Airport Live

[mattjwood]

Hi all

Just thought i would give you the heads up on an interesting programme thats being shown on BBC2 starting tomorrow at 8pm called Airport Live. It goes behind the scenes at Heathrow looking at all aspects of the Airport. Its on every night until Thursday.

Forgive me if this has already been mentioned!

[Chef]

Thanks for the heads up

[chevvron]

To illustrate how thoroughly they've researched it, one of the reporters stated in 'What's on TV' that the controllers at Heathrow must have very strong bladders to do their job ( or something similar) She obviously wasn't aware that under CAA regulations, controllers MUST have a break at least every 2 hours, and must have 30 min rest for every 2 hours of operational duty.
Anyway why is it always Heathrow they choose to do these programmes; why not an airport with busy mixed traffic like Biggin or Gloucester?

[mattjwood]

I have to agree chevvron, i seem to recall the BBC doing something similar at Gatwick not so long ago!

Still worth a watch i suppose.

[Load Toad]

Is it going to be like that airport programme which mostly consisted of utterly inane incidents such as 'Mary is late for her flight and Mike has to try to find her - but it seems she has misplaced her passport - can Mike find the passport and call the supervisor in time and will Mary need help to get to the gate given she has diabetes and has never been on holiday to Spain?'

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Problem is that as soon as any producer thinks of anything to do with flying it has to be Heathrow. One reads in the papers of aircraft "contacting the Heathrow control tower" when it's over the Atlantic and other such nonsense.

I was involved in a similar programme from Heathrow about 30 years ago. Idiotic presenters trying to interview working controllers and producers running around saying "That's good TV", usually when someone had said something daft. During the week-long farce over 200 BBC staff entered the tower. Probably the best bit was when some of us entered the lift with one of the snotty lady presenters who objected when we pushed buttons for intermediate floors on the way down. Unbelievably she said: "Do you know who I am?" To which we replied "No". They really are a bunch of clowns and I'll bet there will be some cringing by Heathrow staff when they see the end product.

[22 Degree Halo]

Really looking forward to it and no amount of negativity on here will put me off.

[Kiltrash]

Well it does have Dan Snow going for it

and remember that is your Licence fee they are spending

Open mind and see what comes from it

[alcockell]

About to start- 2 mins to go.. If folk are interested..

[Dannyboy39]

Unsurprisingly its pretty cringeworthy.

TV presenters talking about 'aeroplanes' is not good.

That "big fat plane with a bulky nose is a Boeing 747, I've been swatting up!" :mad::ugh:

[alcockell]

Yeah - know what you mean... Kate an eponymous "thick SLF"?

[elgnin]

Such a shame the beeb appear to have employed some 5 year old to present this - even Dallas is like a kid on Christmas day! This is such a great opportunity to show case a busy world class airport and that is being done quite well with the pre-recorded parts, some interesting items but lord help us all if Kate does the next 3 nights....perhaps iplayer and skip the live bits.

Hope all is OK with Dan Snow - his gravitas is urgently needed!!!!

[Dannyboy39]

Only 141 pax on a Virgin A330-300 to JFK. Not good Beardy Branson!

[barry lloyd]

I imagine a few words will be said later about those undone hi-viz jackets!

[mixture]

why not an airport with busy mixed traffic like Biggin or Gloucester?

I think the answer is obvious, is it not ?

Every man and his dog has probably at least heard of Heathrow, if not actually passed through it on business and/or holiday.

Only the Anoraks of the aviation world and direct users of Biggin or Gloucester would know about them and where they are. Remember also that at a later date the BBC may re-broadcast the programme internationally via BBC World (or whatever they call it these days).

The BBC needs to appeal to the widest possible audience, hence the choice of Heathrow and the dumbed down nature of the programme.

[treadigraph]

Ms Humble does at least have some aviation blood flowing through her veins - granddaughter of Bill Humble, noted Hawker test pilot.

[DaveReidUK]

Unsurprisingly its pretty cringeworthy.It's television - file under E for Entertainment.

TV presenters talking about 'aeroplanes' is not good.Strange, I thought that's what they all were, or did I miss the bit about helicopters ?

[DX Wombat]

Strange, I thought that's what they all wereThey are AIRCRAFT. Planes are tools for use in woodwork.

