Who can BBC replace Legard with?

Slutmonkey57b · 24-05-2009 3:41pm #1

I had enough after today and finally emailed the BBC about Legard talking incessantly over Brundle. At one point, he asked Brundle a question, then interrupted him after a few words to explain why he asked the question! It's almost as if Brundle's voice triggers him to start speaking. And he has an incurable urge to tell us the track positions - while the track positions are on screen.

I've been trying to think about who can replace him.
Setanta's commentators are boring.
Allen is ... Allen, good riddance all round really.
Doesn't Murray Walker have any children? A cousin or nephew?

I'm leaning towards Clarkson.
In fact, Clarkson it is. Guaranteed entertainment every race, and more than happy to let Brundle talk about the technicalities.

RayM · 24-05-2009 3:47pm

Ben Edwards. Although I find Legard ok. Every time he talks over Brundle or says anything dull and pointless, I just think of how glad I am that he still isn't James Allen. Clarkson would be horrendous though.

amacachi · 24-05-2009 3:47pm

The lad who does the Red button/radio commentary for the BBC on practice etc. is pretty good IMO, pretty informal and chatty, let's others talk too.

Slutmonkey57b · 24-05-2009 3:50pm

Clarkson would be very partisan, that's true. Entertaining though. Hmmm. I really can't think of anybody else.

Somebody quick witted and a bit flakey.

Firewalkwithme · 24-05-2009 4:05pm

David Croft or Ben Edwards could both do the job better than Legard IMO. If James Allen could commentate without being so partisan he would be a far better commentator for it.

IanCurtis · 24-05-2009 7:23pm

Not Clarkson!! :eek: You're having a laugh there. The guy knows nothing about motorsport.

He is the Eamon Dunphy of Britain - deliberately saying things to piss people off. He's a joke.

Grim. · 24-05-2009 7:29pm

toby moody

BlaasForRafa · 24-05-2009 7:35pm

Grim. wrote: »

toby moody

spot on, toby moody is one of the best commentators of the last decade or so.

enzo7 · 24-05-2009 7:36pm

IanCurtis wrote: »

Not Clarkson!! :eek: You're having a laugh there. The guy knows nothing about motorsport.

He is the Eamon Dunphy of Britain - deliberately saying things to piss people off. He's a joke.

ya hav to agree:D, i didnt think he even liked f1 let alone knew anything about it.

legard is def annoying when he cuts across martin but his still 10 times better than allen, dont know really maybe an ex driver

cant think of anyone off hand.

zanardi · 24-05-2009 8:21pm

Legard was poor today, we switched to five live commentary via the red button (God bless freesat). They have an option for no commentary too, which is much more like being there.

Anyway, anybodyisbetterthanPeterCollinswhousedneverpausetoeventakeabreath.

I met the RTE editor once, who used to put together their highlights show. He had a very tough time trying to look for the breaks in commentary, hope he got paid a lot.

smooch71 · 24-05-2009 10:34pm

RayM wrote: »

Ben Edwards. Although I find Legard ok. Every time he talks over Brundle or says anything dull and pointless, I just think of how glad I am that he still isn't James Allen. Clarkson would be horrendous though.

Agree totally. Ben Edwards is the best motorsports commentator there is. His enthusiasm is infectious.

Clarkson cares little for motorsport and his pretentious opinions became tiresome a long time ago. He's a dinosaur and a boring one at that.

Ain't gonna happen but Legard has to go. I can't listen to much more of : "Brawn from Brawn, from Ferrari, from Ferrari, from Red Bull"...etc.

What the hell does that mean anyway??

Ben Edwards and Martin Brundle, that would be a winning combination.

FedFrank2 · 24-05-2009 10:39pm

Do Legard and Brundle use the system Brundle and Walker used to use, where Brundle would squeeze Murray's shoulder when he had something to say? Surely the two lads could introduce something?

Ben Edwards would definitely get my vote.

smooch71 · 24-05-2009 10:44pm

FedFrank2 wrote: »

Do Legard and Brundle use the system Brundle and Walker used to use, where Brundle would squeeze Murray's shoulder when he had something to say? Surely the two lads could introduce something?

Ben Edwards would definitely get my vote.

I think Brundle used to poke Murray in the ribs so he'd drop the mike and shut up!

