Perhaps we should have a new header so we can all share our opinions on the Jubilee coverage?    My only comment (yet) is that the late and truly great Tom Fleming will be spinning in his grave. I feel sure others will want to discuss sound levels, camera positions and shots, use of celebs, lack of research, etc etc etc.

That comment by Grace Dent is as pathetic as the BBC coverage. After 33 years in the Beeb I was utterly ashamed of the level of the coverage (St Paul's was good) and commentary etc.  The real low spot was some squeaky bimbo singer showing me a "SICK BAG" with the Queen's photo on it and telling me it was a "must buy"
I had Sky on the the PC at the time as well and they were showing the pictures of the streets etc which I wanted to see not a SICK BAG with a SICK BLONDE BIMBO

Daily Maily (sorry) coverage sums it up.
Wonder how many bonus' will be paid out?

Well that's started it off.......So here's what I would have wanted from the Pageant:   A complete inventory of every boat. Involvment of Regions in filming preparations, boat building, refurbing etc. Human interest stories from every boat. (Must have been hundreds)   A complete inventory of buildings etc on the route with detailed history and architectural report.  (Did you hear Lambeth Palace mentioned? No, neither did I)  Detailed account of the importance of The Thames in commercial, social and historical terms. Detailed breakdown of all Pageant related activity, i.e. the semaphore, the War Horse. Details of all normally-moored boats e.g. HMS Wellington.
A chain of experienced commentators with access to all the above.
Live coverage of Regions on the day. eg The Humber Boat Procession. I bet there were things on the Forth, Clyde, Severn and Mersey too, but you would never have known it.
Would this have cost that much more? I doubt it when you take "Celebs" handouts into account.
If there was one good thing about the St Pauls Service it was the total absence of Celebs (apart from the DG, of course). But even there they kept knocking Naughtie off air in the build-up.  We were never shown an Order of Service and subtitles would have been welcomed.  
As for Paul Dickenson.....what a dismal performance. "I think the Queen must be enjoying this......."    Tom Fleming would deplore the phrase "I think" but I heard it far too often. What I heard was shallow, without detail and fact and delivered without the absolute gravitas that viewers clearly expect.  Blame John Birt !   Blame the heads of department who were saying in the 90s  "this kind of broadcasting has passed its sell by date" and took Ceremonial off the schedules. But blame the current hierachy most of all for their determined campaign of dumbing-down.

I don't think that the DG has been reading the Daily Mail!




This email is going to everyone

Dear all,

This long bank holiday weekend has seen teams from across the BBC come together to cover Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations on TV, radio and online. Our output has been impressive not only in its scale, but in its ambition, quality and outstanding journalism. By capturing the spectacle of the Thames Pageant and yesterday’s ceremonies alongside smaller local celebrations we reflected reaction from up and down the country. Our role in creating and staging Monday’s incredible Diamond Jubilee concert also meant we made our own contribution to a special moment in our nation’s history. If you missed anything you can watch highlights from the weekend here.

The audience response has been overwhelming with peak audiences of almost 12 million people tuning in for the Pageant, 17 million for the concert and 7.4 million for yesterday’s carriage procession. Overall across the Jubilee weekend 68.5% of the nation watched some of our Diamond Jubilee programming, a stunning figure.

This was a weekend when most British households put understandable cares and anxieties aside and celebrated a moment of national reflection and thanks for the Queen’s lifetime of service and devotion. I am very proud that the BBC was able to bring them together in such a unique and memorable way.

All the best,



Mark Thompson

Director-General

I think Mark Thompson must have been watching Sky (Lucky for him) and of course hasn't read the log or the newspapers or even listened to Today Programme or watched Breakfast, read Torin Douglas' Blog etc etc

Claire Balding is quoted by "The Daily Telegraph" as having said at the Hay Festival:-

“The pageant was going to be done as a much more festive atmosphere because I think they were worried that a camera looking at boats for however many hours might be dull,” she said.
“I think it was done with the best intentions... I don’t think anyone intended to get it wrong. But the public reaction was that it was wrong.

“They were trying to be very adventurous on river pageant day and it misfired for lots of reasons - communications reasons with things not working, weather reasons, all sorts.

“I don’t think it was done out of bad intent. Obviously nobody was intending to make a programme that everyone will hate.”

Balding, a freelance presenter and not a BBC employee, said staff did the best they could but were beset by technical problems.

She explained: “There were cameras on nine boats and we had three working. There was a lot going on that was very, very difficult to deal with. So you do what you can.
“It’s a very difficult thing to cover a big event. You’re trying very hard, everybody in quite a big team is trying very hard to contribute but if you can’t hear people and your camera’s not working, you can’t help.

"They were worried that people looking at boats....." etc.   I like Clare B but is she really being serious here?    Any long programme involves looking at something for a long time be it   "resplendent scarlet tunics' ( a phrase I banned when I was Senior Events Producer Radio) or athletes in a large arena  (sounds like a predicition).....it is the job of the broadcaster to make it interesting enough to keep the audience.     She says there were 9 cameras but only a third of them were working? Really?  Is this what the Beeb's 70 year record of technical excellence has come to?
It doesn't bode well for the rest of the Summer's great OB's, does it?
Clare Balding was good, so, too, was John Sergeant, strange that they are both mature, experienced broadcasters, isn't it?

Reposted from a well respected cameraman from TFS (Ealing Film Studios) on the TFS website

I appear to have started this debate on Blue book and its 0400 sparrows and I cant sleep, I had better take off my grumpy old man hat. Technically the OB crews were magnificent despite the elements, I remember only too well the problems you had in Yorkshire, many moons ago with XLR's in the rain. What it must be like now with blu tooth connections beggars belief. What I have problems with is the use of the subject matter. If HM, or somebody near to her can do research into Elisabeth 1 dress worn many ages ago and use it in the 20th centaury, why cant the directors researchers do the same. I find it difficult to believe that the BBC's lack of it was so blooming obvious. Didn't anybody in authority in production have a running order, doesn't anybody know semaphore signals, The War Horse was obvious, where was the music in relation to the churches and buildings?. What about the history of buildings and boats. I can go on making cheep jokes about the presenters and perceived role or lack of it, there certainly was a butch presence on the rowing barge, and camp in the campanology one, one can go on and on about the inane and trivial treatment of this wonderful event.

Both you and Mary explain in some detail the reasons as to why it was such an abject failure, but the fault goes far deeper, and it is probably a generation thing, the target audience, the young,? wanted, immediate gratification, not knowledge. There appeared to nobody in charge with sufficient gravitas to overrule the "keep it sharp brigade" so beloved by daytime TV. From what I saw the other channels were not much better in both the approach and content matter.

What sticks in the craw is the self belief that the BBC were right, and it was a magnificent OB, it wasn't, and the DG was so wrong in his self congratulatory massif to staff. The BBC doesn't deserve the license fee any more, it wastes it rather than using it program making. To be told that it is cheaper to bring back a programme to London rather than host it In Salford makes one wonder about the cost of train fares , hire cars, flights to Salford, let alone the relocation costs of staff, Our money is not being well spent.

We used to keep our family problems" in house" in the past, this should be blasted from the roof tops and the senior management should be embarrassed by the reaction to their ex staff, anybody