What caused the break in tonght's Panorama?

[Serial_Apologist]

My suspicions were raised ten minutes before the scheduled ending to tonight's by the sudden break in transmission, followed by a page apologising and saying they were trying to correct a fault.

Did anyone else see this Panorama on policing at the Charing Cross police station? With what images have been coming out of Gaza I didn't think I could still be shocked and horrified by anything I saw reported on mainstream TV or radio, but the outrageous revelations exposed far exceeded anything in terms of disgusting behaviour and undisguised sexist and racist language and brazen attitudes in my experience, and I felt someone at HQ had decided that what was immediately in the offing at the break-off juncture surpassed all boundaries relating what could acceptably be put out to the public, though I could be wrong. It was impossible to imagine anything worse than what we had already witnessed. No doubt the official programme link will reveal.

[smittims]

The truth will out eventually, I'm sure.

[oddoneout]

A snippet from the Mirror I was able to access said that a R3 Unwind advert appeared before the apology card came up...

[Ein Heldenleben]

My suspicions were raised ten minutes before the scheduled ending to tonight's by the sudden break in transmission, followed by a page apologising and saying they were trying to correct a fault.

Did anyone else see this Panorama on policing at the Charing Cross police station? With what images have been coming out of Gaza I didn't think I could still be shocked and horrified by anything I saw reported on mainstream TV or radio, but the outrageous revelations exposed far exceeded anything in terms of disgusting behaviour and undisguised sexist and racist language and brazen attitudes in my experience, and I felt someone at HQ had decided that what was immediately in the offing at the break-off juncture surpassed all boundaries relating what could acceptably be put out to the public, though I could be wrong. It was impossible to imagine anything worse than what we had already witnessed. No doubt the official programme link will reveal.

Yes I was watching. I had the first 20 mins or so with sound turned low as I was listening at some volume to the excellent LPO Tschaik 5 - see live in concert thread. The sequence of events :
At about 9.53 the programme abruptly cut (and rather bizarrely) to a saccahrine Radio 3 Unwind trail.
Even weirder it then cut to a shot of a lone floor manager sitting on a studio sofa looking a bit bored and unaware he was on air. (I think it must have been the UEFA highlights studio as other than the news that was the only other live in the BBC ONE schedule.)
The sedentary FM proved the old adage “never do anything in a studio you wouldn’t want your grandmother to see” absolutely right.
Then a static fault caption with live voice over apology .
After a minute or so the Panorama resumed but I suspect we joined the film even later than the gap that had been created by the fault . The reason : it ended at about 9.56 thus creating a 4 min junction into the 10 news, Quite tricky to ask them to go early as they have their own problems to sort out . The solution - they ran the Radio 3 Unwind trail twice more plus another couple

Forget any conspiracies . This was almost certainly a failure in the digital semi automated play out system. It happens quite a lot. “Digits screw you in a way analogue never can” in the immortal words of a BBC broadcast engineer I knew,

The editorial consequence which might need tidying up is that the viewer didn’t get the Met’s no doubt lengthy rebuttal / mea culpa - these things usually run at the end . But other than put their hands up what could they say ?

all a great shame but congrats to Emma Vardy, Joe Plomin and undercover reporter Rory Bibb on an excellent programme which will no doubt win many awards.

[Barbirollians]

The whole thing is apparently on iplayer . I wasn't surprised unfortunately. As for most of the racist police officers we have heard similar from Reform MPs and councillors - who have made racism "respectable " again .

[LHC]

My suspicions were raised ten minutes before the scheduled ending to tonight's by the sudden break in transmission, followed by a page apologising and saying they were trying to correct a fault.

Did anyone else see this Panorama on policing at the Charing Cross police station? With what images have been coming out of Gaza I didn't think I could still be shocked and horrified by anything I saw reported on mainstream TV or radio, but the outrageous revelations exposed far exceeded anything in terms of disgusting behaviour and undisguised sexist and racist language and brazen attitudes in my experience, and I felt someone at HQ had decided that what was immediately in the offing at the break-off juncture surpassed all boundaries relating what could acceptably be put out to the public, though I could be wrong. It was impossible to imagine anything worse than what we had already witnessed. No doubt the official programme link will reveal.