Legard's style of commentating is more suited to horse racing or something. I think he sucks

enzo7 · 24-05-2009 11:43pm

who is ben edwards?

Firewalkwithme · 24-05-2009 11:47pm

enzo7 wrote: »

who is ben edwards?

I know him from his days doing F1 commentary on Eurosport, I'm not sure what he does now but I'm pretty sure he is still around. He's a good commentator and well regarded around here as you can see.

TheChrisD · 25-05-2009 12:14am

Cartoon_Head wrote: »

I know him from his days doing F1 commentary on Eurosport, I'm not sure what he does now but I'm pretty sure he is still around. He's a good commentator and well regarded around here as you can see.

World Touring Cars, and A1.

Not sure what else he does, that's what I can remember off the top of my head.

Also, the odds of Jeremy Clarkson commentating F1 are as high as Murray getting a permanent job commentating on snooker

EvilMonkey · 25-05-2009 12:28am

Jeremy Clarkson would drive me mad, no way i can live with Legard before him! To be honest i dont notice the commentary that much.

Iridium · 25-05-2009 12:29am

I think it's British Touring Cars he does, on ITV, not World Touring Cars. Or maybe it's both? He definitely does the BTCC anyway.

I've caught a couple of the practice sessions on BBC lately. I think Anthony Davidson is getting pretty handy at this commentary lark.

Firewalkwithme · 25-05-2009 12:33am

Iridium wrote: »

I think it's British Touring Cars he does, on ITV, not World Touring Cars. Or maybe it's both? He definitely does the BTCC anyway.

I've caught a couple of the practice sessions on BBC lately. I think Anthony Davidson is getting pretty handy at this commentary lark.

I only heard Davidson doing the first race and I thought he was very good. I like Brundle but Davidson had been racing just the previous year so he really knew his stuff. Maybe Croft with Brundle and Davidson could work?

enzo7 · 25-05-2009 12:38am

Cartoon_Head wrote: »

I know him from his days doing F1 commentary on Eurosport, I'm not sure what he does now but I'm pretty sure he is still around. He's a good commentator and well regarded around here as you can see.

i use watch eurosport coverage in the early 90s did he do it with john watson?

dont watch the touring car series so havnt come across him in recent years.

davidson wouldnt be too bad, he did a few races lastyr too didnt he.

Firewalkwithme · 25-05-2009 12:40am

enzo7 wrote: »

i use watch eurosport coverage in the early 90s did he do it with john watson?

That's him.

IanCurtis · 25-05-2009 2:37am

They should go back to the method Murray Walker and James Hunt used - one microphone. They couldn't talk over each other.

pburns · 25-05-2009 4:23am

I'm not anti-Clarkson but it's a joke even mentioning him. He has no interest of knowledge of F1 and doesn't need to do it. He's a successful mainstream TV presnter/journo. Commentating F1 would almost be a step back.

Ben Edwards, Ben Edwards, Ben Edwards.

He is the BEST (and better than Murray Walker ever was).

Brundle has zero chemistry with Legard, he seems to be ignoring him and letting him babble on inanely...

smooch71 · 25-05-2009 9:14am

enzo7 wrote: »

who is ben edwards?

He used to do F1 on Eurosport until they lost it at the end of 1996. He did Indycars after that and covered F1 in 2002 for Sky's shortlived venture into digital f1 coverage.

He's also done the BTCC and still covers the A1GP on Sky.

Alun · 25-05-2009 10:15am

pburns wrote: »

Brundle has zero chemistry with Legard, he seems to be ignoring him and letting him babble on inanely...

Yes , I noticed that too. In the beginning he'd correct him when he said something clearly wrong, but now he just ignores him.

thebman · 25-05-2009 5:31pm

Don't mind him, can phase him out. I only seem to actual hear Brundle talking. I can't remember a single thing the other guy says.

RayM · 25-05-2009 6:47pm

For anyone who has never heard Ben Edwards commentating on F1, here's a clip of him from 2002 on Sky, alongside John Watson. (also contains some amusing radio communication from JP Montoya)

thebman · 25-05-2009 7:46pm

I remember Eurosports coverage and it was great. However, I don't see a major problem with the current coverage.

Slutmonkey57b · 26-05-2009 12:14am

pburns wrote: »

I'm not anti-Clarkson but it's a joke even mentioning him. He has no interest of knowledge of F1 and doesn't need to do it. He's a successful mainstream TV presnter/journo. Commentating F1 would almost be a step back.

