, bewildered, mortified, angry, confused and I am utterly frightened for the future. I know all too well what this means! It means:

No more Woodhouse Lane.
No more Harry Gration.
No more Christa Ackroyd.
No more Peter Levy.
No more Ian White.
No more banter.
No more Look North as I know it.
Hello blandness.
Hello new presenters that won't EVER be as good as Harry and co.
Hello to a 'forever change' that autistics like me absolutely dread.

Worst of all, it means no more Hud the Stud for me. When they announced it, I had this absolutely terrible feeling that this would only be a stop-gap to something far worse and those feelings have been realised in all its horrible glory. Yes, I'll admit to sitting there in stunned shock as Peter Levy told me, I'll admit to not being able to smile or even feel remotely comforted by the weather forecast. When the programme was over and I'll admit bursting into tears after the programme went off air. I am totally scared as I now don't know if I'll be able to cope with this change at all. It's a 'forever change'. I feel like I'm being punished for something I don't know that I have done. I feel sick to the stomach.

I DON'T WANT THIS NEW-LOOK LOOK NORTH NEXT YEAR! I WANT EVERYTHING TO REMAIN IS IT GOD-DAMNED WELL IS! WHY CAN'T THEY LEAVE WHAT ISN'T BROKEN ALONE?

I need your help. Any reassurance, comfort, anything. All I want is a hug right now.

*James gives Katherine a big hug*

I must say Katherine, I am also annoyed about this new plan!

Normally I would say 'Its good, it means more local news' but this is pulling the new programme away from the old one. It wouldn't matter as much but Look North is a truly great regional news programme and I must say it does everything very well. I would go to say it is the best region.

To take the 'East' viewers away would be terrible. Yes, it happened with Midlands Today and East Midlands Today but that needed to be done. You couldn't really have a region stretching from Worcester to Lincoln can you?

It has been done before but it will be a great shame to see the REAL 'Look North' programme go. I have no chance of receiving Emley Moor so I'm afraid, I am not Emley endowed either. I will be very sorry to say goodbye to the team.

As I said in my e-mail,you'll still be able to watch Peter And Paul every day at The Look North Website!

Katherine,

Firstly I hope you got my reply to your e-mail. This indeed is a shock, I didn't have a clue until I sat down and watched this evening's Look North. This really is too much in one week, firstly we have the Hull opt out thrust upon us, which is of a very poor quality. It doesn't feel right and gel properly with the rest of the programme, no proper studio and the presenters are uncomfortable. I was quite happy with the old Look North, it didn't need the interference of Greg Dyke and his hefty cheque book.

Why don't they realise that more localised news doesn't necessarily make for a better programme. Although I live on the east coast, do they not understand that I am also interested about events in Leeds and Sheffield. All we are going to get now is the kind of 'Jumble Sale cancelled in Wetwang' or 'A Cow farted in a field in Alford today' type stories. Goings on in Leeds and Sheffield are infinitely more interesting than around here.

If this was to go ahead, I would hope that they would split the presenters. I would feel very cheated after all the hype and publicity about Christa's arrival for it suddenly to be snatched away from the eastern viewers. I have no doubt that the Harry & Christa combo will continue for Emley viewers whilst we are left with inferior presenters.

But alas, if one thing is certain in this life it is change. Please remember Katherine you do not have to face this alone, you have your friends on the forum to talk it over with. Make the most of what we have currently and when we know more about this change and what it means for us the viewers, we can begin to deal with it.

Take care

[s][e]

I said this in the other 'Hull' topic but I have to say you are lucky to be getting a full programme. I live in Luton and have to suffer stories from Norwich etc on Look East and only get a small opt out from Cambs.
There is a lot of investment going into Hull and I'm sure it'll be better than the current opt which has started this week.
You'll get new presenters yes but you'll get used to them and you never know they may be better than Harry and Christa.

Do I understand correctly that the BBC are planning to make the Hull-based news a fully fledged region-in-its-own-right, rather than an occasional opt-out from the Leeds-based news?

It sound exactly like what happened to Nottingham in 1991 (East MidsTdy broke away from MidTdy).

If the Beeb are doing it with Hull, do you suppose they'll do it with Cambridge and Oxfordshire too?

1 Imagine... A full Oxfordshire service instead of an occasional opt-out (that actually comes from Oxford, not down the corridor from the main South Today studio in Southampton). The new region might be called BBC South Midlands making South Midlands Today

1 Imagine... A full Cambridge-based service instead of an occasional opt-out off Norwich-based Look East . The new region might be called BBC West Anglia making West Anglia Today

In a word 'yes'

In a word 'yes'

That's my plan for a 100-part Slide Show extravaganza well and truly buggered isn't it?