Thank you for your interest in inviting BBC Radio 4's Any Questions? to your organisation. Because of the responsibility involved, it may be helpful if we outline what exactly you are letting yourself in for! Any Questions? was first broadcast in October 1948; each week it visits a different community with a panel of four speakers who answer questions from an audience. The composition of the audience and the quality of questions are obviously crucial to the programme's success. 1. THE AUDIENCE
One of the chief responsibilities for you, the local organiser, is the distribution of tickets . We very much hope that, in general, the audience will be reasonably balanced and properly representative of the local community in terms of age, class, gender, colour, creed and political affiliation.
Tickets are free - when they arrive please call the Broadcast Assistant to confirm you have them. As they will be sent to you direct from the printers, it would be a good idea to open the box to check you have the right tickets and also count them to check you have been sent the correct number of tickets! Please note, we would rather specific seating is not allocated in advance but that the venue is filled from the front on the night in order to make best use of the available seating.
We hope in particular that the tickets will go to people prepared to play a positive role in the broadcast - people who will think about topical issues beforehand and then do their best to contribute useful questions, bearing in mind the interests of the Any Questions? panel that evening and the events of that week. The minimum age limit for audience members is 14.
Members of your organisation will of course expect to have first call on the tickets, but it is essential that you make at least one third of the tickets available to the general public on a 'first come, first served' basis.
We also ask you to offer a number of tickets to the local political parties . We suggest that you contact the local Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat* party offices to advise them of the programme and let them know that you will hold 15** tickets each for them. Any tickets they haven't taken up 2 weeks before broadcast can be released to the public .
*Obviously, depending on location, there may be other local factors to consider - for example in Scotland or Wales the Nationalist parties would need to be approached.
**In the case of a very large audience (say 500 plus) you may wish to raise the number of tickets offered to the local political parties. We are always happy to advise you on this point.
It would be useful for us if you kept a record of any organisations who apply for tickets, and we may request this information at any stage of the ticketing process.
We do from time to time encounter problems surrounding the issue of 'balance,' and the BBC, being committed to fairness, therefore reserves the right to allocate a number of seats ourselves if necessary. We may also give out a number of tickets to BBC guests (If space is particularly tight at your venue please talk to the producer about how many additional seats have been allocated by us).
For local publicity , we suggest placing posters (we will send these in the post - please confirm you have received them) in places where they will be seen by a broad cross-section of the local community: e.g. public libraries, town halls or civic centres, sports and leisure centres, etc.
We suggest you put the posters up around six weeks before the planned transmission even if you haven't been given all/any of the names of the panellists. It is also important to realise that the panel may be subject to change at any point prior to the broadcast.
Please note that the BBC operates under strict guidelines about product or commercial endorsement. Posters or publicity material featuring the BBC logo must not mention any commercial product, company or company logo. If you wish to produce publicity material in addition to the posters and tickets we supply, please discuss with the producer in advance .
You should also contact the nearest BBC Local Radio stations, as well as the editorial office of local & regional newspapers, to publicise the event .You may like to give an interview, or, if preferred, we can supply an electronic photograph of Jonathan Dimbleby which you can forward to the publication.
Should you wish to invite the local press and local radio we will arrange to reserve seats for them in the audience.
With respect to press photographers on the night, there will certainly be an opportunity for photographs to be taken of the panel before (and usually after) the programme, but we do insist that no photographs are taken during the broadcast. Please instruct any local photographers who will be attending to make personal contact with the producer on the evening so that all restrictions and opportunities can be explained clearly .
The BBC is committed to ensuring that audiences reflect the full diversity of the population. People with disabilities are welcome guests and should be treated with the same respect and consideration as anyone else. Our aim is to provide a venue that is fully accessible to everyone in our audience, so please consider how access can be assured for anyone, for example, coming along in a wheelchair. Please note also that we invariably provide an Induction Loop facility to provide amplified sound for anyone using a hearing aid.
2. THE QUESTIONS
The quality of questions is crucial to the success of the programme and it is important that members of the audience are aware that we rely on their participation to achieve this. We are a topical programme, and we look for questions on the most stimulating moral, political and social issues of the day - in other words, the current issues which will get people talking.
