Live all-night review of all the indyref TV coverage

06.12 And so I'm off to bed now. Thank you for reading this throughout the night with me. 

06.09 Official result is in: SCOTLAND VOTES NO.

05.58 The result is clearly a NO vote although it hasn't been officially declared yet. There will be many broken hearts this morning but that's democracy. Every one of us has to accept it and work together for the good of Scotland with the same energy which infused our campaigns.

05.54 City of Edinburgh declares for NO by a huge margin.

05.50 Nicola Sturgeon concedes defeat. Alex Salmond still yet to appear. 

05.38 Alex Salmond congratulates Glasgow, so he isn't officially conceding defeat, but the message is double-edged.  Sky show a photo of him in the backseat of a car looking utterly drained. He has not yet appeared in front of the cameras. Rumours on Twitter say he is meeting selected journalists at a secret location. 

05.33 Sky broadcasting live from Downing Street. We can now expect David Cameron's plans for us.  For those disappointed at the result - a huge proportion of Scotland - there is at least some bitter entertainment to be had in watching how the promised extra powers transpire. 

05.12 The BBC calls the result for NO.

05.10 John Reid on the BBC says we now need 'reconstruction' invoking the Civil War. 

05.05 Nicola Sturgeon speaks to the BBC and is looking exhausted. She refuses to concede defeat yet but is honest enough to say she sees the reality of the results and will not try to 'spin' her way out of it. Again, where is Salmond? 

05.00 Declarations are piling in now, and NO are pushing ever closer to victory. Still not a peep from Alex Salmond which is a poor show. 

04.41 BBC showing they have a penchant for interviewing ex-Big Brother contestants tonight. Tommy Sheridan appears now. Why don't they get Les Dennis on too?

04.36 Sarah Smith reacts to the Aberdeen declaration with astonishingly obvious statements, telling us it has a high foreign population and many people there work in the oil industry. She didn't mention its several granite structures though. 

4.27 Jeremy Vine now has plenty of juicy stats to work with but the most important thing his graphics show is that the huge councils are yet to declare. 

4.12 John Curtice appears on BBC2 to assert that NO will win but their victory will not be as substantial as they had anticipated. There is a sizeable YES vote underway, he says. 

4.00 Nicola Sturgeon appears at her count on BBC1. It's the first sight this evening of one of the big SNP duo. She doesn't speak to the cameras, but quietly shakes hands with activists. BBC2 has pundits singing her praises, rightly so. Sarah Smith raises the topic of SNP leadership and how Salmond has already made it clear he will not resign if there's a NO vote.

03.50 The first result is in for YES and it's Dundee. A predictable result but it surely provoked sighs of relief nonetheless. Being a city, pulling in lots of cotes, it has given YES a nice boost. 

03.45 Lesley Riddoch on STV says of the Scottish electorate 'everything was visited upon them' by the NO campaign via fear tactics. A subdued tone is notable. YES are increasingly despondent but there is, to their credit, no crowing from Better Together. This may simply be because no-one can yet assume victory, although YES seem to be assuming defeat or, at least, preparing for the long, slow pain of it. 

03.38 After the incredibly close Inverclyde vote, Iain MacWhirter on the BBC praises the YES campaign but says most people just didn't want to leave the UK in the first place. 

03.24 First big surprise of the night: Jim Murphy on BBC says he 'doesn't care about egg throwing.' Funny. He rather gave the hysterical impression that he did.

03.10 Humza Yousaf on STV gives hope to the YES campaigners saying let's wait for the big cities to declare. Ponsonby supports him, saying it's 'still very, very early.' It's true. We've only had four declarations yet the feeling is that NO are triumphing. 

03.02 The night gets bleaker still for YES.  Four out of four results for NO. With the Western Isles declaring for NO Glenn Campbell says 'This seems to be the strongest evidence yet that things are going well for the NO side.' 

In the midst of these NO declarations the Better Together politicians appearing on TV are dignified and cool. There is none of the arrogance they so often betrayed in their campaign.

02.45 Three results out of three for NO but Ponsonby again points out that one large city result could 'turn that on its head.' 

02.36 STV coverage under Ponsonby is quite impressive, and not as celeb-focused as the BBC is, with their actors and Big Brother people and excited questions about the Andy Murray influence. STV exceled in the TV debates and they seem to be doing so on election night too. 