[Gonzo]

'Aeroplanes', as used on the programme, is the correct use case, 'plane' is the woodworking tool

[Doors to Automatic]

Heathrow Director - I remember the previous version you were talking about which I think was filmed in late '86. It included a reporter taking a jump seat ride on a British Midland DC9 and butting in every few seconds asking the crew what was going on, whilst they were trying to land manually in conditions of low viz. I can imagine the sorts of conversations that must have gone on once this idiot left the flight deck!

Here's what I hope is an intelligent question having seen tonights show.....
One average how many days per year do they have to swap runway ends from the 27s to the 09s or vice versa during the day? Do they ever have to swap twice? What is the record for swap arounds in one day?

[kcockayne]

Not bad; if you ignore an A330 turning into a B744, & then back into an A330- NOT much "Live" there !
Nevertheless, entertaining & a bit better than normal, if you ask me.
Remember, the viewing public are not ALL ATCOS & aviation professionals.

[Gonzo]

As Tower Supervisor, I once did 7 runway changes in one shift. If I remember correctly that day we swapped ends four times as two massive CB cells came through throughout the afternoon and evening. We alternated on westerlies at 1500 as usual, but then later on in the shift we had to de-alternate due to a problem and then swap back to the alternation programme once sorted.

[Torque Tonight]

What's wrong with 'aeroplane'?

[adambsmith]

Awful programme.

[Wycombe]

I didn't think it was too bad, there were more than a few attempts to explain properly how things work, eg, theory of flight explained using a rotating 744, the "swapping ends" bit, the engineer walk-round on the 380, the brake-rider on another 380, the stuff about maximising runway utlilisation etc.

Although I'm quite partial to "Katiebabes" Humble, she did let herself down with a "I don't actually really like airports" comment at one point!

[ZOOKER]

Gonzo,
We beat you!
9 R/W changes during an afternoon at EGCC during the early 1980s.
Oddly enough, it was when the watch supervisor, (the late Phil Shone), had rostered the 3 most junior ATCOs on his watch, (including me), to man the VCR. An afternoon of continual and variable Cb activity resulting in a VCR Watch-Log reading...QFU24,..QFU06.....QFU24.....QFU06..and so on.
Just after tea-time, Phil came up to the tower to see what was going one on, saw the 3 a/c backtracking to the other end, and went back downstairs.
Happy days.

[LongJohn54]

I wonder how much notice Kate Humble was given to cover for Dan Snow when he went absent for family reasons. She's not in the credits in the Radio Times.

There were signs of frantic ad-libbing and repeating the same question (how high is the tower, again?) but overall I thought they all did a pretty good job for a live show in an unfamiliar environment with a missing main presenter.

[PAXboy]

Thanks for saving me the trouble of watching it! :ok:

Nowadays, if a documentray starts with a 'well known personality' who says: "I'm going on a journey to ..." I switch off. I want an intelligent and knowledagable person to inform me and share their knowledge. Not someone trying to learn on the job AND explain to me! :ugh:

[crewmeal]

The Beeb should have got that shower who commentated on the Jubilee Pagent last year. Now that would have been entertaining. I wonder if the sheets in 3D on the SIA flight were ever changed!

[DaveReidUK]

I didn't think it was too bad, there were more than a few attempts to explain properly how things work, eg, theory of flight explained using a rotating 744, the "swapping ends" bit, the engineer walk-round on the 380, the brake-rider on another 380, the stuff about maximising runway utlilisation etc.Agreed.

My only gripe (apart from the hilarious "baseball bats" bit) was the overuse of the fashionable "meanwhile, back at ..." style of production/direction where the topic needs to switch every couple of minutes because the viewer is judged to have an attention span only marginally better than a goldfish.

[dc9-32]

At least this program is 100 times better than the nonsense US program about ferry pilots recently :ooh:

Ahhhh Kate Humble, lovely as ever and in the flesh, even better too (shared a restaurant table with her some years ago on a Greek Island)....:mad:

[Vasco dePilot]

Superb fast paced documentary about London Heathrow in action is running on BBC2 for 4 nights finishing on Thursday. Look at the first episode here:
BBC iPlayer - Airport Live: Episode 1 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/p018t42j/)
Well done BBC:D

[Planemike]

Awful programme.

