Ha! I was going to mention that in the original post as I had a short clip of it on an old VHS in a big compilation of stuff I was sent. Judging by the clip the whole of Bristol was without power because one of the interviewees - as you say, just all standing there - was from the electricity board. Maybe he was just there already.
Anyway, I digress. In terms of 'the show must go on', admittedly it didn't on that occasion. They stayed on air with football news until around 4.10pm, then went off the air until the start of Final Score. I can't remember the name of the programme that filled the gap, but it was a documentary regarding Borg v McEnroe IIRC.
For some reason I remember it being a documentary about Brian Lara.
Anyway, I digress. In terms of 'the show must go on', admittedly it didn't on that occasion. They stayed on air with football news until around 4.10pm, then went off the air until the start of Final Score. I can't remember the name of the programme that filled the gap, but it was a documentary regarding Borg v McEnroe IIRC.
For some reason I remember it being a documentary about Brian Lara.
Having a quiet moment, so I thought I'd have a dig around.
Grandstand came off air at 1600. The fillers were a 15-minute Natural Born Footballers on Pele, followed by five minutes of news and then Greatest Sporting Moments (which was the 1980 tie break between Borg and McEnroe from 1980!) which it seems was interrupted about half-way through for a 30 second live update. And then back to Final Score at 1640.
Another half-remembered memory is that one morning Simon Parkin, I think, on CBBC pointed out there was a fruit bowl on the table because the previous night Wogan had had to be broadcast from the CBBC birthday set in Pres A, minus studio audience, because the TV Theatre was flooded. I think this was in the summer of 1989 (which is why I was able to watch CBBC in the morning, it was the school holidays).
My half-recollection is that this was way earlier than Simon Parkin's time, it was Siobhan Maher and it was the But First This set. And it was flowers, not fruit - she made a joke that a flower arranging demonstration was coming up later.
It's amazing the amount of random crap you remember!
There was the instance last year when the France v Ireland Six Nations match was called off at the last minute, with a full house and the band lined up ready to platy, as part of the pitch hadn't thawed out in time. There's some good footage on YouTube of RTE's coverage of the build-up and the call-off. Whereas the BBC ended their planned coverage within minutes (as obviously there was going to be no game to cover), the RTE guys kept going for around another 15 minutes until the next programme could air.
Anyway, I digress. In terms of 'the show must go on', admittedly it didn't on that occasion. They stayed on air with football news until around 4.10pm, then went off the air until the start of Final Score. I can't remember the name of the programme that filled the gap, but it was a documentary regarding Borg v McEnroe IIRC.
For some reason I remember it being a documentary about Brian Lara.
Having a quiet moment, so I thought I'd have a dig around.
Grandstand came off air at 1600. The fillers were a 15-minute Natural Born Footballers on Pele, followed by five minutes of news and then Greatest Sporting Moments (which was the 1980 tie break between Borg and McEnroe from 1980!) which it seems was interrupted about half-way through for a 30 second live update. And then back to Final Score at 1640.
Ha. I even surprise myself sometimes for recollecting totally useless information.
In terms of sport, one thing that we don't really see any more (at least on the BBC) is the endless hours of filling when 'rain stops play' at the likes of tennis, cricket or golf. They're more likely to go off air nowadays rather than hang around for hours showing chat, highlights and classic action.
I fondly remember Wimbledon 96 and 97, two particularly bad years for the weather. In 1996 there was Cliff Richard's impromptu singalong on Centre Court, and then in 97 (when the rain forced play on the middle Sunday), I remember Sue Barker doing weather forecasts complete with the BBC weather map of the time.
Anyway, I digress. In terms of 'the show must go on', admittedly it didn't on that occasion. They stayed on air with football news until around 4.10pm, then went off the air until the start of Final Score. I can't remember the name of the programme that filled the gap, but it was a documentary regarding Borg v McEnroe IIRC.
For some reason I remember it being a documentary about Brian Lara.
Having a quiet moment, so I thought I'd have a dig around.
Grandstand came off air at 1600. The fillers were a 15-minute Natural Born Footballers on Pele, followed by five minutes of news and then Greatest Sporting Moments (which was the 1980 tie break between Borg and McEnroe from 1980!) which it seems was interrupted about half-way through for a 30 second live update. And then back to Final Score at 1640.
Would Gary have been scheduled to do Final Score on that day or would Des have normally done it from Aintree?
I actually think another presenter was meant to do it, but because they had to handover to London early, and the other presenter wasn't there yet, but Gary was, they stuck him in the chair.
I think Des was due to do it from Aintree. Gary had certainly done Football Focus and may have been there preparing for MOTD. There have been clips of Gary talking about his reaction when he was told he'd have to do Final Score.