So how did Raymond Baxter manage it then ?
I don't know, I haven't seen much of his work, but I suspect by doing things that would not be tolerated by modern television directors.
And they call themselves professional ?
Inasmuch as it's possible to be a professional commentator on something that's never been done in living memory, I suppose so.
But really my purpose is not to try to excuse the behaviour of the on-screen talent, which I'll agree could have been better, but to elucidate
why it was shambolic. The decision to try and make a five or six hour flotilla into a five or six hour piece of television is a bad one, because no matter how well prepared you are it simply isn't interesting for that long. None of this is anything to do with the talent, the crews, or the individual link directors. It's a mistake to assume that the people in front of the camera have much if any sway - it's a rather similar mistake to assuming that everyone in the RAF is a pilot, or that Bomber Command crews had any choice what they bombed.
P