Why so? Plenty of other channels for you to select while the remaining three programmes are screened.

I thought it was quite good: you have to make allowances as it was certainly designed to appeal to a mass audience. Not wrong with that.

[AndoniP]

once you see past the fact that the presenters had little clue about aviation and that the programme was designed to be broadcast to as wide an audience as possible (ie mainly SLF), the crux of what they were presenting wasn't bad. it maybe didn't help that whoever the main presenter was absent at the last minute, but the rest didn't do too bad and the content was pretty interesting. the 'live' nature of the programme along with people dispersed around the airport means that they would have had to go back and forth like they were. it also adds to the 'non stop' feel of the work. I would say it was pretty difficult to put together, live and recorded segments like that.

[ex-XL-in-exile]

Kate "I normally find airports a chore" Humble to BA's chief pilot: "Oh, so you pilots do actually do something then?" :rolleyes:

[SpringHeeledJack]

For the 99% of the viewing audience who don't work in aviation it was fine, they showed elements of the hidden processes that make a large airport tick. As has been mentioned, the 'back and forth' style of the widespread live broadcast led the viewer to feel part of the going's on and the information presented in a way that was familiar to many such programmes.

Whilst ad-libbing it's normal to make humourous observations, especially as the cardinal sin is to have 'dead-air' where there is no talking between the people on the screen. Large airports are a chore to transit as a passenger, LHR especially, so Ms Humble should be forgiven her candour. I'm happy enough to have a peek behind the curtain courtesy of the BBC :ok:



SHJ

[VC10man]

I hate it when presenters talk to you as if you were 3 years old. It is a pity Dan Snow was away because I kept expecting Kate to ask if they ran over any hedgehogs on the runway or if birds ever nested in aircraft (or is it aeroplane?!)
It should be called Airportyfile.

PS Oooh isn't a 380 big.

[ATNotts]

Notwithstanding the point that the programme is probably intended to be filed under "entertainment" the BBC's remit is also in inform, and this would have been an ideal opportunity to do just that on a somewhat higher plane (pardon the pun). Surely something of GCSE level might have been more appropriate than "key stage 3".

Instead, along with other BBC programmes, such as "Breakfast" and the weather forecasts, everything has been dumbed down to the point where it wouldn't be out of place in C-Beebies.

Curiously, the BBC does a pretty good job of natural history, historical documentaries and the like - but give them an commercial aircraft and suddenly the whole thing seems to go to pot.

[Mr Angry from Purley]

I think Ms Humble did a great job given the circumstances. Give her some slack :\

[olympus]

What's wrong with 'aeroplane'? NOTHING!!

All I've heard is planes, planes, planes, planes..... and the more I hear it the less I like it.

I knew within minutes of the first episode starting that it would be a 5 year old's guide to LHR and 'planes' presented by people who know nothing about the subject.

I'm off to watch 'Animal Heroes'.

[Standard Noise]

she did let herself down with a "I don't actually really like airports" comment at one point!
I'm with Katiebabes on that one, makes going on holiday a pain in the a**e!

Planes, aeroplanes, aircraft, smartie tubes or planeythings. Take yer pick who cares, no point being poncey about it.

[Flyaways]

Speaking from the perspective of someone who doesn't work in the aviation industry, I think it's an OK programme.

If you ignore the accidental insults (I don't like airports, So you pilots actually do something then) and the kids observations (The 747 is the one with the big fat nose, i've been swatting up [whilst the cameraman pans the airport because he's got no idea which one the 747 is], and 'Dallas has got his table tennis bats') then it's not too bad.

I'd prefer it if they didn't repeat things quite so much (How tall the tower is, which terminal is which, the names of the ATC people).

I think it would be interesting if they showed what a pilot had to do before the actual flight, instead of pretending he just stumbles in, walks around the plane and flies it off.

I do like it though, i'll watch the last few episodes.

[Wycombe]

Great to see the big Mr. Palmer get his moment of fame tonight.

Met him a few times over the years, both in his capacity as a Civilian Instructor with the ATC, and if I recall once when he was down at RIAT helping to park some big jets.

A real gent.

Yes, some of us know that Easy 319's have 2 over-wing exits, but that really is too much detail for the large percentage of the audience who aren't TAP's like most of us on here.

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Do marshallers really think we follow their directions to the inch?!