As the programme broadcasts to a UK-wide audience, questions on purely local issues will not be chosen unless they raise matters of genuine national interest.
As we are a weekly programme, it may be that some subjects will have received regular coverage over preceding weeks. The programme in any case strives to achieve a varied choice of subjects from week to week, and therefore, with all the goodwill in the world, we will not be able to guarantee that an issue of particular interest to the local audience will be included in the broadcast.
Finally we are not averse to a bit of humour and we welcome light-hearted questions alongside the more serious ones.
Questions can be submitted up to the last minute and there is no limit on the number of questions individual people can submit.
We will be sending you details of the panellists as soon as they are finalised, as it often helps the audience to know of the background and experience of the panellists they are putting their questions to. We would be grateful if you could distribute the details of the panel with the tickets.
The tickets themselves have a tear-off section for questions to be written on and submitted, but we can also accept questions on other pieces of paper too. Each question should bear the name and address of the sender - clearly written.
Normally, we will provide a compact Any Questions? post-box which can be positioned visibly on a table near the door where the public comes in from around 6.45pm . From this box, we will expect one or two of your stewards to collect the question slips and bring them regularly to the room where the producer is sifting them.
Though some people will have written their questions before coming to the hall, questions may also be written on arrival and handed to stewards; for this purpose, a supply of paper and pencils provided by the host would be useful near the public entrance .
Questions cannot be put by proxy; each questioner must be present in the hall for their question to be included. It is helpful if the local organisation could incorporate this sentence in any circular letter or internal publicity.
3. THE HALL
We would like to ask you to draw a rough sketch of the hall intended for use , indicating the seating area, the stage/platform, the entrances and exits and, if possible, the location of what will become the production room and green room (see information further down). Please send this, along with the enclosed Events Responsibilities Checklist , to:
Hilary Buchanan Broadcast Assistant Room 5015 (OBH) Broadcasting House Portland Place London W1A 1AA
On the day of the broadcast, the hall must be set up with stage carpeted, tables (on stage) and chairs (in hall) set out by 3pm . The hall must be available until 10.00pm to allow time for the engineers to de-rig.
There needs to be a platform provided with adequate top-lighting. The overall size of the stage should be a minimum of 25 feet x 15 feet, preferably at least 2 feet from the floor.
Three similar tables, measuring a minimum of 4 feet by 2 feet should be arranged end to end on the platform as shown below.
AUDIENCE
Our engineers will arrange the stage so that the two wing tables are angled at about 45 degrees in the direction of the audience. In this way, everyone on stage will be able to see each other clearly and interact as naturally as possible. The Producer and the Chairman will sit at the centre table, with two panellists sitting at the table on the left, and two more at the table on the right.
We will provide BBC Radio 4 cloths to cover the tables. However, we ask you to provide carpeting or matting for the tables and chairs to rest on . This is important as our microphones are very sensitive, and sounds of scraping chairs or panellists shuffling their feet on a hard surface will surely be picked up during the broadcast.
For each table we need two water glasses and one jug of water.
We need the use of two backstage rooms at or near the entrance to the hall. One is used as a production office where the questions are brought and sorted. In this we'll need two large tables, three chairs, plus an easily accessible power supply . The second room should be reasonably close to the stage and will be used to house the panellists in the 20 minutes or so they will have to wait (from around 7.40pm) until they are brought on to the platform. (see point 6: PANEL.)
Our engineers normally work from a BBC Outside Broadcast control van parked near the stage, but if, for some reason, a van is not available then they will need to earmark another room or space backstage which they can equip and use as a temporary control room. If this is the case, our engineers will contact you to specify requirements.
In the audience seating, 15 seats in the centre of the front row will be needed for production purposes (10 for those members of the audience whose questions have been selected and who will be called down to the front just before the programme starts and 5 slotted among these for the Broadcast Assistant to use). Please note that if seating is limited this may mean keeping back 5 tickets so that no ticket holders are without a seat. Reserved notices will be provided by the BBC. At the appropriate time, the programme's Broadcast Assistant will be responsible for bringing a microphone to each questioner in turn so that they can put their question on air.
