Michael Barrett: Going Nationwide
When the BBC created and launched a popular early evening current affairs show in 1969, they created a legend. Bringing in audiences of some 20 million each evening, the format was brilliant: bring together regional news magazines into one nationwide show.
Spotlight South-West, Reporting Scotland, Scene Around Six, Midlands Today, Look North, Wales Today, Points West, South Today, Look East and London all came together in a show called Nationwide. The anchorman was Michael Barrett and he co-ordinated the show from London's Lime Grove studios.
In this video podcast Michael describes how the show came into being, how it evolved and how the team grew with Valerie Singleton (from Blue Peter) Sue Lawley and Richard Stilgoe. Michael left the show in 1976 to build a successful career in the then new industry of "The Corporate Video". Micheal also discusses how TV has changed and what the future may hold.
If you enjoyed the Minipod preview, download the full show to iTunes or to your desktop by clicking on the buttons above.
Michael is a real gent and
Michael is a real gent and generous with his time. It was quite an experience to be interviewing Michael given that as a young boy I used to watch him on TV and never imagined I'd be talking to him face to face on my own TV channel! Funny old thing, life! For a detailed history of the show Nationwide, visit http://www.tvradiobits.co.uk/bitsandpieces/nationwide.htm.