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THREAD (on a clock panel no less). In the last few weeks, I& #39;ve been broadcasting from home and lots of you have asked about BBC clock panel on our living room wall. I thought I& #39;d tell you more about it. I& #39;m hoping other BBC colleagues can help me as well.
2/ For many years Bush House was home to @bbcworldservice. It stands on Aldwych in London facing up Kingsway. And, for me, walking through its columns in 2003, was a dream come true. Every corridor and room contained extraordinary people and extraordinary design too.
3/ I arrived as a producer and, one day, when a presenter missed his train, I was asked to fill in. I can still remember the first script: & #39;BBC World Service. It& #39;s 23 hours GMT. This is the World Today.& #39; Epic is overused by this felt epic. This was the view as I walked in.
4/ This was in 2004 and I started co-presenting with World Service giants like @ritula, Max Pearson, @FergusNicoll and the dearly missed Julian Keane. I was always bothering them for advice. And we were all looking at the same clock panel, hinged to the wall. This was the view.
5/ In 2006, I became a presenter on World Have Your Say. which used the same studio S38 and, for hundreds of editions, I still stared at the clock (in my mind the panel was changed at some point, though I can& #39;t be sure). Here& #39;s an action shot!
6/ Putting this thread together, I also found this picture from another studio, S6. What a desk this is. (And yes I am wearing a @JohnDeere t-shirt and the worst pair of glasses, and, no. I can& #39;t explain it. The journey to TV presenter was a long one.)
7/ You particularly stare at the clock on @BBCWorldService because it has what we call & #39;hard posts& #39; - times that you can& #39;t talk through - the system will just cut you off. 29 & 59 mins were the hard posts (still are in fact). Once you get to, say, 10:28:57 you need to be quiet.
8/ I recall programmes on Tony Blair stepping down, on Yasser Arafat dying, on George W Bush being re-elected (with @robinlustig in DC), and many many other stories - and always I stared at these same clocks. This is the view through to the sound engineers and producers.
9/ In the early 2010s, the @bbcworldservice moved from Bush House to New Broadcasting House. And once we& #39;d said our goodbyes, the BBC auctioned the contents of Bush House. Here& #39;s the listing I was interested in. I wasn& #39;t ready to stop looking at these clocks.
10/ I was at a radio conference in Oslo when the auction began and after 20 mins of intense bidding against (I assume) colleagues, I& #39;d spent quite a lot more than I& #39;d meant to. It felt a rash at the time, it feels like money very well spent now.
11/ A few days later I drove into Bush House, stuck it in the back of the car and got it home. As you can see, it had a lot of thick wires, no sides, one of the clocks didn& #39;t work, it had no power, and it duly settled in under our bed.
12/ I knew I needed help. I found a wonderful BBC engineer called Colin Neal who in return for nothing more than lunch came to my house several times as he worked out what needed to be done - and we got the parts in to do it. He still had his BBC-issue tool kit too.
13/ Colin sorted the lights and wired them each with their own switch. (I need to improve the white plastic switches which were a bad choice on my behalf.)
14/ Red as I& #39;m sure you know means & #39;on air& #39;. If this light is on, then so is your microphone. Time to pay attention. (By the way, it says GMT on the other side of the paper.)
15/ Green is for go. The sound engineers (studio managers as we call them at the BBC) have a foot pedal. When they are ready for you to start talking, they flash the green. I quickly learned, jumping the green is (quite rightly) not the thing to do...
16/ White means the phone is ringing. Which given the gallery was always staffed was never that useful to me as someone else would answer the phone before I could get to it. But it would sometimes flash.
17/ This & #39;alert& #39; light flashes when you need to be aware there& #39;s an issue in the building. (Remarkably when Colin and I switched it on years after it was removed from Bush House, it flashed first time.) I& #39;m not sure if the sound engineer controlled this or if it was centralised.
18/ If the evacuate light starts going then, well... I think that happened once during all my time and we all poured out into the car park in the middle of Bush House.
19/ Next, the analogue clock ran off a pulse to ensure it was accurate. Needless to say I don& #39;t have a pulse facility at home! I took it to a wonderful shop called Allen and Wainright (full of cuckoo clocks and grandfather clocks) and they added a battery-powered action.
20/ As you can see this clock is made by @MOBATIME which is very much still going. https://www.mobatime.com/about-us/ ">https://www.mobatime.com/about-us/...
21/ The digital clock is made by Wharton which still manufacture loads of fantastic studio clocks. Setting it takes a little working out but I think I& #39;ve mastered it now. https://www.wharton.co.uk/ ">https://www.wharton.co.uk/">...
22/ Which left the sides. The panel used to be hinged to a frame on the wall. But the frame didn& #39;t come with it. I asked the brilliant furniture maker Richard Wood to help. Richard did such a good job you& #39;d never know the sides weren& #39;t original. http://rtwoodfurniture.co.uk/ ">https://rtwoodfurniture.co.uk/">...
23/ Finally a local electrician channelled a new socket into our living room wall. That& #39;s behind where the clock is mounted so I can plug it in without a wire running down the wall. And, several years after I first got it, there it was - my pride and joy. That& #39;s the story.
24/ It& #39;s been lovely to hear from so many people who are as keen on the panel as I am. Thanks to Colin and Richard for bringing it back to life - and to the @bbcworldservice for letting me present for many years.
25/ Thanks too for @ratemyskyperoom for a none-too-shabby 9/10. The panel will be back on @BBCOS tomorrow. https://twitter.com/ratemyskyperoom/status/1257510356227932165?s=20">https://twitter.com/ratemysky...