02.26 From Big Brother to UKIP: the BBC are interviewing some mavericks tonight, aren't they? Well, at least the UKIP MEP was elected to his position, but then so was the Big Brother fellow as he won the reality show contest via a vote. No-one ever said democracy was flawless.

2.09 I fled BBC2 to escape the irrelevance of Michael Forsyth only to find a former Big Brother contestant being interviewed on BBC1. Yet, why am I surprised? Two of our politicians have shamed and embarrassed themselves by appearing on that show. The nice chap from Big Brother seemed far more decent and coherent than the repellent Galloway or the ex-convict Sheridan. 

2.05 Despite two No declarations, Nick Robinson reminds us that Glasgow could still knock those results out due to its size. A good point but it has had a relatively low turnout - 75% - so, even if it votes Yes, will the volume of votes be as substantial as Yes may have been banking on? 

01.55 Kay Burley reports for Sky from the Glasgow count with police strolling in the background. The allegations of fraud will have summoned them there, but the suspect papers have all been identified.

01.45 Jeremy Vine starts swooping the graphics around. He betrays his Englishness by having to point out where Clackmannanshire is on the map though - to be fair - I couldn't have pointed to it. With only one declaration there isn't much he can do with his impressive coloured blocks. Like all of us, he must be incredibly keen for the results to start pouring in but we've been warned the deluge won't start till 3am onwards. 

01.35 Huw Edwards interviews Lesley Riddoch. She says it's impossible to draw conclusions just now. Not only is Clackmannanshire relatively tiny but this entire election is unique.

Nick Robinson then says West Lothian SNP have conceded defeat there, calling it 'disappointing'.

01.30 First declaration is for NO. Clackmannanshire vote No but Bernard Ponsonby on STV cautions against drawing conclusions: it is a small authority and this result could be dwarfed by other, bigger councils. 

01.25 The BBC have so far had a pleasing round of Musical Chairs going on, but STV seems rather Sillars-heavy. 

01.20 Glenn Campbell says first declaration - Clackmannanshire - due in five minutes. Jack McConnell is talking of health and life expectancy but all we're thinking is 'hurry with that result!' 

01.06 Footage from the various counts seems very calm and ordered. I had expected manic shuffling and fluttering and counting and rushing. Everyone seems unruffled and, dare I say it, very British. 

01.03 'Without people telling you much, No campaigners are smiling,' says Nick Robinson. Sarah Smith agrees with this, saying that the Yes folk at the Glasgow count seem subdued and flat despite predictions they have won the city with 54%. It seems they were hoping for a greater margin. Of course, no declarations are yet in. Pundits are still scrabbling to fill the time here. Nothing is decided yet.

00.52 'This hasn't been politicians talking to the voters, it's been voters talking to each other,' says Sarah Smith in trying to explain the huge turnout which other countries will be watching and hoping to replicate. The key is surely the power of social media - as well as passion and dedication to the cause - which has allowed ordinary people to speak directly and cut out the politician if they so wish. Patrick Harvie agrees, saying this has not been anything like a typical political process.

00.39 Glenn Campbell discussing the significance of Andy Murray's tweets. This is trivial and tiresome. Tennis players don't matter tonight, and neither do wizard writers. Get serious, BBC!

00.32 Sarah Smith says Better Together are confidently claiming Falkirk, Dennis Canavan's old haunt. If so, a particularly interesting result she says. Canavan took the road to Yes, but has Falkirk refused to follow? 

00.20 TV coverage yet to get into its stride: constant jumping from count to count and from suit to suit (or, in Dennis Canavan's case, casual tangerine shirt). The sense now is that people are desperate for the first declaration to come in so we can get our teeth into something substantial. Until then the BBC content themselves with interviewing a spectacularly feathered man from Papua New Guinea. 

00.15 BBC report from the count at Aberdeen and say 'No camp would be surprised if Aberdeen went Yes'. The city may be the last to declare, they say, probably coming in at 6am.

00.05 Jim Sillars on STV says his talk of a 'day of reckoning' for businesses was only meant to 'rattle their cages'. Nonetheless, he was still slapped down by Salmond. 'I was articulating what people were telling me on street level in working class areas. How do we prevent illegitimate corporate power' he asks.

23.59 Jeremy Vine stands on his lilac-lit balcony, looking like a grim, bespectacled Juliet. Instead of speaking words of love he speaks of 'an enormous job of work' as he outlines the burden of tasks which would fall to an iScotland, such as having to create an army and navy and intelligence service. 

