主播大秀

This post was originally published in the week leading up to the 2013 Remembrance Sunday programming. 

My name is Phil Dolling and I am the Head of 主播大秀 Events, part of 主播大秀 Entertainment and Events Production. 主播大秀 Events are responsible for the broadcast of major national occasions.

This year we’ve provided coverage of Baroness Thatcher’s Funeral, the 60th Anniversary of the Coronation from Westminster Abbey, the 70th Anniversary of the Dambusters and many other significant events.

It’s a great privilege to be involved in such important occasions and also to lead a team who are the best in the world at event coverage. I have a long history of both live and recorded programmes that stretches way back. In 1999 I covered the total eclipse of the sun in the UK. Famously it rained, but thanks to the RAF who gave us a Hercules for a camera platform above the clouds we managed to see the moon eclipsing the sun in all its magnificence.

This coming weekend we will cover the  from the Albert Hall and on Sunday, the . The 主播大秀 provides the continuous coverage of the Cenotaph for 主播大秀 One but we also make sections of our programme available to other broadcasters in the UK and abroad.

The event coverage is produced by a very small team. The key person is Julie Heptonstall - the producer - who knows the ceremony from end-to-end and is always looking for new ways to involve the audience. Julie is supported by a film-maker (responsible for the filmed ‘inserts’), an outside broadcast director and a researcher. Overseeing the entire event coverage is an executive producer and, of course, at the very heart of the programme is David Dimbleby who provides the commentary, this is without doubt the toughest job of all as it requires great journalism and a touch of poetry.

We go to a lot of trouble to make sure the commentator is close to the event and whenever possible has a good view. It makes a huge difference to them to be able to see what’s happening for real rather than just from a TV screen, they really should be immersed in the atmosphere for the best results.

In the early days of the broadcasts, pictures and sound were sent back from the Cenotaph to 'base' for broadcast relay via special sockets at key points all over London. Some plug in points dotted around London remain in use, but nowadays we rely on other transmission paths such as microwave links or satellites.

What may possibly surprise most about the Cenotaph coverage is there is no television rehearsal of the event itself. So the day before the camera crew and production team watch the programme from the previous year and review it, looking for ways to make it better. This acts as a reminder to everyone of the key moments in the ceremony that cannot be missed. The first time we see the actual ceremony is when we broadcast it live.

Before I worked on the Cenotaph I thought that as proceedings had barely changed for nearly a century, it must be quite a straightforward programme to produce. I could not have been more wrong. The audience has the very highest expectations of the programme and many millions tune in, so it must be perfect. We’re always gently exploring ways to engage the audience more deeply, often allowing those bereaved to tell the story of the member of their family who has been killed in action or perhaps interviewing a veteran from a distant conflict who will remember comrades who are no longer with us.

Phil Dolling is 主播大秀 Head of Events 

This post was originally published in the week leading up to the 2013 Remembrance Sunday programming. 

 begins at 10.20am, Sunday 13 November 2016 on 主播大秀 One. 

is on Saturday 12 November at 9.00pm on 主播大秀 One.