Ben Edwards, Ben Edwards, Ben Edwards.

He is the BEST (and better than Murray Walker ever was).

Brundle has zero chemistry with Legard, he seems to be ignoring him and letting him babble on inanely...

Oh Clarkson's a joke entry for the job certainly, but think about it:
During a processional race like Monaco or Spain, Clarkson would have all sorts of entertaining observations and rants - wouldn't that be better than Legard with his no manners and his forced "What can he do here"? attempts to inject suspense?

There's nobody better than Murray. Never has been, never will be - a real professional, and a unique man.

Having heard clips of Edwards I'm really not hearing anything particularly interesting, I have to say.

I agree that Brundle seems to have given up commentating in the past couple of races. Legard's not going to let him talk and he can't be bothered correcting him all the time. He hardly spoke during Monaco.

mikedragon32 · 26-05-2009 10:08am

I don't have a problem per se with Legard. Anyone would be better than that moron Allen from the ITV days, but yes, I have to agree, Ben Edwards should have been the logical choice and would have worked quite well with Brundle. Perhaps it might just take some time for them to work together.

If Brundle is racing GT again this season, I wonder who they'll get in to cover for him. ITV used to bring Blundell in, maybe the beeb will bring Coulthard in?

Does anyone have any other thoughts on the BBC coverage of F1 so far. I think they're doing a great job and the anchorman Jake Humphrey's laid back style is doing wonders for the pre race coverage.

smooch71 · 26-05-2009 10:40am

mikedragon32 wrote: »

I don't have a problem per se with Legard. Anyone would be better than that moron Allen from the ITV days, but yes, I have to agree, Ben Edwards should have been the logical choice and would have worked quite well with Brundle. Perhaps it might just take some time for them to work together.

If Brundle is racing GT again this season, I wonder who they'll get in to cover for him. ITV used to bring Blundell in, maybe the beeb will bring Coulthard in?

Does anyone have any other thoughts on the BBC coverage of F1 so far. I think they're doing a great job and the anchorman Jake Humphrey's laid back style is doing wonders for the pre race coverage.

Have to say the BBC's coverage is excellent, Legard is the only weak link but he's tolerable when compared to James Allen.

Coulthards ok at what he does but I'm not sure about the commentary box. His attempt at the grid walk was crap.

Thank God we don't have to listen to Mark Blundell. "Fitchakella and what he done there...."

thebman · 26-05-2009 2:38pm

I enjoyed Blundell's unique personality when he was doing it TBH.

He was a bit of a laugh with his weird phrasing but you could understand him and he did come across as a guy who was telling it as he saw it rather than someone who was biased toward any particular team. Basically came across as a nice guy who knew what he was talking about.

I think you need somebody like that and Eddie Jordan is BBC's attempt at having someone like that although I don't think it is working out very well because he seems very unsure of himself in front of the camera and he needs to be more relaxed. I would never have thought EJ would be somebody that would be nervous in front of a camera before this season but I guess when he was a team boss he didn't have time to think about the cameras too much as he was thinking of too many other things. He also seems to be making more mistakes although I think sometimes he is just disagreeing with Coulthard for the sake of it.

G-Money · 26-05-2009 9:05pm

I find Legard grand.

Whatever happens, please don't let Jeremy Clarkson into the commentating booth. I have to admit it does irk me when Legard talks over Brundle. But that annoyies me in every walk of life, not just F1 commentating!

Amnesiac_ie · 26-05-2009 9:24pm

I really detest Jonathan Legard's coverage; in fact I would gladly, GLADLY have James Allen back! In fact, I never thought James Allen was as bad as a lot of people made out; I think he had a difficult job filling in after the great Muzza retired and I wonder if a lot of F1 fans ever gave hime a chance.

His website www.jamesallenonf1.com is quite informative and is great for news behind the scenes both during and between Grand Prix.

I agree Ben Edwards would be a great replacement for Legard who is to motorsports commentating as Pat Kenny is to talk show hosting.

I like Jake Humphreys a lot but I'm disappointed with EJ and DC. I was really looking forward to their pundrity but I think it's far too blokey, matey and I'm sick of them harking back to the 90s. I think John Watson and Ant Davidson might have been a better pair!

Who can BBC replace Legard with?

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