Can't follow a yellow line huh?

[Skipness One Echo]

For the 99% of the viewing audience who don't work in aviation it was fine
This.
With knobs on.

Really enjoyed it, mindset knew it was pitched at Joe Public so had fun watching the behind the scenes.
I still have Airport 90 at Gatwick on video somewhere.

[overthewing]

Did anyone else think there was something hanging down from underneath the No.1 engine on the BA A320 they were turning around? As in, a cowl fastening?

[Lightning Mate]

All I've heard is planes, planes, planes, planes..... and the more I hear it the
less I like it.

I didn't see a single carpenters' wood tool either.

[compton3bravo]

Second instalment a lot better than the first - but ´´never call it a plane Bader - it is an aeroplane´´.

[Lightning Mate]

Then there was the engineer talking us through the engine run with a newly installed engine.

"up to full power"..

What power? Even at maximum thrust there is zero power if the aeroplane is not moving.

I shall not watch any more, but my wife loves it - works for NATS you see.

[pax britanica]

As someone with a little knowledge(a dangerous thing I know) but as pax and enthusiast I think overall its pretty good , sure there are a few cringeworthy moments but if Kate h had to sub for the more technically minded Dan Snow then that's more understandable.

Its also semi live which means scenes like the the SIA 380 guy saying -when the plane arrives we start at the nose and do a thorough post flight walk around is then asked-and where do you start that?

The views in and from the tower are great and lets face it after years of reality series about airports which focused on animals and bust ups at check-in any attempt to look at the core issues has to be applauded.
PB

[Ms Spurtle]

Last nights was much better.


Now.. maybe they haven't filtered down to regional airports yet... but pink hi-vis ??? Are they allowed ??

[Burnie5204]

Any colour hi-viz is allowed in theory as long as its highly visible as far as I know.



Lord Spandex Masher - you might be able to get your aircraft on the line but trust me, many pilots that Air Ops marshal where I work dont seem to be able to find the centreline, let alone stop at the right point.

Though it would have been nice if the marshaller had used and taught the signals correctly.

[Kimmikins]

Though it would have been nice if the marshaller had used and taught the signals correctly.

Care to elaborate? Looked pretty good to me!

As for "do they really think pilots can't follow a yellow line?" ...based on my observations of some pilot's parking abilities over the years, my answer would be no! Granted, this doesn't apply to all pilots, but some of the positions I've seen aircraft end up in when they've self-parked makes me wonder if they've spotted the yellow line at all. And aircraft aren't always marshalled just because the parking systems have failed, sometimes it's to avoid obstructions and hazards, and if you choose not to follow the marshaller "to the inch" then watch them leave you to it as you plough your aircraft into an obstruction.

[Lord Spandex Masher]

and if you choose not to follow the marshaller "to the inch" then watch them leave you to it as you plough your aircraft into an obstruction.

Yes, when I'm not being marshalled that tends to happen...never.

[Kimmikins]

When you're not being marshalled it means the parking aids are being used, therefore there are no obstructions and the stand is safe for you to park on the aids alone. If you aren't being marshalled and you hit an obstruction, then that's a whole different scenario isn't it.

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Yep, parking aids like a yellow line that you think some of us can't follow. ;)

[Burnie5204]

Kimmikins

It's more of a technical error rather than a signal error - 'Straight ahead' should be from arms level, bending at the elbow through 90 degree to forearms straight up. Not wrist twisting through 180 degrees.

From CAP637
http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t428/Burnie5204/SC20130619-202218_zps100c27ad.png

[Lord Spandex Masher]

Plus I think he said to wave slower to get us to taxi slower. :=

[Agaricus bisporus]

At least kAte Humble patronises only the industry by gushing on because it is so so complicated and difficult that no one can understand it whereas the cringeworthy Dan Snow patronises the viewer because the subject is so complicated only he can understand it. Plus the lovely KH doesnt wave her arms around dementedly and act the complete prat.

What a waste to trivialise the industry so. Cor stage kindergarten TV if you ask me.

You'll gather I'm not impressed. ;)

[Del Prado]

"heathrow is like a small city and like any city it has its own airport"

[ZOOKER]

A great shame that Raymond Baxter, William Woollard, James Burke and Michael Rodd, didn't present this.

