‘2020 claims BBC One’: Beeb’s flagship channel goes off air as continuity announcer admits: ‘Unfortunately we’re having quite a night of it here’
- Problems with the BBC ‘s flagship channel delayed the beginning of Panorama
- ‘Technical issues’ forced EastEnders to start 14 minutes later than scheduled
- Those who tuned in were greeted by a red screen with an apology message
- Continuity announcer said: ‘Unfortunately we’re having quite a night of it here’
BBC One was plunged off-air for ten minutes this evening as the broadcaster was hit with ‘major technical issues’.
Problems with the BBC‘s flagship channel delayed the beginning of Panorama and forced popular soap EastEnders to start 14 minutes later than expected.
Those who tuned in were greeted by a red screen and a statement reading: ‘We are sorry for the break in this programme and are trying to correct the fault.’
The BBC has apologised for the issues, which prompted the evening’s continuity announcer to admit: ‘Unfortunately we’re having quite a night of it here.’
The technical difficulties sparked a flurry of Tweets from agitated viewers – with ITV’s Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid joking that: ‘2020 has claimed BBC One.’
Others quipped that the issue was ‘the best live TV’ they had seen in a while.
The BBC ‘s flagship channel BBC One went off air and was plagued with technical difficulties for around 20 minutes this evening
Announcer, believed to be named Delroy Haynes, saved the day for the BBC, chipping in every so often to reassure viewers.
A BBC Spokesperson said: ‘Unfortunately major technical issues delayed the start of Panorama this evening. The BBC One schedule is now running 5 minutes late – we apologise to viewers for the disruption.’
People on Twitter delighted in the Beeb’s difficulties, with one saying: ‘This is the most excitement I’ve had all week #BBCOne.’
Another added: ‘BBC One is broken and this is honestly the best live TV I’ve had in weeks listening to the voiceover guy panic whilst updating everyone.’
Susanna Reid also joined in the conversation on Twitter, saying: ‘2020 has claimed BBC One.’
Twitter users delighted in the diffuclties the BBC experienced this evening, stating it was ‘the best live TV in weeks’
Others took to Twitter to share their frustration about the delay to the soap: ‘BBC why is Eastenders not on? I’m not paying my TV licence to watch Panorama!’
The channel began having problems when the One Show finished and was forced to put up an error message stating: ‘We are sorry for the break in this programme and are trying to correct the fault’.
Shortly after, the announcer tried to reassure viewers the programme would resume as soon as possible but they were left waiting for several minutes.
Voiceover Delroy spoke intermittently to keep viewers updated: ‘We’re having a slight technical difficulty at the moment we’ll try to get it sorted as soon as we possibly can.’
But the gardening alteration was unsuccessful and instead the team tried to get the Panorama Can Biden Unite America? on.
People on Twitter joked about the constant stream of errors the team at the BBC One appeared to be experiencing
The channel continued to try and get the programme live, with several failed attempts – including one which showed the same error screen and another which saw the audio fail on the scheduled programme.
In response, comedic Delroy said: ‘Unfortunately we’re having quite a night of it here so do bare with us we have a few technical problems we are working on them and we hope to sort them as soon as we possibly can.’
ITV’s Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid tweeted: ‘2020 has claimed BBC One.’
As well as rejoicing in the issues, Twitter users took to the social media platform to praise Delroy.
One woman wrote: ‘Tell Del that they just made my month. Definitely a much deserved drink due.’