Countdown to the Big Bush Bulletin on BBC World Service

Bush House Entrance...

Ceilings are spectacular. Lousy carpets though!

If some of last week's programmes on BBC World Service are anything to go by, many staff are moving out of Bush House with a heavy heart. It's been the heart of international storytelling since 1941 - if only those walls could speak. I note that my previous articles about the place have been well received.

Iain Purdon - on air and on Twitter

Twitter, in the form of BBC World Service newsreader Mike Cooper, tells me the last news bulletin in English will be read from Bush House at 11 hrs GMT (that's midday in the UK, 13 hrs here in Amsterdam) on Thursday 12th July from the larger studio S39. Newsreader Iain Purdon will have the honours.Chris Greenway says that the final news bulletin will include a tribute to the World Service and Bush House by the outgoing BBC Director-General, Mark Thompson.

I do hope they will film the last news bulletin in HD for posterity. In case you didn't know, there is already a really beautiful HD video sequence by Thomas Hannen and Owain Rich, using quotes from an earlier documentary on Bush House presented by former MD, John Tusa. I especially like the room at the end where they filmed all the old studio and newsroom clocks that have been taken down. 


The problem is that this great video is buried on the BBC World Service website - good luck finding it if you don't know it's there. It's also rather weird that it is preceded by a commercial when viewed outside the UK. The HP ad doesn't fit the context. UPDATE: I made a compilation of the audio tributes to Bush House over on the Media Network Vintage archive site.

Great Bush House Video Tribute, once you get past the HP ad

Time Flies - What a beautiful shot!