BBC Nine'o'clock News, 30 April 1997

After a six week campaign, we've finally got to the eve of poll - as this programme starts, there are just ten hours until the polls open. Peter Sissons is the presenter. Reports:
1) Robin Oakley on the leaders in the final day of the campaign.
2) Jon Sopel with John Major in Stevenage, who has a raucous reception, and then reporting outside Major's home in Huntingdon.
3) Jeremy Vine following Tony Blair back to Sedgefield Labour Club and then to his home in Trimdon Station.
4) Carolyn Quinn with Paddy Ashdown visiting another school and holding an eve of poll rally in Torquay.
5) Two BBC editors - Peter Jay and Niall Dickson - give their views on the big issues.
Later:
6) Anne Perkins's final campaign desk, with the contest in Northern Ireland, Alex Salmond and the SNP, a brief glimpse of Plaid Cymru, and a reminder of the expectation ahead of the 1992 general election.
7) Profiles of the three main party leaders from Nick Robinson.
8) Peter Snow's final summary of the polls.
9) Brian Taylor on the campaign in Scotland.
10) Robin Oakley on the campaign across the UK.
Followed by a trail for the election night coverage.

[@marcbaty2386]

RIP Peter Sissons. Very sad news...

[@jeromebano1125]

He was a very good newsreader of the best

[@kevinlongman007]

It was clear that Blair was heading for a huge victory in the 1997 General Election...but nobody predicted just how big the margin of victory would be.

[@user-pz1eh2ec1o]

Daniel Clark Clark even that was significantly smaller than blair’s wins in 97 and 01

[@maxcream6726]

Labour were leading by humongous margins in the polls since Black Wednesday '92. If anything the margin of victory was less than expected. One poll by the Daily Telegraph published on 9 Jan 1995 had Labour 62%, Con 18.5%, Lib Dems 14%

[@kevinlongman007]

@@maxcream6726 Yes but in the run up to the election the polls had narrowed but Labour still had a lead of around 10%.

[@alanberkeley7282]

I thought he'd get a majority of about 100. It was delayed reaction to 1992 I think when voters realised they'd made a huge mistake.

[@alanberkeley7282]

@@jwillk42 Major wasn't laughing and joking on 2nd May 1997

[@davidellis5141]

🌹 with a massive win !

[@paulsawtell3991]

Many thanks David for some excellent postings. news and current affairs programmes are always very welcome.

[@user-vk2qw8fs7l]

New labour did nothing for 13 years.

[@DBIVUK]

Apart from the National Minimum Wage, 14,000 more police, cutting overall crime by 32%, record levels of literacy and numeracy in schools, writing off up to 100% of debt owed by poorest countries, 85,000 more nurses, 32,000 more doctors, the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd, the Greater London Authority, 2,200 Sure Start Children’s Centres, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and peace in Northern Ireland.

[@JamesNightlife]

35:48 Sissons's head glitching

[@johnking5174]

The set up for the general election campaign of the 9pm news was not great. The limits of the computer generated set showed when they moved from the computer generated opening to the real set. Really poor.

[@jacksugden8190]

David, can you upload some One O’Clock News full broadcasts between 1993-1999 please?.

[@alexanderdahoola8188]

How many times did John Major said "too good to give up", lol. :)

[@199019852007]

Five times a charm

[@michaelhoskins6579]

The Tories seemed to have really lost the plot back then. A tired old party full of yesterday's people with no fight left in them. Contrast that with the Teflon coated Tories of today!

[@dlamiss]

8 victories in the last 11 elections for the Tories. Looks like the electorate are very shrewd

[@andrei19238]

@@dlamiss apologise

[@dlamiss]

@@andrei19238 ?

[@andrei19238]

@@dlamiss tories have destroyed the country

[@dlamiss]

@@jwillk42 Was there a "Conservative" Prime Minister on those occasions though Jack ?

[@christopherlane2552]

The happiest weekend of my middle age

[@PH-vv1ky]

That's pretty sad tbh

[@alexrobinson4802]

he ran away

[@chrish12345]

didnt pantsdown fukup in the end?

[@kevinlongman007]

No. The Lib Dem's gained seats in the '97 General Election and he later stepped down at a time of his own choosing and Charles Kennedy became Lib Dem leader.

[@MultiVince95]

Wednesday 30th April 1997

[@rajtheangrydj2711]

Your announcer is Peter Offer

[@BossySwan]

Is he related to Special Offer?

[@johnking5174]

38:35 - Looking at the nice backdrop used for the 9pm election news broadcasts, it was a shame they could not have developed the set and computer generation to include better backdrops for each bulletin, e.g. city views, earth shots, images of news events, newsroom etc.

[@davimurph]

It wasn't really a computer-generated backdrop. It was mostly a real backdrop with computer-generated bits added over the presenter's shoulder and other computer-generated bits added to the foreground. If you look closely, you can see the top of Peter Sissons' head keeps disappearing behind a computer-generated bit at the top of the screen. It's supposed to look like background, but they've obviously put it in the foreground to hide something at the top of the set. Basically, it was very creative and clever, but it wasn't powerful enough to do fancy backgrounds. In 1999, they refreshed the backgrounds by building physical screens in the studios.

[@johnking5174]

@@davimurph Yes, I have visited BBC Television Centre back then and saw Studio N6, with the new 1999 set design in place. When you go into the studio, it looks so small, you think it is much bigger on screen. I always liked the BBC News Centre at Television Centre. The current news centre just seems to be large for the sake of it. All about image, as there isn't any real need for a massive news area at Broadcasting House. BBC seem to enjoy being over staffed.

[@davimurph]

@@johnking5174 I imagine that the current studio will come into its own at election time. It's amazing how small the Northern Ireland studio looks on screen since they put the new set in.

[@paulsawtell3991]

Many thanks David for some excellent postings. news and current affairs programmes are always very welcome.