National BBC Strike 2005 (Part 1)
Monday May 23 2005
Spotlight
BBC staff went on strike from midnight on Monday May 23 2005 for 24 hours. They were protesting at plans to cut 3,780 jobs and privatise parts of the Corporation.
The unions said the cuts were the most damaging in BBC history. The Corporation said it regretted the decision to take industrial action.
The strike posed the most serious threat to the BBC's programming schedule across all TV and radio networks in over a decade. This page focuses on the disruption to national and regional news output on the TV networks.
12.00 midnight BBC News 24 joins forces with BBC World, showing a recorded news programme.
BBC One N. Ireland, BBC Two Scotland and BBC Two N. Ireland run with their own respective schedules.
The unions said the cuts were the most damaging in BBC history. The Corporation said it regretted the decision to take industrial action.
The strike posed the most serious threat to the BBC's programming schedule across all TV and radio networks in over a decade. This page focuses on the disruption to national and regional news output on the TV networks.
12.00 midnight BBC News 24 joins forces with BBC World, showing a recorded news programme.
BBC One N. Ireland, BBC Two Scotland and BBC Two N. Ireland run with their own respective schedules.
Above: BBC News 24 joins BBC World at midnight.
12.33am BBC News 24 and BBC World revert to pre-recorded programming.
BBC Two Northern Ireland ran a long Network branded 'Morris' ident at 12.30am with a simple 'This is BBC Two' local voice-over. Programming continued as scheduled.
BBC Three and BBC Four appeared normal.
12.50am BBC One Scotland and BBC One Wales took the Network feed for the 12.50am and 12.55am junctions into 'Weatherview' and BBC News 24. The Network junctions were stable.
Network BBC One handed over to BBC News 24 around 12.57am.
BBC Two Northern Ireland ran a long Network branded 'Morris' ident at 12.30am with a simple 'This is BBC Two' local voice-over. Programming continued as scheduled.
BBC Three and BBC Four appeared normal.
12.50am BBC One Scotland and BBC One Wales took the Network feed for the 12.50am and 12.55am junctions into 'Weatherview' and BBC News 24. The Network junctions were stable.
Network BBC One handed over to BBC News 24 around 12.57am.
Above: Network BBC One handing across to BBC News 24.
1.00am Non-Union staff manage to produce a live news service for BBC News 24. The news was presented by Akhtar Khan.
BBC Two Northern Ireland handed over to BBC News 24, with a Network branded BBC Two ident (as normal) and local voice-over. The entire local junction was live.
BBC Two Northern Ireland handed over to BBC News 24, with a Network branded BBC Two ident (as normal) and local voice-over. The entire local junction was live.
Above: Akhtar Khan with the live 1am programme.
1.15am The BBC One Northern Ireland junctions into 'Weatherview' (1.10am) and BBC News 24 (1.15am) were unaffected by the strike action; locally branded trails and idents were broadcast, accompanied by a live voice-over.
1.30am BBC Two Network close passed off without incident, bar a slight hint of tone going into 'Pages From Ceefax'.
1.30am BBC Two Network close passed off without incident, bar a slight hint of tone going into 'Pages From Ceefax'.
Above: Network BBC Two close.
1.40am BBC Two Scotland rejoined BBC Two Network immediately its final programme finished, crashing into 'Pages From Ceefax'.
1am - 6am BBC News 24 continued with a live half hour news programme at the top of the hour until 5.00am when 'The World Today' went on air, including business news.
At 6.00am, a 'Breakfast' branded programme, presented by Akhtar Khan was broadcast on BBC One and BBC News 24. The programme was based in the main BBC News 24 studio. BBC World reverted to a recording of an earlier bulletin.
1am - 6am BBC News 24 continued with a live half hour news programme at the top of the hour until 5.00am when 'The World Today' went on air, including business news.
At 6.00am, a 'Breakfast' branded programme, presented by Akhtar Khan was broadcast on BBC One and BBC News 24. The programme was based in the main BBC News 24 studio. BBC World reverted to a recording of an earlier bulletin.
Above: the 6am 'Breakfast' programme presented by Akhtar Khan.
'World Business Report' was broadcast between 6.30am and 7.00am. At 7.00am, another half hour of news followed at 7.30am by 'Talking Movies'.
BBC Two, CBBC and CBeebies appeared unaffected.
8.00am Another half hour of news from BBC News 24/BBC One.
8.30am BBC News 24 and BBC One show 'Hardtalk Extra'.
9.00am Akhtar Khan returns with fifteen minutes of news for BBC One; BBC One then resumes its normal schedule (although news summaries are replaced with weather updates). News continues on BBC News 24, with recorded programmes being shown during the second half of each hour.
BBC Two, CBBC and CBeebies appeared unaffected.
8.00am Another half hour of news from BBC News 24/BBC One.
8.30am BBC News 24 and BBC One show 'Hardtalk Extra'.
9.00am Akhtar Khan returns with fifteen minutes of news for BBC One; BBC One then resumes its normal schedule (although news summaries are replaced with weather updates). News continues on BBC News 24, with recorded programmes being shown during the second half of each hour.
Above: BBC One leaves BBC News 24 at 9.13am.
12.00 midday BBC Two's 'The Daily Politics' is cancelled and replaced with 'The Flying Garden'.
Above: BBC Two Network apology at midday.
12.30pm 'Working Lunch' is cancelled on BBC Two; 'The Egg: A Wildlife Guide' is played out instead.
BBC One live broadcast from the Chelsea Flower Show replaced by recorded programme about the show.
BBC One live broadcast from the Chelsea Flower Show replaced by recorded programme about the show.
Above: BBC Two Network apology at 12.30pm.
Above: BBC One Network link at 12.30pm - no mention of the strike issues.
1.00pm BBC One and BBC News 24 joined forces for a half hour edition of the 'One O'Clock News', broadcast from the News 24 studio and presented by Susan Osman. The programme featured a number of live OB interviews as well as a live interview with Washington correspondent, Matt Frei. It also seemed as though fresh report packages were being broadcast.
BBC World reverted to a recorded news programme.
BBC World reverted to a recorded news programme.
Above: thirty seconds of headline bed preceded the 'One O'Clock News' on BBC News 24.
Above: the 'One O'Clock News' programme presented by Susan Osman.
Above: the close of the 'One O'Clock News' and subsequent advisory caption.
1.30pm A replacement programme is broadcast on BBC One; no Regional News programmes.
1.45pm Normal BBC One schedule resumes with 'Neighbours' (five minutes behind schedule).
1.45pm Normal BBC One schedule resumes with 'Neighbours' (five minutes behind schedule).
Above: BBC One Network link into 'Neighbours' at 1345.
2.00pm BBC News 24 and BBC World in joint bulletin, presented by Susan Osman.
