Earthy election debate
The first of the BBC Politics Show's live debates in the run up to the general election is held in the surreal surroundings of the Earth Centre.
It is like being in a ghost town.
The date of its opening was, rather aptly, April Fools' day 1999.
The idea was simple. Use millions provided by the Millennium Commission to flatten the derelict remains and spoil heaps of the old Denaby Main Colliery at Conisbrough near Doncaster and turn it into a visitor centre based on sustainable living.
It proved to be financially unsustainable. It tottered along until 2004 but then shut the gates for good. But the buildings, cafes, children's playgrounds and displays were left behind.
Is it any wonder that the BBC chose it as the location for the post-plague centre of government in the TV series Survivors?
What better place than to stage a general election debate?
The theme? Well, what else could it be but the future of energy generation and climate change?
Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy and up for re-election down the road in Doncaster was on the panel.
Pugnacious Conservative Graham Stuart, also campaigning to be re-elected in the Holderness and Beverley seat, added to the lively debate.
In fact the only thing Ed and Graham agreed on was the need to build nuclear power stations to ensure the lights stay on.
Needless to say there was a different view from the Liberal Democrat's Paul Scriven who is trying to take Sheffield Central from Labour.
Andrew Cooper also had a greener solution to out energy needs. That is not surprising as he is the Green Party candidate for Huddersfield.
Even the BNP chipped in. Pamela Chambers, standing in Doncaster North, came up with an argument I certainly had never heard before. Why are we facing a potential energy gap by the middle of the next decade? Apparently it is all those immigrants we have been letting in switching on their lights.
This was by far the most complex outside broadcast ever attempted by the BBC Politics Show for Yorkshire Lincolnshire and the North Midlands.
Have a look at this film showing how we did it with a few words of wisdom from programme presenter Tim Iredale and me.
I'd be delighted to hear any comments. After all, we still have two more live debates to go.
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I'm Len Tingle, the Political Editor for BBC Yorkshire. You can see me most Sunday lunchtimes when I hit the road with the Politics Show's live satellite truck. I also reflect the region's politics on Look North, the BBC's local radio stations and our web pages. Welcome to my blog.
© 2012
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Look's like it was a very tough debate to organise they were biting each others heads off!I bet you're exhausted.
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