I didn't see it, but given the seriousness of the allegations every second will have been poured over by the producers and the BBC's lawyers before it was allowed to be broadcast. It was also linked to extensive written stories on the BBC website which went live at the same time, so this was a major BBC production involving multiple coordinated elements. There is no way that there would have been a mid-programme decision to remove part of it while the programme was being broadcast, and even if there was, the rest of the broadcast would simply have been pulled rather than being interrupted in a completely cack-handed manner.

As EH has pointed out, this was an example of a problem with the play out system and is not particularly unusual. Its not at all comparable to for example a bunch of idiots making deliberately controversial statements during a live broadcast from the Glastonbury stages, which probably will in future lead to an editorial decision to cease that particular broadcast.

[vinteuil]

I wasn't surprised unfortunately .

... yes : I was surprised that people were so surprised

[Ein Heldenleben]

I didn't see it, but given the seriousness of the allegations every second will have been poured over by the producers and the BBC's lawyers before it was allowed to be broadcast. It was also linked to extensive written stories on the BBC website which went live at the same time, so this was a major BBC production involving multiple coordinated elements. There is no way that there would have been a mid-programme decision to remove part of it while the programme was being broadcast, and even if there was, the rest of the broadcast would simply have been pulled rather than being interrupted in a completely cack-handed manner.

As EH has pointed out, this was an example of a problem with the play out system and is not particularly unusual. Its not at all comparable to for example a bunch of idiots making deliberately controversial statements during a live broadcast from the Glastonbury stages, which probably will in future lead to an editorial decision to cease that particular broadcast.

In a different life I used to produce this sort of material and you’re right . The lawyers and editorial policy pore over every aspect of undercover filming right from the moment a producer puts in a request to undertake it. In most BBC depts it’s then signed off at Controller or Head of Dept level . Then , usually a fortnight before transmission a very detailed allegations letter will be sent to the organisation asking for their response. These sometimes run to several pages. The rushes are usually viewed by what’s called a “second chair” . This is a senior editorial figure who views the material to ensure that the cut fairly reflects the generality of the material.
One interesting editorial point - in order to gain the confidence of the racist coppers the reporter had to venture controversial opinions he didn’t really feel. I think the film handled explaining this well but it’s a tricky area - at what point does cosying up to people become encouraging or even entrapping them ?

[Serial_Apologist]

In a different life I used to produce this sort of material and you’re right . The lawyers and editorial policy pore over every aspect of undercover filming right from the moment a producer puts in a request to undertake it. In most BBC depts it’s then signed off at Controller or Head of Dept level . Then , usually a fortnight before transmission a very detailed allegations letter will be sent to the organisation asking for their response. These sometimes run to several pages. The rushes are usually viewed by what’s called a “second chair” . This is a senior editorial figure who views the material to ensure that the cut fairly reflects the generality of the material.
One interesting editorial point - in order to gain the confidence of the racist coppers the reporter had to venture controversial opinions he didn’t really feel. I think the film handled explaining this well but it’s a tricky area - at what point does cosying up to people become encouraging or even entrapping them ?

In this particular instance the result justifying the means, although, as a general principle, too unstable and often open to abuse.

[Ein Heldenleben]

In this particular instance the result justifying the means, although, as a general principle, too unstable and often open to abuse.

Yes one of the key test in authorising secret filming is whether what you’re exposing warrants the deception and invasion of privacy . The other trickier element is whether it could be exposed by less intrusive means. I imagine the reporters responses to racist comments would have been discussed in detail. And in particular in what circumstances it would be acceptable for the reporter to say something some might perceive unacceptable in an effort to “fit” in to the prevailing atmosphere. That’s a very tricky tightrope to walk.

[Ian Thumwood]

The whole thing is apparently on iplayer . I wasn't surprised unfortunately. As for most of the racist police officers we have heard similar from Reform MPs and councillors - who have made racism "respectable " again .

I agree 100%.

The Met needs to be disbanded and a new police force established.

I have also heard similar comments from a Reform supporting ex officer from Britain Army who even had a swastika hung up in his staircase.

No surprise. Racists emboldened by Farage.

[Barbirollians]

I agree 100%.

The Met needs to be disbanded and a new police force established.

I have also heard similar comments from a Reform supporting ex officer from Britain Army who even had a swastika hung up in his staircase.

No surprise. Racists emboldened by Farage.

Horrifying but unsurprising .