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What the Papers Say

 

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What the Papers Say



 
 
What The Papers Say (1956–2008) is the second longest-running programme on British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 after the sky at night,bbc_series)]]. It is a review programme of stories published in British newspapers.

format, consisting of readings from the previous week's newspaper
Newspaper

A newspaper is a publication containing news, information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint. General-interest newspapers often feature articles on Politics, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and sports....
s, linked by a studio presenter, has remained essentially unchanged for half a century. The show has always been made by Granada Television
Granada Television

Granada Television is the United Kingdom ITV contractor for North West England. It previously held the "North of England" weekday franchise, which also covered most of Yorkshire, from 1954 until 1968 when its broadcast area was divided into two franchises....
, the longest-running broadcasting company in the UK other than the BBC, and was the last programme surviving from the company's original line-up of programmes in 1956.

the first 26 years of its run the series was broadcast on ITV
ITV

ITV is a public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom television network of British television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC....
.






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What The Papers Say (1956–2008) is the second longest-running programme on British
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 after the sky at night,bbc_series)]]. It is a review programme of stories published in British newspapers.

Format

The format, consisting of readings from the previous week's newspaper
Newspaper

A newspaper is a publication containing news, information and advertising, usually printed on low-cost paper called newsprint. General-interest newspapers often feature articles on Politics, crime, business, art/entertainment, society and sports....
s, linked by a studio presenter, has remained essentially unchanged for half a century. The show has always been made by Granada Television
Granada Television

Granada Television is the United Kingdom ITV contractor for North West England. It previously held the "North of England" weekday franchise, which also covered most of Yorkshire, from 1954 until 1968 when its broadcast area was divided into two franchises....
, the longest-running broadcasting company in the UK other than the BBC, and was the last programme surviving from the company's original line-up of programmes in 1956.

History

For the first 26 years of its run the series was broadcast on ITV
ITV

ITV is a public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom television network of British television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC....
. The first programme, on 5 November 1956, was presented by Brian Inglis
Brian Inglis

Brian Inglis was an England journalist, historian and television presenter. He was born in Dublin, Ireland and retained an interest in Irish history and politics....
, deputy editor of The Spectator
The Spectator

The Spectator is a weekly United Kingdommagazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by the Barclay brothers, who also own The Daily Telegraph....
; the following week Kingsley Martin
Kingsley Martin

Kingsley Martin was a United Kingdom journalist who edited the left-leaning political magazine the New Statesman for thirty years, from 1930 to 1960....
, editor
Editing

Editing is the process of preparing language, s, sound, video, or film through correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications in various media....
 of the New Statesman
New Statesman

The New Statesman is a United Kingdom left-wing politics magazine published weekly in London. The current editor is Jason Cowley, whose appointment was announced on 16 May 2008....
, presented the show. Martin presented the show on a total of 6 occasions, Brian Inglis became the most used presenter with about 170 programmes. In 1969, the programme was briefly relaunched as The Papers, with Stuart Hall
Stuart Hall (cultural theorist)

Stuart Hall is a culture theory and sociologist who has lived and worked in the United Kingdom since 1951. Hall, along with Richard Hoggart and Raymond Williams, was an early and influential contributor to the school of thought that is now known as Cultural_Studies#Approaches or The Birmingham School of Cultural Studies....
, of the Open University
Open University

The Open University is the UK's Distance education government-supported university notable for having an open entry policy, i.e. students' previous academic achievements are not taken into account for entry to most undergraduate courses....
, as the first presenter. This version of the programme lasted for only 10 weeks, after which it reverted to its original title, and took on the format it still has today, with a different presenter (almost always a journalist
Journalist

A journalist is a person who practices journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues, and people while striving for viewpoints that aren't biased....
) each week.

Host channel

Originally the programme ran for 25 minutes, later dropping to 20. The show moved from ITV to Channel 4
Channel 4

Channel 4 is a UK Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom television broadcaster which began transmissions on 2 November 1982. Although commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the #Channel Four Television...
 when the latter launched in 1982, but was dropped in 1989, to be taken up by BBC2 where it was broadcast on Saturday afternoons, now with a running time of 10 minutes, with the presenters now placed in a virtual
Virtual

The term virtual is a concept applied in many fields with somewhat differing connotations, and also, differing denotations.The term has been defined in philosophy as "that which is not real" but may display the full qualities of the real....
 studio
Television studio

A television studio is an installation in which television or video productions take place, either for live television, for recording live to tape, or for the acquisition of raw footage for postproduction....
. In 2008, the BBC decided not to recommission the series, also dropping coverage of the What the Papers Say Awards. ITV Productions has stated it hopes to find a "new home" for the show.. As of October 2008 the same format has made a partial return to screens during Granada's own regional political programme "Party People", where it is usually introduced as "a look at what the papers say".

Music

The show's distinctive theme music was originally The Procession of the Sardar, by Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov
Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov

Mikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov was a Russian composer, conducting and teacher....
, a student of Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov , also Nikolay, Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as "The Five." Noted particularly for a predilection for folk and fairy-tale subjects as well as his extraordinary skill in orchestration, his best known orchestral compositions...
. The 10 programmes titled The Papers used the Gershwin Piano Concerto in F
Concerto in F (Gershwin)

Concerto in F is a composition by George Gershwin for piano concerto which is closer in form to a traditional concerto than the earlier jazz-influenced Rhapsody in Blue....
 as opening and closing music; when it reverted to the original title, it was replaced by Allegro Non Troppo, the fifth movement from Malcolm Arnold
Malcolm Arnold

Sir Malcolm Henry Arnold, Order of the British Empire was an England composer and Symphony.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, by age thirty his life was devoted to composition....
's Second Set of English Dances
English Dances

English Dances for Orchestra and are two sets of light music pieces, composed by Malcolm Arnold in 1950 and 1951. Each set consists of four dances inspired by, although not based upon, country folk tunes and dances....
 Opus 33, which is still used to this day.

External links

  • "" – gallery of presenters at guardian.co.uk
  • – theme music