BBC Coverage: UK Election Night 2010 opening

[mgmt54]

Dropping the Arthur theme tune was a big mistake.

The programme itself was also pretty dross. Peter Snow and Tony King were badly missed. The election coverage on ITV and SKY was better.

The Royal Wedding was also another disaster for the tax on TV viewing brigade with ITV winning all the plaudits.

[Udany147]

@mgmt54 They changed the theme in 2001 as well, but brought it back for 2005.. hopefully next election we'll get it back (and get back Labour too).

[Rutter350]

@soxdownsouth Vietnam. That is all.

[takemybreathawayok]

labour party is the worst party in history. they sold the country to the eussr and to immigrants for 13 years. and left an economic crisis that is still felt today. they created a supra government that has to be cut and the people who lived dependent on their programs have to undergo a reality shock today that they have to get a job to continue to live their lifestyles.

i will never vote for the labour party after what the damage they have done to the country.

[00MrBlob]

That exit poll was nearly right

[Tokyorosebiz]

See what has happened to our Great Country watch THE PARTY OF SLEAZE by TOKYO ROSE

[patrickburnsmusic]

Fantastic opening sequence and music. Outstanding, BBC!!

[Barsider75]

@soxdownsouth you clearly have no grasp of the Monarchy or the British political system.

[NGC773]

David Dimbleby is a complete legend! I hope he never stops

[SRKProductionsUK]

"US election" what the hell it is the UK election, how can you make such a big mistake!

[GusPlayer94]

@soxdownsouth Democratic? I'm pretty sure Mr Bush lost the election but managed to become President in 2000, no? Is it not a group of unknown electors who in fact elect your president? Because I'm pretty sure that's how it works ;) And you bet its about what party is in power, that's a parliamentary democracy, where the peoples' representatives make the decisions FOR the people, not a single man.

[TheIceman567]

@GusPlayer94 No he won because his brother was Governor of Florida at the time. That's why he won.

[H4554nX0rZ]

Great Britain > America

[H4554nX0rZ]

Get the Americans to have such an outstanding opening to their joke of a general election.

[electrogeek77]

@H4554nX0rZ Hey! At least we managed to have ill-working touchscreens and interviews with holograms!

(I'm not joking, CNN really did this. You could tell that the anchors thought that it was the cheesiest thing ever.)

[hugtube1]

Thank fuck the Lib Dems bubble burst

[omid145]

Beautifully orchestrated opening, no other channel could pull that off

[callwithcurrentconti]

Oh dear, their monitor's blown.

[mad4mater]

Got to love the graphics the bbc uses :') paving stones!!!

[yubbles09]

I was about to say how much classier these graphics are than American television, then I saw those bricks. I do like the accents though.

[mwhite148]

I so wish they'd kept the old election night theme.

[rileykernaghan]

This is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish the Australian TV stations would go this fancy for our elections!

[Lopodecastro]

BBC > CNN

BBC >>>>>>> Faux News

[altfactor]

Maybe the U.S,. should adopt a uniform poll closing time for the 2012 Presidential elections, so that Brian Williams, Katie Couric, and Diane Sawyer can come on five minutes before poll closing time and do a dramatic opening to their broadcasts much like the BBC's opening for the 2010 British elections.

[bigfilmhat]

@altfactor

Britain has one time zone. We have four.

[GordonTheWanker]

Illuminati, New World Order, Bilderberg Group, Comittee 300, Club of Rome, Federal Reserve, IMF, WHO, LucisTrust...

[Dendiol]

@GordonTheWanker No, just David Dimbleby.

[neverguessuk]

Thanks for sharing. Remember feeling sick with excitement a few seconds before 10pm as David told us about the exit poll. As it turned out, the poll for the Tories was spot on (307 seats).

[HHGFHJGFHJGFJTYFJDGY]

I was watching Channel 4's Alternative Election Night.

[hpd929]

That paving thing is pretty ridiculous. "He opens the door and goes in"? It looks like The Sims. As an American, I can't act all smug, though, because we started the precedent of doing this silly stuff. It's just an attempt to milk as much coverage as possible out of every non-story.

[TheDukeOfWaltham]

@hpd929 I agree, though it bothered me more that the interior of 10 Downing Street looks nothing like that in reality (especially that awful generic painting).