23.55 Nick Robinson on BBC2 says No have been predicting victory all day whereas Yes have simply been sticking to the rhetoric of confidence. Doesn't that suggest a lack of arrogance from Yes rather than a timidity? 

23.50 'Every single opinion poll could be wrong,' says Alistair Carmichael on BBC1, reminding us that polls which widen quickly can also narrow quickly. 

23.46 Sky's Kay Burley says the first declaration is due at 12.45 from North Lanarkshire.

23.42 STV reporting from Washington and speaking of its desire for 'UK diplomatic muscle'. The arrogance of the US here in quite extraordinary: the UK must stay together for their particular benefit! The fact that British journalists are falling over themselves to report from the White House instead of from the streets and schemes and schools of Scotland just reinforces this arrogance. 

23.40 The tireless Lesley Riddoch on BBC1 hopes the electorate have withstood the 'threats' from the No camp. 

23.37 BBC1 saying the turnout figure is expected at 1am which will allow the boffins to say what number of votes will be needed to clinch victory. Sky have already predicted the magic figure will be 1.71 million votes.

23.29 Jim Murphy on BBC1, speaking softly. The feeling that he is somewhat diminished without Irn Bru crates and eggs is evident. 

23.23 Jon Sopel on BBC1 reports from the White House - or from in front of a nice picture of the White House - on the US's desire that Scotland stay with the UK. Some people have seen this as hypocrisy as they seized independence but don't wish the same for others. Their main concern isn't partnership and harmony and co-operation but the siting of those nukes, of course. 

23.16 - STV discussing whether Cameron will have to resign if there's a Yes vote. Reporter at Downing Street says 'it's inconceivable he could remain in office' after Yes. Likewise, there will be a Tory 'backlash' against him if Westminster tries to push through the supposed new powers. It seems Cameron will be in a sticky situation no matter what result comes through. 'He's got lots of problems stacked up', they say.

23.12 Sky reporter warns us that 'the Queen is watching.' 

23.09 All channels showing footage of the ballot boxes being carried into the count. A great sight: ordinary people in jeans and jumpers lugging the boxes around, hard at work, sipping from their water bottles. Not a politician in sight on the floors showing that this important part has been left in the hands of the people. 

23.05 Jackie Bird on BBC1 addding to the feeling many people have that this night is like Hogamanay. 

23.00 STV reporting from the count at Dundee which is being touted a city which will massively vote Yes. The hall seems strangely empty compared to the bustle and crowd we just witnessed at Ingliston.

22.55 Dennis Canavan on SKY talking of possible 'collaboration and collusion' amongst the Establishment to prevent a Yes vote. 

22.52 On STV, Bernard Ponsonby is joined by Johann Lamont who looks like she's dressed for a funeral. Alex Neil is alongside her, discussing the astonishingly high turnout. He says many new voters have turned out who have not felt spurred to get involved in politics since the Poll Tax revolt. 

22.46  BBC1 have chosen a very soft colour scheme of baby pinks and soft lilac. Thankfully, Jeremy Paxman has stepped down or his sneer at the pastel pleasantness would shrivel the set.

22.38 A very Scottish flavour added to proceedings on BBC1. We're told the fog at Stornoway airport might mean ballot boxes have to be transported by fishing boat, so delaying the Western Isles declaration.

22.32 STV's full coverage starts at 22.40, with Bernard Ponsonby and Aasmah Mir. Based on their coverage thus far I've got confidence in them to deliver a great programme though, tonight, perhaps the speed of a channel's results and the clarity of their graphics is what matters most. 

22.25  Sky News began its coverage early, at 9pm, but you must allow for frequent adverts featuring meerkats. Nonetheless, hats off to them for their early start. It was welcome for the referendum buffs who couldn't bear to wait any longer. The programme is hosted by Adam Boulton and Kay Burley. 

22.20 BBC2 also has full indyref coverage but with a later start. Their programme begins at 11.20 and features Huw Edwards, Sarah Smith and the recently-heckled Nick Robinson.

22.15 Jeremy Vine on BBC1 just now showing off his graphics, but the full BBC1 coverage starts at 10:25 with Scotland Decides. 

22.00 - The polls have closed. I'll be here through the night reviewing the referendum programming across all channels.