[PAXboy]

ZOOKERA great shame that Raymond Baxter, William Woollard, James Burke and Michael Rodd, didn't present this.
For one of them, that would have been rather difficult.

[rowly6339]

They could at least put more focus on the need to expand and put to the public what benifits this would bring.:ok:

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

I met a number of presenters whilst at Heathrow and James Burke, bless him, was first class and had obviously mugged up very seriously on the subject.

[Safety Concerns]

for todays standards this programme is excellent

[cumbrianboy]

This is an interesting series, and quite a bold thing to do for the BBC, live TV from a notoriously changeable environment.

I think the series is aimed at the public, and for us aviation professionals we cringe, but we cringe because we know more than what is being presented. To joe public who get on a Thomson 737 once a year it does help unravel some of the mysteries and answer some of the questions that I hear at every departure gate around the country.

No, they're not being very technical or advanced, for example explaining that lift is actually produced due to the turning motion of the air (as opposed to simple pressure differences) but they are at least giving people a good understanding of some of the basic principles involved in modern aviation.

I think it's a middle of the road programme appealing to the masses, it is a shame that they didn't use a more subtle, but political approach to reinforce the need for expansion and the huge positive impact aviation has on the country, but then for the public sat at home eating sausage and chips do they really care?

[LGW Vulture]

Last night's classic from KH - "over there are the maintenance sheds"....

Oh how I laughed! :rolleyes: :ugh::ugh::ugh:

[Airfrance7]

Plane this Plane that. Plane plane plane............ aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh

[Cyber Bob]

A coin toss resulted in watching paint dry :ugh:

[Helen49]

This programme is not aimed at the aviation fraternity; it is to be hoped that such people will know the technical jargon and use the correct industry terminology, sadly not always the case!

However in my experience, I have found that many in the industry have, in fact, scant knowledge of what happens in the next office. There have been hints of that in the series!

So I feel that many airport workers will certainly be gleaning information from the series and the general public, at whom it is really aimed, should get a pretty good feel for what happens and why it happens in language which they are likely to understand.

The series demonstrates very clearly that the safe, expeditious and efficient operation of airports and aeroplanes is a consequence of team effort and that although some may feel that they are more important or work harder than others, this is not the case.

Let's face it, the media aren't known for their attention to correct detail as many on these forums frequently complain!

If the programme really offends, select the 'off' switch!

[SpringHeeledJack]

However in my experience, I have found that many in the industry have, in fact, scant knowledge of what happens in the next office. There have been hints of that in the series!

Whilst signing off the Virgin flight to South Africa, the presenter asked the gate operative why the entry door was always on the left hand side, to which they replied, "That's how it is, passengers on the left, cargo (catering) through the right door :) I'd hazard that it came about through maritime connections, the left side being 'port' and where passengers would board :8 Pedants and professors feel free to correct me ;)



SHJ

[LGW Vulture]

Which reminds me. Waving off the "Captain" - Hmmmm.....wrong side of the "plane" my dear! :ugh:

[Hotel Tango]

As an education for Joe Public I think this program does the job. Those who want to be picky and pedantic are not aviation professionals but idiots who think they can impress us with their vast self acclaimed knowledge! Those of us working in the profession know only too well how difficult it is to describe our jobs in detail to someone with little or no background knowledge. The idea of the program is not to take the viewer through a 3 year intensive course on all subjects relating to an airport operation, but to give them a simplified overlook. In that respect I found the program more than adequate for the audience it's directed at.

[DaveReidUK]

the presenter asked the gate operative why the entry door was always on the left hand sideAll is explained here:

Why do we board a plane on the left ? - Aeronewstv (http://www.aeronewstv.com/en/article/686-why-do-we-board-a-plane-on-the-left.html)

including the assertion that passengers board from the left because the doors are bigger on that side. :ugh:

Or, alternatively, it's all to do with knights of old getting on their horses from the left to avoid embarrassing accidents with their swords.

[superq7]

Learnt one thing ( perhaps I'm thick) didn't know contrails meant condensation trails! Learn something every day ps I'm 59

[Tight Accountant]

There were a couple of possible clangers in Wednesday's programme:

i) when the Scottish salmon was being loaded in the Virgin aircraft, the presenter commented (words to the effect) 'that it was Scotland's largest import'. Surely export?

ii) When asked about the convention about boarding on the left, the Virgin despatcher said that 'passengers are evacuated on the right'?

