100% agree with you there fella.
I've noticed a bit of an 'undercurrent' between them on more than one occasion, where poor Charlie has looked visibly annoyed and has had to 'bite his tongue'.
It might be that there's genuine friction between the pair, or maybe a part of it was pent up animosity of BBC females and front women boiling over once the true scale and stats of the pay gap; well more a canyon really; between male and female TV anchor persons, and in general at the BBC, had become apparent.
I also noticed some 'nigglyness' between Louise Minchin and Dan Walker around that time as well, which was surprising, as it thought that latter pairing 'hit it off' better than the former.
It might also be, as you mention, that some BBC boss 'had a word'.
I remember years ago; decades actually; there was a right barney between Jeremy Bowen; who was trying his hand at studio anchorman after years as a reporter sent to the world's 'godforsaken holes'; and his female counterpart who normally delivered the sporting news, live on air. It was real 'handbags at dawn' on live TV and I remember feeling awkwardly embarrassed for Mr. Bowen.
There were a couple or more of such outbursts in quick succession days apart and not long after that Mr. Bowen was dispatched off to the Middle East again. But it was the woman who totally lost it on each occasion.
Blimey. Really? Wish I'd seen that!
I do find Dan Walker intensely annoying, he's a like a labrador puppy, perpetually happy, and his laugh does my head in
. Football's not my bag, but he's very good as a blokey sports presenter, but an anchor on Breakfast TV? No thanks. Louise Minchin, annoying too. Quite shrieky. The only one I really like is Charlie, I admire his slight underlying curmudgeonliness and understatement, but that's probably because I'm an old(ish) fucker
.
Naga came right out and called Trump a racist on-air a few months ago. Whether that's actually true or not (and I do think Trump is a cunt), you just don't do that. It's the BBC, you bite your lip and present stuff right down the middle. You're a fucking TV presenter, you present the news, I'll make my mind up what to think about it
. And when the complaints came in, the BBC defended her
.
The BBC are getting very bad at this over the last few years. What's behind it is overall good intent and a desire to bring about social justice,
but it's not your place to preach to me.Re: the female pay thing, yes there was a big problem but you can't really just go giving guys an instant paycut, similarly, you can't just go giving all the women instant payrises to match them. There are various reasons for the high pay that some of the big male names ended up with, but the only fair way to deal with the situation is gradually uplift the female salaries as their contracts come up for renewal.
Part of it was the old boys' club thing, part of it was that the older male presenters had been doing their jobs for decades and accrued various bonuses and increments along the way. Regarding those increments, those were hard-won, experience counts for a lot in all kinds of jobs, perhaps even more so in broadcasting, where calm, measured tones are developed over many years, as well as a wealth of realworld knowledge. That's what happened with John Humphrys, he ended up on a ludicrously high salary, a lot more than some of the women co-presenting Today on R4. When it came out how much he earned, all the women got screechy and demanded equal pay. Well dear, when John Humphrys was reporting from the Aberfan disaster in 1960-whatever, you weren't even fucking born
.
And talking of John Humphrys, I would urge anyone with an interest in Broadcasting in the UK to read his autobiography (no, I'm not his Agent
). He deals quite eloquently (as well he might) with all the snowflakey Millenial bollocks which clogs the airwaves these days, and obscures basic truths which should be seen and understood. It's like an evil-smelling fug.
