To finish 2013, members of the About the 成人论坛 team offer up their personal reviews of the year, revisiting blog posts, events and output from across the organisation.
Like the many presents I鈥檝e yet to purchase and the seemingly endless cards I鈥檝e failed to send, this post is in danger of not getting written. What started out like a good team idea to review our About the 成人论坛 year now feels like a mad dash for the finish line.
Drawing on 240 blog posts from throughout 2013 (nearly 100 up on 2012), I made good with a list at the very start of the research process. But now as the minutes tick away, the chances of including everything听 seem as unlikely as getting to watching every single programme I religiously highlight in my Christmas Radio Times.
Let鈥檚 at the very least, give it a go.
In 成人论坛 history terms, 2013 has been momentous. A new DG, along with new members of senior management, our departure from Television Centre in 鈥榃est 12鈥�, the official opening of New Broadcasting House by Her Majesty the Queen and the unveiling of have made 2013 a significant year.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, these events weren鈥檛 reflected in the feedback I got from friends when I asked them on Facebook, 鈥淲hat were your 成人论坛-related highlights this year?鈥�, for whom 鈥榦utput鈥� remained uppermost in their minds. Amongst their responses, particular mentions (reflecting my own interests) include:听 the 1953 Coronation coverage re-broadcast on 成人论坛 Parliament, The Fall, The Fiveish Doctors, the Glastonbury online coverage (for the sake of clarity, that comment was left by a member of the production team), An Adventure In Space and Time and the Tom and Jerry music which featured during the 成人论坛 Proms season this year.
But as About the 成人论坛 producer , asking other people what they think is a cheating slightly.
Looking back over our posts, it鈥檚 the anniversaries which act as the most potent of reminders not just of this year, but of the longevity of some programmes and services the 成人论坛 provides. earlier in the year, so too and (the morning radio programme Good Morning Scotland will also be marking 40 years at the end of this month 鈥� keep an eye out for a blog from producer and writer Graham Stewart about that.) 成人论坛 Radio 3鈥檚 passed into its 71st year, , and of course, Doctor Who marked its 50th with a range of programmes and events.听 Yes, I too shed a tear watching the final scenes in Mark Gatiss鈥� brilliant .
As someone whose lifelong career plan was based around wanting to work at Television Centre, it shouldn鈥檛 be a surprise to learn that the has loomed large in my thoughts ever since the day I first started working in the building 鈥� coincidentally, the day Mark Thompson first announced the 成人论坛 would be leaving it. Since that time, I鈥檝e indulged myself whenever I鈥檝e walked out of the building with the idea of making an homage to Roy Castle鈥檚 famous tap-dancing sequence around the site for Record Breakers in the 1970s. I鈥檇 always put the idea out of my mind on account of its apparent ridiculousness. Then in the early part of this year, with our departure date set in stone, the need to at least capture the footage was paramount. A few days after I started, with some hesitant try-outs of 鈥榯ap-dancing鈥� in the basement under my belt, the project gained momentum. A few weeks later we had galvanised 120 staff in their lunch hour, and persuaded them that for the purposes of their chilly lunchtime shoot, holding their hands in front of them as they jogged modestly around the 鈥楧oughnut鈥� would be sufficient for the end-piece. The final minute of the complete film still raises a smile. Pudsey is a particular star, I think.听
Staff have a trot around the Doughnut to say goodbye to 成人论坛 Television Centre.
Leaving one building is necessarily largest staff move in the 成人论坛鈥檚 history, the beginning of TV news broadcasts from New Broadcasting House had actually occurred a few days before the programme on 成人论坛 Four, and a further full week before the keys were officially handed over (although the ). The first news broadcasts from studios in the Newsroom was an exhilarating moment. Like watching the first ever edition of Breakfast Time as a kid 30 years before, watching Sophie Raworth deliver the first bulletin conveyed a sense that a chapter had ended, with a new one opening within a gnat鈥檚 whisker, the moment made notable for my inner TV nerd by the sight of a at the conclusion of broadcasts, something not normally seen on the News Channel.听 It was an exciting moment, in no small part underpinned 80 seconds or so of the updated News theme. News had a new home. A new chapter had begun.
That sense of collective excitement shared by staff across London and in some cases further afield, was experienced again a few weeks later when to formally open the building.
HM the Queen leaves after officially opening NBH
Another exciting day, not only because of our Royal visitor, but because that most rare of experiences had crept up on us comparatively unexpectedly: staff convening en masse. Colleagues emerged from their work, peering round doorways and down corridors, some tip-toeing to get a view, others resorting to watching the live stream of the News Channel on their mobiles. Here was a moment when staff shared in a special event. Wide smiles and a palpable sense of anticipation. A day not unlike last year when the Olympic Torch made its way to White City on its final leg to the Olympic stadium in Stratford.
Of course, no review can ever include everything. These 鈥� and those from and Hannah at the end of last week 鈥� amount to personal reflections. But they remind us all that the 成人论坛 remains an incredibly exciting organisation to be a part of, one that sees a wide range of events and makes an enormous amount of output to. It鈥檚 a great privilege to be able to go some way to document the organisation鈥檚 ongoing story on this blog ourselves, and through the many voices of our contributors. And we鈥檙e very much looking forward to continuing to do that in 2014.
is Editor, About the 成人论坛 Website and Blog.
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