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| News After Noon | |
|---|---|
| Created by | BBC News |
| Presented by | Richard Whitmore Moira Stuart Frances Coverdale Laurie Mayer Sue Carpenter Fern Britton Anne Diamond Judi Lines |
| Theme music composer | George Fenton |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | 20–30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 7 September 1981 (1981-09-07) – 24 October 1986 (1986-10-24) |
| Related | |
News After Noon is a news bulletin that aired onBBC1 at lunchtimes from 7 September 1981 to 24 October 1986.
News After Noon launched on 7 September 1981 and replaced a shorter fifteen-minute lunchtime news bulletin calledThe Midday News. which had been on air since 1976. Broadcast at 12:30, it was initially billed as "the first television news of the day",[1] as when the programme started breakfast television had not launched in the UK. The launch of the BBC's daytime television service sawNews After Noon replaced by theOne O'Clock News, and the final edition ofNews After Noon was broadcast on 24 October 1986.[2]
News After Noon was the first BBC television news bulletin to last for a full thirty minutes – at the time, theNine O'Clock News was 25 minutes in length. After 25 minutes of news there was a weather forecast, after which the regions left the programme for their lunchtime regional news bulletin. However, at this time,BBC South East did not broadcast regional news bulletins so the final three minutes ofNews After Noon, which consisted of a financial report and a recap of the news headlines with in-vision subtitles, was only seen in London and the south east. This continued untilBBC South East launched a regional news bulletin on 2 September 1985, after whichNews After Noon lasted for 25 minutes and the weather forecast followed the regional news bulletins.[3]
Throughout its five years on air the programme had a two-person presentation team.Richard Whitmore normally presented the programme alongside eitherMoira Stuart orFrances Coverdale, although Coverdale became the main co-presenter towards the end of the programme's run. Both Whitmore and Stuart continued as daytime newsreaders after the end ofNews After Noon as they shared presentational duties of the hourlyBBC News Summaries that formed part of the new daytime schedule. Other notable presenters includedLaurie Mayer,Chris Lowe,Fern Britton,Sue Carpenter,Michael Cole andAnne Diamond.
News After Noon was broadcast in two time slots. Between September and May the programme ran from 12:30 until 13:00. HoweverPebble Mill at One did not broadcast during the summer and when it was not on the airNews After Noon was shown between 13:00 and 13:30. Also, during the summer months, shorter editions ofNews After Noon, sometimes with one presenter instead of two, were broadcast when the BBC was showing live cricket coverage. This was to ensure that viewers did not miss the end of the morning's play and the start of the afternoon's play. On these days,News After Noon would last for twenty minutes instead of the usual thirty minutes.[4]
