No more James Allen, BBC F1 commentary team revealed

Edwardius

Praise the lord!

Edit: Article seems to be speculative rather than fact. Darnit.

muckwarrior

Thank fυck!

mike65

Ah no Murray, was sort of hoping he'd get to potter about the pit lane or something

Keeping Brundle was a no-brainer and I doubt they had to convinve him to get onboard.

Mike

muckwarrior

I'd say Coulthard will be a lot better than Mark Blundell as well.

Mena

Thank fluck Brundle is still there, I'll miss Allen and Blundell though

kaizersoze

Dead Ed wrote: »

BBC F1 commentary team revealed

Revealed by who?

The BBC has finalised its team of presenters for its coverage of Formula 1 from next year, it has been claimed, with Martin Brundle and David Coulthard on the bill – but no James Allen, Steve Rider or Mark Blundell.

Could well turn out to be true but looks like more speculation.

fatgav

exactly. and i've read other speculation elsewhere. i mean, do you really think they'll only have on pit lane reporter?

Grim.

allen is gone (so happy) no more add breaks i might just start watching again

Edwardius

kaizersoze wrote: »

Revealed by who?



Could well turn out to be true but looks like more speculation.

****, well spotted. Got a bit misled by the title.

LEIN

Aw no he was such a useful wealth of information. He will be missed!

Yeah right good luck to ya!!!

aidan_dunne

That article is still speculation as are all the other articles I've seen reported elsewhere. They all seem to be drawing the same conclusion based on posts made on the Digitalspy forums by a couple of regular contributors who work on the "inside", so to speak, of both the ITV and BBC production side. So don't take any of these articles as gospel yet until the BBC themselves announces their line-up for definite (which I can't see happening until after Brazil at this stage).

Having said that, though, that line-up does seem 90% certain at this stage. Shame about Ben Edwards not getting the main commentator gig (again! :rolleyes: Guess there really isn't any justice in this world after all!) but I remember listening to Jonathon Legard on Five Live when he did the commentary a few years ago and he was decent enough so I don't have too many complaints with him getting the gig instead. He's a damn sight better than James Allen is anyway......... though that's not a difficult task!

Second pitlane reporter looks like it could be Holly Samos making the move from the radio coverage to the telly. This I'm not happy about as she is dreadful. Lee McKenzie, though, I've no problems with, she's been pretty good anytime I've seen her in the past (e.g. A1GP on Sky, F3000/GP2 on ITV).

As for Jake Humphrey as main presenter, haven't seen enough of him to decide if he'll be good or not. Though, as long as he doesn't do a Steve Rider "Lewis Hamilton bum-licking fest", and remains at least a little more impartial, then he should be fairly decent!

Edwardius

aidan_dunne wrote: »

Though, as long as he doesn't do a Steve Rider "Lewis Hamilton bum-licking fest", and remains at least a little more impartial, then he should be fairly decent!

Every interview involving Hamilton and Ryder seems to consist of them looking lovingly into each other's eyes and Hamilton informing us how calm and mature he is. Ugh. Looking forward to the BBC coverage, hopefully they don't let other sports get in the way of the coverage and hopefully the Hamilton-mania is toned down a bit (some bias is to be expected obviously but I don't see DC and Brundle lauding the virtues of Lulu).

G-Money

I am wondering when the BBC will announce their team. I suppose if they are going to pinch Brundle then it would probably be better to wait until after Brazil.

I thought it was funny when Bernie asked Brundle something like "Are you still working for ITV?" Which I assumed to mean "Have the BBC offered you a job yet?"

Oblomov

James Allan, If I want someone to constantly interrupt my enjoyment of the motor racing with pointless, witless, ill-informed waffle then I'll get a girlfriend.

muckwarrior

I can't believe the guy has lasted this long. Even on the ITV forums they slag the shit outta him.

Frank Bullitt

The ITV forums are a joke.

zeris

From Pitpass via The Daily Mail:

FIA unhappy with Brundle's BBC move?

The Daily Mail's Charles Sale claims that the FIA is far from happy with the BBC's decision to sign Martin Brundle to its commentary team next season when it takes over as F1 broadcaster from ITV.

Irishshin

Really hope Martin Brundle will be going over to the BBC for F1
Would be great to see DC going there too

Oblomov

Eddie Jordan, the flamboyant former formula one team owner, is tipped to return to the sport in 2009.

The 60-year-old, who sold his Silverstone based team at the end of 2004, could assume a role when the BBC takes over as Britain's F1 television broadcaster next year.

When asked about the speculation by the Daily Express newspaper, Jordan declined to comment, but "insiders say he has been selected for his expertise both on and off the track".

A BBC spokesman said: "We have not confirmed our lineup yet."

It is also expected that Martin Brundle and retiring veteran David Coulthard will have roles in the BBC coverage from next year.

