IT asks a lot of a media newborn to elbow its way into the schedules between death, de-cluttering and Jon Snow, but that was the lot of BBC Scotland’s new current affairs show, Timeline, last night.
Up against EastEnders, a Tonight special on house-clearing, the last half hour of Channel 4 News, and myriad satellite offerings, how did the new kid on the Scottish media block do?
Dressed smart-casual, hosts Shereen Nanjiani (making a welcome return to TV from radio after 10 years) and Glenn Campbell looked like a couple from Newton Mearns about to host a cosy dinner party.
The set, in contrast, was an odd mix of minimalist and brutalist, with moody lighting and concrete panels lending it all the warmth of a car park after midnight.
What a lot they packed in, starting with an item about youngsters being prescribed anti-depressants without their parents’ knowledge, and moving on to tributes to Tam Dalyell, an interview with Judy Murray, a piece on T2 Trainspotting, and a sit-down with Sir David Attenborough. To play out, there was a poem for Burns Night, complete with words from Nicola Sturgeon. The FM popping up was the show’s only surprise.
Apart from one interview, the rest was pre-recorded, giving the show a tame air, as if the programme makers were afraid to frighten any horses switching over from EastEnders.
The show passed the topicality test – always a difficult one for a weekly programme – by covering the death of Dalyell, which was announced shortly before Timeline aired.
But the interview with Murray went over familiar ground, and the Attenborough visit to Edinburgh had already been well covered in Scottish newspapers.
A long way from the airheaded The One Show on BBC1, this was The Two Show on BBC2 – slick, restrained, informed, and, well, just a teeny bit dull. Nanjiani and Campbell, two seasoned pros, can handle more excitement.
At the close, viewers were invited to get in touch with comments. This being Scotland, which beats the rest of the UK in dissatisfaction with the BBC, viewers will not be backward in coming forward with opinions. Perhaps the real test of Timeline will come when it has to cover the thornier political matters confronting Scotland.
Since the programme also asked for questions, a couple spring to mind. First, will Timeline will do better than the recently axed BBC Scotland 2016 (30,000 viewers), not to mention STV’s Scotland Tonight (85,000)?
The second, and this one is for the BBC director general Tony Hall: Is Timeline in addition to, or instead of, a Scottish Six? Time will tell.
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