The (West) One Show

On Monday January 6th, The One Show began broadcasting from it's new home at New Broadcasting House in W1. Producer Barney Newman gives us an insight into the first few shows at street level.

The first full week back at work in January concluded with a six-metre tall animatronic fire-breathing dragon called Elsie, roaming the NBH piazza, entertaining whoever was in her path. But Elsie wasn't the only multi-faceted beast to rock up at W1 in the New Year...

After years out in the wild wild west of White City – The One Show team arrived, energetic, noisy and ambitious…with a piazza to play with. One thing I noticed when I first stood on that piazza looking at the studio was, it was at street-level. I mean it’s pretty hard not to notice that, but bear with me. It reminded me of someone once explaining how and why televised football changed forever. Why the viewers suddenly got a feeling of deeper interaction and accessibility, getting close up to the raw action. It was because TV cameras became portable and went pitch-side, ground level, giving viewers the perspective of actually being at the event. Which is a similar effect I believe the new location gives us. Filming outside looking in gives the show an identity as a landmark. And being inside shooting out, the public passing through the back of shot (also known as you going home) or stopping by to witness the event live, creates an atmosphere, an experience, a buzz. Exciting. Thanks for bearing with me.

So, myself, assistant producer Ben and researcher Rebecca were the lucky ones who landed the first Monday and Friday shows. Monday was a conundrum in itself - do we go all out jazz hands? Should we make the sofa revolve like a Voice chair to welcome Kylie and will.i.am? Or should we just keep it simple? Maybe we shouldn’t even refer to having moved studio? Matt and Alex did. will.i.am said it was ‘dope’.

But the launch wasn’t without jeopardy. We should have known better but attempted to work with animals. Those emphatic swans of Swan Lake were lined up to perform, but disaster struck. Three swans injured (THREE!) the Friday before TX. No pirouetting live around the BBC newsroom. Maybe a newsreader told them to break a leg? In hindsight, maybe the unfortunate injuries were a blessing in disguise, but we’ll never know. What we do know is, 14 Japanese Taiko drummers are very loud. And maybe a deafening drum roll is what the opening show needed after all? The first show received five million viewers, a soothing cold flannel to a hot brow.

Throughout the week, the ambitious ideas continued, our Deputy Editor Gareth’s big 14 idea (for 2014) was in full flow… 14 pianos were playing Beethoven, 14 'Elvi' weren’t lonesome at all singing their medley, 14 Strictly dancers danced their way in to the national press and Elsie was PAT tested and breathing fire from 14 orifices. Only on The One Show!

All this as well as Tom Cuckson’s Wednesday hour seeing an action man abseiling down the side of the building and an OB linking the studio to an airplane 27,000ft above Norway capturing the aurora borealis! The day and film teams try very hard to wreak havoc on The One Show technical team, like any creative team on a live show worth their salt should. But, it’s 1-0 to the technical gods so far. 

The usual rich, factual content continued across the week with a strand of films on three soldiers returning from Afghanistan to their families, the re-creation of a female wooly mammoth from bones dug up from under the North Sea, and not forgetting the intriguing film on how the shape of chocolate can alter the taste. It’s true. We tested it. 

As our Director of Television Danny Cohen mentioned in his speech after the first show, on what other TV show in the world do you get such a mix of quality content... 

Here’s to many more memories from W1.

Barney Newman is Producer, The One Show.

• The One Show is broadcast weekday evenings on BBC One at 7pm.
• More photos and behind the scenes news from The One Show is available on their facebook page.