4. SITE SURVEY
BBC Engineers will visit you to inspect the hall some weeks before the broadcast. They will contact you direct and arrange a convenient time. We'd be grateful if you would let us know when the visit has been planned and completed. Nearer the date, British Telecom may also visit to install temporary lines for carrying the broadcast, unless some other means of transmission is decided upon by us. The lines will also be tested as appropriate.
5. TIMING ON THE DAY
The engineers will need access to the hall from 1200 noon on the day of the broadcast.
The Producer and Broadcast Assistant will arrive at the hall at around 3pm to meet the organiser , finalise the stage arrangements, and sort out any last minute details. We normally expect to be absent from the hall itself between 5.00 and 6.30pm .
We ask the audience to come to the hall between 6.45pm and 7.15pm, and during this period we would expect most of the questions to be submitted. The production team will arrive back at the venue shortly after 6.30pm to begin sifting and choosing questions for the broadcast (the final selection is made by about 7.40pm ). At around 7.10pm , the chairman will arrive at the hall and should be shown immediately to the room where the producer is sifting the questions . From 7.30pm onwards, a senior member of BBC staff will welcome the audience and talk to them further and, sometimes, invite questions about general matters of BBC policy. The panel will arrive at the hall around 7.40pm (see point number 6. PANEL below). We ask you to provide a steward to show them to the room where they will wait until needed on stage . At 7.50pm the producer will come on stage to call forward the selected questioners; she will then introduce the panel and chairman. After a brief warm up question, the programme goes on air at 8.02 pm following the 8pm Radio 4 News bulletin.
6. PANEL
We organise a pre-programme hospitality for the panellists at a nearby hotel or restaurant, before having them brought to the venue at around 7.40pm .
We will let you know the exact pre-programme arrangements nearer the time.
7. COSTS
The BBC will pay a nominal charge of £100.00 for use of the hall and administrational costs. Please sign the contract , which is either enclosed with this pack or will arrive shortly, and return to the address at the bottom on the contract, along with a photocopy of your Public Liability Insurance (current notice NOT a renewal schedule).
We occasionally pay for advertisements should they be necessary and any necessary hire of additional chairs. If, after discussion, this is necessary, you are asked to make the arrangements and have the account sent to the BBC. Again, all expenditure must be authorised in advance by the Producer. No charge is to be made for admission.
8. STEWARDS ON THE NIGHT
We ask you to provide a small team of stewards to help supervise several requirements on the evening of the broadcast. Their duties should include: guiding and seating the audience, monitoring parking arrangements (see 9 CAR PARKING below), and helping to collect questions at the door.
After 6.45 pm one of the stewards should act as a runner to carry the questions in batches to the room ('production office') where the Producer and Broadcast Assistant are working quickly to sort them.
9. HEALTH & SAFETY
For Health & Safety reasons, we ask that one trained First Aider and a suitably equipped First Aid box should be on site while the audience is present.
The location of all fire exits together with evacuation procedures will be checked with you on the day when we meet on site. (It is normal for these to be indicated to the audience before the programme begins.)
We also need to be aware of what disabled access your venue provides.
10. CAR PARKING
A minimum of three and a maximum of eight car parking spaces should be reserved for the panellists , the Producer and Chairman - the exact numbers will be confirmed on the afternoon of the broadcast.
The broadcast van also needs a space, and if we are using a satellite to transmit the programme, the second van carrying it will need a parking space of its own next to the main OB van.
11. NUMBER OF SEATS & INSURANCE COVER
As I mentioned during our telephone conversation, the number of seats in the hall must comply with local fire regulations and with your hall's public liability insurance.
12. HOSPITALITY
If, after the programme, you and your organisation would like to provide some hospitality (by which we recommend nothing more than light refreshments) for the panel, the chairman and the production team, we would be delighted to join you. There would be a maximum of 8 of us in all, including the panellists.
AND FINALLY
We are aware of how much effort and time you are giving to this event and want to stress we are on hand to help you at any point if you have any questions or concerns. Please don't hesitate to ring me on 07711 019 883 or call the Any Questions? Broadcast Assistant on 020-7765-5609. You could also try the programme's mobile phone which is 07711-019-883.
Thank you in advance for all your help and co-operation.
