The commentator is stepping back from Sky after three decades and his perennial presence and enthusiasm will be missedAt Sky Sports, they still called him “the Voice”. Richard Keys, the long-serving anchorman to Martin Tyler in the commentary box, claimed this weekend this was because Tyler “definitely didn’t have a face for TV” – throwing us back to a now distant, coarser era of broadcasting.At 77, Tyler is the perennial who floated above the eras. Viewers of 40-plus will recall his career extending far further back than before football began in 1992. At both the 1982 and 1986 World Cups, Tyler acted as ITV’s main commentator while Brian Moore stayed in a London studio before flying out for the latter...
Documentary chronicles turbulent life from early days as gifted teenage midfielder to admission to the PrioryIt’s no great spoiler to reveal that, apart from Gazza’s opening and closing scenes filmed near a Hampshire fishing lake, it is comprised of archive footage. The subject of this two-part documentary, to be shown on the BBC, had been booked to participate in a Q&A after a London press screening on Thursday, but despite being spotted at the venue was a no-show. The appearance of the footballer’s latter-day incarnation proved even more fleeting in “real life” as it was on screen.Paul Gascoigne, we were told, did not feel up to facing the press and had adjourned to his hotel. While there is no suggestion...
Lineker marshalled the studio well, Mowbray and Jenas made a solid double act, but the forgetful prime minister got a kickingFootball punditry can be a detestable sham. The BBC gave an ominous reminder of that during their Euro 2020 preview show on Thursday, when Gary Lineker said Micah Richards knew a lot about North Macedonia and everyone in the studio, including Richards, fell about laughing. Apparently the notion that a highly paid analyst might swot up on one of the tournament’s lesser known teams was top banter.But that was a lone outrage in a tolerable production and, in fairness, it is both the privilege and the burden of the national broadcaster that it must try to cater to everyone’s taste....
The ceremony’s usual bombast was dialled down a little but odd moments were reassuringly present and correctAs the BBC’s small, Covid-friendly Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony drew to a predictable conclusion, Lewis Hamilton – appearing via video link from a position in front of a lavishly decorated Christmas tree in Monaco – held up the replica trophy he had been thoughtfully equipped with in case of victory and thanked the people of Britain for voting for him. “All the frontline workers, all the children of the world, please try to stay positive at this difficult time,” he said. “Please, everyone out there, go out and follow your dreams.”Unless you’re in a tier 4 area, of course, in which...
The coverage of Sunday’s England v Pakistan T20, the first match on the BBC in two decades, will be very different to the days of Peter West and Tony LewisNostalgia is the comfort blanket of our times. The BBC knows this, which is why it spent lockdown pacifying or existential angst with golden replays of the Olympics, Wimbledon and West Indies tours. When it shows Sunday’s England v Pakistan T20, the corporation’s first live cricket TV broadcast in two decades, there will be a quiet sigh from older viewers, of something finally being put right with the world.Cricket and the Beeb used to be wedded to each other. For 60 years – it first showed the game on TV in...