[globeman8]

That looks like the 2000 today set

[painfulsweetness]

its a very sophisticated work.

better than japanese one

[matt1784]

that result was almost spot on for a change!

[SuperCena63]

damn, I've been searching all over for a particular video and to avail, could any of you help me?

Basically the day after the election the BBC released a vide summing up all the events of the election, right up to Clegg and Cameron going into 10 Downing Street together. The entire video was set to Coldplay's "Fix you" and it was a masterpiece.

Anybody know the video I'm on about and if so, could you help me find it?

[jtcrawford89]

The one thing that puzzles me is that the camera heads towards the London Eye on the south bank of the Thames, continues in an uninterupted line and then zooms out somewhere in Yorkshire.

[Lab356]

Get rid of that god-awful election night theme tune and restore Alan Wakeman's Arthur, for whoever pulls the sword from the stone and anvil, truly is the true born King of England

[Avatar2050]

unpredictable !? NO NOT REALLY when u know the agenda is a global New World Order a total consolidation of power.. u will see more despotic rule, less rights of supposed freedom and a govt that will systematically crush any form of independant company, speech or thought.. whilst charging u a fortune for the privilege of breathing

[Kelvin676]

Memories....

[Cnd1867]

"Where there is discord, may we bring harmony..."

[Cnd1867]

O.K., this new theme isn't that bad! =D Wonderful coverage, I always found the BBC had one of, if not THE, best election coverage in the world

[Dendiol]

Superb coverage... The new theme was needed to replace the tired old one.

[kallumitus]

Is there any way to get the music that is behind Dimbley's voice after the opening titles?

[LollieSmith]

wow it looks like eurovision song contest not an election of government.

[arwelp]

I wish they'd bring back the "Arthur" theme they used between about 1987 and 2001.

[altfactor]

The U.S. networks could use the "Swingometer" for the midterm elections (November, 2010) to show the balance of the two major parties in the House, Senate, and Governors.

[gbrading]

I think those first five minutes up until the exit poll was announced was an amazing intro. The music really works incredibly well to fire you up and get excited. I know I was on the night.

[mercyalive]

Bring back Rick Wakeman's 'Arthur'!!!

[gitoe777]

And of course by the time the lavish (i.e. expensive) programme had finished, we were none the wiser on the result...... thanks auntie.

[jimmyg00dtimes]

Election Night really is BBC News at its best.

Although for the geeks, the bulk of this five minute sequence was filmed in the hour before trasmission. Freeze the frame at 1'10", and the digital clock under camera 5 suggests it is 9:14:55. The programme broadcast from approximately 9:55:00. The first moment the studio goes live is at 4'32", just before the exit poll is announced.

[jimmyg00dtimes]

There was also a major infrastructure problem on the night. BBC-TV was live at 100 counts on the night, but the video wall from 1'30" only shows 8 live feeds, some of them duplicated. It was supposed to show many more.

[jimmyg00dtimes]

And a strip on the video wall drops from 5'36", prompting some swift action from the director to get it out of shot - from 5'51".

[jimmyg00dtimes]

Call me a perfectionist.  Despite these relatively minor teething problems in what was a hugely complex, sprawling studio, utilising an unrivaled newsgathering network, I still get goose bumps whenever I see this sequence!

Enjoy!

[marks1987]

@jimmyg00dtimes well spotted. Also, you can tell by looking at the fade from Emily Maitlis to the camera panning down to DD - the camera that was pointing at EM (and faded from) is now pointing at DD's seat.

[abarzilai664]

Thanks for posting I looking for this.

[tableconnect]

Dimbleby is the most trusted person in news and he has surpassed Cronkite in America. Dimbleby anchored the American Election of Obama on BBC America and as usual he was the best of the best and better then anyone in America.

[stevenonattack]

1:53 imposing virtual studio

[johankneijber]

Dimbleby is a hero

[scott72able]

That prediction was almost spot on. Well done BBC!

[thebeeskl]

Live on air for 18 HOURS.. legend.

[NLWK110710]

@thebeeskl Indeed above 70 and able to cope without any sleep, many respect.

[eo227]

Jeremy Vine was trapped in that virtual world for about 15 hours lol

[djriki0]

@eo227 :D