Obviously I may have misheared these comments and I'm happy to be corrected. However, my main observation was that aircraft life seems to be rather monotonous, and the producers of the programme are struggling to make run of the mill seem interesting, unless of course I'm missing a trick!

[Mr Angry from Purley]

A lot of typical nigel replies to the subject, its aimed at Joe Public, if it was aimed at nigels then it would be one hour of how large you're wallet is, about you're second job, commuting or how tired you are :\
Yes the down side is the commentating, Kate got thrown in at the deep end, Dallas is a put off because of his name.
The only thing that struck me is two cases of a poor load factor on VS....
:\

[750XL]

ii) When asked about the convention about boarding on the left, the Virgin despatcher said that 'passengers are evacuated on the right'?

While not necessarily true, Virgin TCO's are trained in such a way that R1/Rwhatever are the preferred exit routes in an evacuation

[HP7]

Overall that was an excellent job by the Beeb and the snidy conceited comments by some on here show what small minded people they are.

A nice blend of various aspects invloved with the airport and the industry in general with ATC being a sensible hub for the whole thiing and coming across extremely well (as did virtually all the contributors)

Well done BBC :ok:

[vctenderness]

I was slightly worried on day one as both of the female presenters seemed to be in 'rampant rabbit mode' however they calmed down a bit and I found it a useful bit of popular TV.

Dallas, let slip his dad was a Captain I wonder if his name is a bit of a Brooklyn Beckham and dad 'enjoyed' a good night stop in that fine city!

[InSeat19c]

While I agree with the "it's for Joe Public" type comments, I do wish that the BBC didn't assume we're all morons.

'Airport Live' is a great idea for a programme, but I don't see why we have to be subjected to the likes of Kate Humble, someone from Watchdog and a child by the name of Dallas during such a programme.

They are all totally out of their depth and it shows.

I felt embarrassed to watch Kate trying to think of things to say whilst interviewing the staff in the tower, before making lame jokes and daft comments. Yes, she may have been a last minute replacement but was no one else available ?

I know us licence fee payers are supposed to be impressed by "The One Show" and think that "Snog, Marry, Avoid" and "The Call Centre" are gripping telly, but some of us can cope with something a little bit more involved.

I've only seen the first two so far (the 2nd being a repeat of the first pretty much), but I was expecting something much better than this.

Joe Public has spoken :ok:

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

I didn 't see too much but was there mention of the Approach side of things?

[Spambhoy]

That's doing it a favour. Considering Blue Peter would have done better, it was cringeworthy. The NATS Heathrow shirts were a bad decision.

Love my company, hated the pi55 poor PR.

[Sophira]

Well, I made it here after watching the programmes. I'm mostly pure SLF with some listening experience (hence why I won't be straying outside of this particular spectators' forum!), so if I'm not welcome here then please do let me know. (I took the presence of this forum to mean that non-pilots are welcome as long as they stay here, but I might be wrong about that. Obviously I'm very interested in learning more, which is why I'm here! But if I need to move on, I will.)

I gather from the posts here that the programmes weren't as great as I personally thought they were. I don't know, it inspired me, but then I suppose I'm not one to talk!

[Muzzey]

Well, it is very easy to criticise but for my part I enjoyed the programme - barring the odd mistake and over-excited presenter, they all did their best in a busy & fully operational airport environment & for me it was great to see our favourite topic presented on tv in a largely positive manner, well done Auntie Beeb, reminded my of the live "skywatch" programme of a decade or two previously!:ok:

[PAXboy]

Sophira you will find that you are also most welcome in the SLF forum.

This monring, my newphew and his wife (early 20s and not regular flyers) asked me if I'd seen the programme. I said not and they then enthused about the programme, how interesting it was and hio much they'd learnt. So, to confirm, it wasn't made for us!

[InSeat19c]

I have seen all four episodes now and whilst it was very interesting, the presenting style was poor and most of the time I felt like I was watching Blue Peter.

Kate Humble tried to shoehorn a lame reference to aviation into every link and that got very tedious very quickly.

I also didn't see why they needed to feature the control tower in every episode. I think we all understood how busy and pressured the job of ATC was after the first programme and Kate wandering around and speaking in hushed tones every single night seemed a waste of time.

