Few technical problems tonight, for which we apologise
How could I not include this bizarre talking point of the week? It is - of course - the technical fault which hit the BBC News At Ten on Tuesday (20/6/17), when a very important system crashed just seconds before the programme was due on air. For viewers watching BBC One, they got a brief glimpse of the problems before the Playout Director cut to a menu graphic...
...As for viewers on the BBC News Channel, they got to see Huw Edwards sat silently at his desk, not knowing for certain if he was on air or not... for just under 4 minutes. Ever the professional, Huw handled it well, especially as the wrong graphics continued to appear for a little while longer. Anyway, here is the whole broadcast, taken from the News Channel feed. Everything returns to normal after Huw aplogises for the faults, so you don't have to watch the whole thing, but I'm not stopping you...
To a degree, it does seem a bit weird that such an incident should get so much attention (from my point of view, anyway) but I guess the fact that such faults on a main channel are rare these days is a part of that, coupled with the News Channel staying on Huw for the duration, instead of cutting away to something else. What's really weird about all of this, is that it happened on the 17th anniversary of a much bigger glitch, when a power cut in West London caused BBC TV Centre to switch to an emergency generator, which then failed in the middle of the 6 o' Clock News. And who was presenting it? Huw Edwards. Here's a report about it from later in the evening, broadcast from an alternate studio in Westminster, as TV Centre still had problems.
That wasn't the detail I wanted to see
Next, we take a look at the latest video from one of my favourite You Tube channels: The Slow Mo Guys. On this channel, Gav and Dan carry out all sorts of weird and wonderful (and often dangerous) experiments and activities, which they film using special cameras designed to capture things in extreme slow motion. Right now, they are in the middle of 'Giant Balloon June', during which they are doing all sorts of things involving giant orange balloons - if you hadn't already guessed - which is something they have touched on in the past. In this particular video, the aim is for Dan to climb inside the balloon as it fills with water and once it is full, get it to burst. The last stage of this proves to be the hardest part but when they manage it, there is a bit of a... well... you better take a look...
If it's tangy and brown, you're quoting from The Simpsons
Moving on swiftly... Another favourite channel of mine is Ashens, hosted by Stuart Ashen, who reviews a whole range of items - from old and new tech, old and new food, to random shite from pound shops - all from the comfort of his old, brown sofa. This particular video is from a few years back, as he reviews that classic back-of-the-cupboard favourite: The SodaStream...
Dr Pete, though...
Paradise
We started with a technical fault, so we end with one. This particular incident comes from BBC1 in January 1985, during a repeat of Star Trek. Back then, any movie or any TV show that was shot and edited on film would be transmitted straight from film, instead of being transferred to tape and although tape has been known to literally fall apart on air, it would tend to be a slightly more durable medium for repeated playback. Sadly with film, this isn't always the case and as we can see from this clip, it can all go wrong very quickly...
Seeing as the Enterprise is back on course - thanks to some hastily applied film repair tape - there's only one thing left to say...
"VIDEOOOOOOS"
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