Breakfast Time
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| Breakfast Time | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | Breakfast show |
| Starring | Frank Bough Selina Scott see presenters section |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC One |
| Original run | 17 January 1983 – September 1989 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Good Morning Britain |
Breakfast Time was British television's first national breakfast show, beating ITV's TV-am to the air by two weeks.
The show was revolutionary for the time. It mixed hard news with accessible features, creating a cosy feel, with sofas and bright colours — a stark contrast to the Open University programming that had previously aired during that timeslot. Frank Bough, Selina Scott and Nick Ross anchored the show, with regulars such as Russell Grant (astrology) and Diana Moran, also known as the "Green Goddess" due to the colour of her leotard (fitness).
Breakfast Time was an unexpected success. A rival commercial breakfast show, TV-am, was headed by a star line-up and almost everyone assumed it would trounce the BBC, but Breakfast Time got on the air first and the format and presenters proved supremely popular.
One of Breakfast Time's most notable episodes was on the morning of the Brighton bombing when Nick Ross in the studio presented continuous live coverage of the IRA's attack at the Conservative Party conference in Sussex, including live pictures of the rescue of senior politicians such as Norman Tebbit.
In time TV-am simply copied the BBC's approach, and Breakfast Time became less sure-footed, losing some of its friendly accessibility as it strained to be more serious in tone. It adopted a news format in 1986, and in 1989 the show became Breakfast News.
[edit] Presenters
- Frank Bough
- Selina Scott
- Sue Cook
- Debbie Greenwood
- Sally Magnusson
- John Mountford
- Jeremy Paxman
- Nick Ross
- Mike Smith
- John Stapleton
- Kirsty Wark
[edit] External links
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