It wasn't so much "Airport Live" as "Air Traffic Control Tower Live".

[geoffco]

Personally I love the irony of the whole project.
Heathrow are happy to have hordes of BBC personnel crawling everywhere, encouraging our interest in all things aviation, yet try and follow up that newly fostered interest the next weekend by taking little Junior down to look at the airplanes/aeroplanes/aircraft/planes, and you're more likely to learn about the working methods of P.C. Plod than those of your local friendly international airport.

[Airclues]

I've seen all four episodes and really enjoyed it. It was great to see so much of the ATC role (both LHR Tower and Swanwick). Locating Kate in the control tower allowed her to link easily to the other areas of the airport. I thought that the presenters did an excellent job, and asked the questions that most people who are not involved in aviation might ask

Perhaps I'm just easily pleased?

[Tom the Tenor]

Nice one, Geoffco, very well said. It has struck me a few times during these kinds of tv and light entertainment shows about aviation that if the show producers went just one step further and considered a short interview with a few enthusiasts come spotters at runway ends and the like a broader view of the industry might be got perhaps with the inclusion of the odd critical comment just for a bit of balance to all the lovey, dovey stuff. Railway shows seem to be a tad happier to include some enthusiast involvement - the aviation shows could do with a little less of the presciousness.

[Skipness One Echo]

Heathrow are happy to have hordes of BBC personnel crawling everywhere, encouraging our interest in all things aviation, yet try and follow up that newly fostered interest the next weekend by taking little Junior down to look at the airplanes/aeroplanes/aircraft/planes, and you're more likely to learn about the working methods of P.C. Plod than those of your local friendly international airport.
Actually the Police at LHR are some of the more switched on in the UK. Just don't try parking anywhere you shouldn't and you'll be fine. Spotting from the Central Area car parks is a no no mainly because of the amount of sat navs getting nicked, anyone loitering makes them nervous. (Based jobsworth PCSOs only seem to work office hours, just saying they're invisible at weekends too.) The real Police have seen me up against the fence with a Nikon more times than I can recall and not so much as batted an eyelid.

[bacardi walla]

It's a shame the program only focused mainly on ATC, push backs and turn-rounds, and maintenance. Why not briefly cover things like:

Catering
Customs
Animals and quarantine
Airfield ops
Check in

I know they only had 4 days but surely they could have mentioned the above too !

[Hotel Tango]

bacardi walla, I think that might be because they have been covered in the not too distant past. Was it the "Airport" series? (also on BBC), or something like that. That concentrated on all that you mention.

[ManUtd1999]

Overall I think the BBC did a pretty good job. Why Kate Humble feels the need to refer to Heathrow in the same way she refers to animals on Springwatch though is beyond me.

[trident3A]

For all its faults I Really enjoyed this - an excellent and timely bit of PR for Heathrow!

[luoto]

Just watching ep2. Surely the date and time on boroscopes must be accurate for legal reasons? If so, why show apparent turbine damage clearly dated from 2011 whilst giving impression it is a current prog (c 39m in).

[PAXboy]

It's possible the boroscope item (I did not see it) was 'One we made earlier' whilst omitting to tell the 'dumb' viewers and the truly dumb producer and director not spotting the dates.

As to presentational style ... nowadays the instructions are:
"Keep it light. Keep it bright."

The use of young people has long been seen and tested in the courts. All TV companies use general purpose 'presenters' who are well known to the production company as reliable and known to the public. They 'interview' the 'experts' with (mostly) scripted questions and the 'expert' knowing in advance what the topic and question will be. Everybody smiles - or is serious - as the director demands.

This enables cheaper television.

These programmes are scripted in advance. Just because it's live does not mean there is no script. They have planned months before what the segments and items will be and even if the words differ slightly at the moment - the item will have been scripted:

"We'll then have X introduce a 3 min 45 second insert about the problems of an RTO and brake cooling. This will include questions of the crew and discuss the effect on the other machines that are on finals. Also what does Approach have to do."

OK - they won't be looking at RTOs and brake cooling (:rolleyes:) but if the did? They would do it in less than four minutes and consider it more than enough time.

That is modern TV.

(I wasn't born cynical - I've just lived too long)