G-Money

Why would the FIA care if Brundle went to the BBC? I don't remember them complaining when Murray Walker went from the BBC to ITV in 1997. They should be more worried about sorting out the farce with the stewards decisions, rather than commentary teams in certain countries.

Oblomov

Martin Brundle is considered anti FIA after his remarks in the Times newspaper about the FIA/mcLaren/stepney/spygate to be nothing more than a witch hunt on the part of the FIA......

Alan Donnelly, spanky's right hand man, opps, apparently has been to the Beeb and thumping on the table to get Martin Brundle declared a non person with the Beeb..

Even though he has achieved awards for the job.. Brundle, that is.

Makes you think Spanky and his hollow victory over the invasion of privacy case has developed delusions of Granduer and what he can and cannot make happen.

Mind you, his supposed court cases in Germany and France have gone very quite.

Biro

Oblomov wrote: »

Eddie Jordan, the flamboyant former formula one team owner, is tipped to return to the sport in 2009.

The 60-year-old, who sold his Silverstone based team at the end of 2004, could assume a role when the BBC takes over as Britain's F1 television broadcaster next year.

When asked about the speculation by the Daily Express newspaper, Jordan declined to comment, but "insiders say he has been selected for his expertise both on and off the track".

A BBC spokesman said: "We have not confirmed our lineup yet."

It is also expected that Martin Brundle and retiring veteran David Coulthard will have roles in the BBC coverage from next year.

Ask him when he's in Sligo in Jan for WRC!

Joneser

Its great that Martin Brundle is going to be back next year, and to
be honest i never really thought James Allen was all that bad, but the
main thing I am hoping for is an intro sequence featuring "The Chain" as
the theme tune

zeris

Joneser wrote: »

but the main thing I am hoping for is an intro sequence featuring "The Chain" as the theme tune

I read this somewhere on the Internet so pinch of salt required but someone got a look at the BBC dry run from Brazil and they did use The Chain as the theme music. Unfortunately they also used the 1996 title sequence.

aidan_dunne

zeris wrote: »

I read this somewhere on the Internet so pinch of salt required but someone got a look at the BBC dry run from Brazil and they did use The Chain as the theme music. Unfortunately they also used the 1996 title sequence.

Yep, this is correct, but the only reason they used the 1996 title sequence was because the new titles for 2009 haven't been made yet. Don't worry, there's no way they're going to return next year with a 13 year old opening title sequence!

'The Chain' looks like it's going to be a given at this stage, though it seems a remixed version is going to be used instead of the original. Let's hope it's a decent remix and fairly close to the original.

There seemed to be some issues regarding the lead commentator for next year but these seem to have been pretty much resolved at this stage. From what I read, Jonathan Legard was holding out for more money and someone else on the team had some sort of personal issue regarding working with David Croft (rumours suggest Coulthard or Brundle).

However, the company who produce the Five Live coverage has had it's contract renewed and it seems they want to keep the existing team in place so it seems like Croft will now be staying on the radio (along with Holly Samos once she drops her sprog! She was rumoured to be going to the TV side as well) and the money issues with Legard seem to be all but resolved now so it looks like he now will be lead commentator next year after all.

Most people (myself included) seem dissapointed that Ben Edwards didn't get the gig again this time but the Beeb wanted someone on an exclusive contract with them and the fact that Ben wanted to continue to be able to do other things as well as F1 seems to have been the main issue that couldn't be resolved. Funny how Murray was allowed to continue to do other things when he was there, though, from touring cars and rallycross to powerboat racing and everything in-between along with working for other companies and doing videos and all. Can't see why they couldnt have come to a similar arrangement with Ben. :rolleyes:

With Charlie Cox (their current MotoGP commentator) now doing 'Top Gear Australia', maybe the Beeb can at least give us fans something to make up for not employing Ben......... like replacing their MotoGP commentary team with the best in the business (the Eurosport team of Toby, Jules and Randy). For some reason, though, I can't see it happening. :mad:

ro_chez

I would have liked Ben Edwards myself to team with Brundle. It doesnt matter what form of motorsport that guy commentates on, he always sounds to me like he really knows what he's talking about whether it be anything from bangers to F1. And I have fond memories of when I started watching F1 when he was commentating on Eurosport.

aidan_dunne

I agree with you 100%, ro_chez. Ben can definitely talk knowledgeably (he's done it so he knows what it's like behind the wheel in the heat of battle!) about just about any form of motorsport and make it sound really exciting without being too over-the-top or sounding forced or contrived like James Allen does, for example. Such a shame the Beeb decided not to take him on because the combination of him and Martin Brundle in the commentary box would have been the dream team, for sure.

Isn't it funny how he always seems to end up working with John Watson in some way, though? Whether it was, as you said ro_chez, back in the 90's doing F1 on Eurosport or doing F1 Digital+ on Sky back in 2002, right up to doing A1GP nowadays, their paths always seem to end up crossing somehow.