Temptation on air

[Guest]

This letter was published in the Telegraph yesterday in response to an article about the anniverary of Choral Evensong broadcasts:

As Chaplain of New College Oxford in the 1950s,my father took part in many live CE broadcasts.

When the moment arrived for him to deliver the prayers, he used to remember,a terrible moral dilemma would confront him.

With the live microphone just inches away, wouldn't it be fun, just once,to replace " Let us pray " with " Persil washes whitest " knowing that there was nothing the BBC could do stop him ?

Anybody on this forum been similarly tempted?

VCC

[light_calibre_baritone]

Purcell washes whitest?

[ardcarp]

It's surprising how rarely, in live broadcasts of any sort, people go 'off piste'. I remember that edition of That Was the Week that Was when an audience member took a swing at Bernard Levin. I guess the BBC does far less genuine 'live; broadcasting these days. I understand that Question Time is put on air with a time delay, presumably to do an emergency edit in the case of some gratuitous offence against PC. Wouldn't it be great to take part in a live phone-in on some inoffensive subject (mortgages or something) and then fire off a diatribe against the government's involvement in the Iraq war...or maybe just about the BBC's coverage of live classical music on TV?

[VodkaDilc]

This letter was published in the Telegraph yesterday in response to an article about the anniverary of Choral Evensong broadcasts:

As Chaplain of New College Oxford in the 1950s,my father took part in many live CE broadcasts.

When the moment arrived for him to deliver the prayers, he used to remember,a terrible moral dilemma would confront him.

With the live microphone just inches away, wouldn't it be fun, just once,to replace " Let us pray " with " Persil washes whitest " knowing that there was nothing the BBC could do stop him ?

Anybody on this forum been similarly tempted?

VCC

What Magnificat has not mentioned is that the letter was from Giles Woodforde, who was a long-time contributor to Radio Oxford and who still (or at least until recently) writes music reviews for The Oxford Times. He was a serious and insightful broadcaster who knew his subject and who was not afraid to treat music seriously. He was far from the typical R3 broadcaster of today; just the sort of person it needs.

On a personal level he interviewed me once for a radio programme based around the Oxford Youth Prom. We were wating to rehearse in the Town Hall and I had a large choir to keep my eye on. In spite of this he persuaded me to chat to him about the day. As far as I remember I told him that I had no idea what was happening since we had been waiting for hours to rehearse on stage. I can't remember how much of the interview was used in the broadcast.

On the off-chance that he might be reading this, I'd like to send him best wishes. I am sure that he shares the views of many of us on the subject of R3.

[VodkaDilc]

It's surprising how rarely, in live broadcasts of any sort, people go 'off piste'.

Somehow ardcarp's comment reminded me of Oliver Reed in a memorable edition of the Channel 4 programme which was called something like All Through the Night. It was a live and open-ended late night discussion programme with four or five guests. Oliver Reed's stumbling around to refill his glass eventually ended with him falling into a rather earnest academic lady, who I remember asked whether she really had to put up with this sort of thing. I don't think the series lasted long after this event.

[ardcarp]

I don't think the series lasted long after this event.

What a pity!

[Nick Armstrong]

Somehow ardcarp's comment reminded me of Oliver Reed in a memorable edition of the Channel 4 programme which was called something like All Through the Night. It was a live and open-ended late night discussion programme with four or five guests. Oliver Reed's stumbling around to refill his glass eventually ended with him falling into a rather earnest academic lady, who I remember asked whether she really had to put up with this sort of thing. I don't think the series lasted long after this event.

Oh Lord, yes. It was 'After Dark' and as documented here, the Reed prog. was early on it its fourth season:

Reed caused longer-drawn out embarrassment than the drinks refills!

[Nick Armstrong]

PS and he didn't stumble into Kate Millett! It was rather more deliberate and got him thrown off the show (consensually, to be fair)!

See at 6' 20" et seq. here:

.... so ardcarp's

'off piste'

is correct in every possible sense!!!

[Serial_Apologist]

Wasn't Tracey Emin also a few over the limit when appearing on 'After Dark?' Or am I thinking of a different programme?

Then of course there was John Humphry's Freudian slip on the name of the still now Minister of Health...

[ahinton]

Wasn't Tracey Emin also a few over the limit when appearing on 'After Dark?' Or am I thinking of a different programme?

Then of course there was John Humphry's Freudian slip on the name of the still now Minister of Health...

That was committed by James Naughtie, surely?...

[Serial_Apologist]

That was committed by James Naughtie, surely?...

I think you're right.

[ahinton]

I think you're right.

I'm sure of it; I heard it - and the way he tried to get out of it! http://www.standard.co.uk/news/bbcs-...t-6543728.html accounts for what happened and, for better or for worse still, the real thing's at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS5mVoqJpUk . PIty he lost the opportunity to call the man the Vulture Secretary, peut-être...

Y' just cannae trust these Scawts (as I know well, being one). I wonder what Susan Rae thought...

[Vox Humana]

I understand that Question Time is put on air with a time delay, presumably to do an emergency edit in the case of some gratuitous offence against PC.

I remember the BBC instigating such a delay at least a couple of decades ago for live TV after the use of a particularly offensive four-letter word by a drunken man. Thankfully I never heard the offending programme and don't know what it was. Was it perhaps the Channel 4 programme linked above?

[mopsus]

The last uncensored expletive I heard on a live broadcast was during the televising of the Boat Race a few years ago, from one of the coxes.

Apologies to those who've heard the following story before. My favourite Choral Evensong unscheduled moment came some time in the 1990s, in a broadcast from a church in the City of London. After the second lesson, the choir were about to sing the Nunc Dimittis when the priest taking the service launched into the Creed. He'd got half-way through when he realised no one else was saying it and trailed off. We then heard the Nunc Dimittis. A really sharp engineer could have quickly dropped the live broadcast, got the priest to stop, and then restarted so the gaffe would have been minimised, but instead listeners heard it all.

[Dafydd y G.W.]

Apologies to those who've heard the following story before. My favourite Choral Evensong unscheduled moment came some time in the 1990s, in a broadcast from a church in the City of London. After the second lesson, the choir were about to sing the Nunc Dimittis when the priest taking the service launched into the Creed. He'd got half-way through when he realised no one else was saying it and trailed off. We then heard the Nunc Dimittis. A really sharp engineer could have quickly dropped the live broadcast, got the priest to stop, and then restarted so the gaffe would have been minimised, but instead listeners heard it all.

There was an occasion in the 1980s when the organist launched into the concluding voluntary, totally fouled up the opening bars, ground to a halt, and shouted down, "I'm sorry, I'll start that again". Which he duly did. The engineers evidently were not sharp (or were mischievous) because this was the Friday evensong, which in those days was a recording (unlike the live Wednesday one). No doubt the player had expected that his mistake and comment would be edited out before the broadcast.

I have an idea the piece was Bach's Heut' triumphieret.