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A couple of years ago there was a Saturday night BBC 1 quiz
show called "The Chair", with John McEnroe (the tennis
player) putting tricky questions to members of the public.
They were "plugged in" to the chair and their heart rates
were monitored. They scored points for keeping calm as the
pressure rose. As far as I recall, it was a pretty good
programme. Shows how much I know about TV commissioning - the
programme was pulled I think after one series....
Anyway, my mind turned to "that chair" when Gavin Allen one
of our tippety top programme editors (is that right, Gavin?)
had a bright idea for last Tuesday morning's programme. The
news that the MOD had bought a number of
ergonomically-designed chairs, worth a thousand pounds
apiece, set Gavin's mind off on one of its more fanciful
flights of fancy. Wouldn't it be a great idea to test out
the relative merits of "good chair" and "bad chair"? Have
one presenter sit on the "good chair" for half an hour, the
other presenter sit on a "bad chair" and have an ergonomist
analyse our sitting positions and assess whether a thousand
pounds is worth paying for a comfortable seat.
So far so good.
When John and I arrived we were shown the "bad chair" - a
rather tall bar stool which Gavin had apparently procured the
night before, where from, we can only guess. During a heated
debate, John and I pointed out the studio impracticalities of
said chair. For a start the microphone wouldn't extend high
enough for the "bad chair" sitter i.e. me, to be able to
broadcast. Matthew Grant, the night editor stroked his chin.
Plan B:
Throw out the bar stool. Hunt around TV centre for a normal
chair - the kind you would sit on at home if you were doing
your accounts in the evening at the kitchen table. Mission
accomplished.
Then came the problem of getting the new kitchen chair into
the studio, during the news bulletin just before John
launched into a long and complex interview with Gordon Brown.
With a bit of to-ing and froe-ing, it was in place. I can
say in all honesty that it is the first time I have broadcast
a programme on radio 4 from a kitchen chair. And, no doubt,
the last.
As for the thousand quid jobby - both John and I thought it
was "rather nice" and please could we get some for the Today
office Mr Marsh, Sir?
Is a £600 Aeron chair really worth the money?
Is the expensive chair really the most comfortable one?
And another thing....
I think I might need to change my name. It's obviously too
confusing for people to grasp the difference between Carolyn
(My name. It rhymes with sin, and indeed Quinn) and Caroline
(which rhymes with sign).
Even now, ten years after joining the BBC's political team at
Westminster, some of my colleagues get it wrong. Most of them
only risk getting it wrong once!
And just last Friday, while John Reid, the health secretary
and I were engaging in some healthy Today programme debate on
the subject of Iraq, he repeatedly, mistakenly, called me Caroline.
Health Secretary John Reid.
And he's not the only cabinet member to do so. Consistent
reminders from me clearly have no impact... I spent the
entire 1997 election campaign with Paddy Ashdown - even
though I corrected him numerous times - by the end, what was
he calling me? You've guessed it.
The final straw came this week. I received two invitations
from a government department for their summer party. One
addressed to Carolyn Quinn, BBC political correspondent. The
other addressed to Caroline Quinn, BBC Radio 4. Do they think
there are two of us?
I wonder, do other Carolyns experience this? I'd love to know
if you do.
That's it for now,
It's goodbye from me, and it's goodbye from her.
Carolyn Quinn.
Other Today Programme highlights from last week:
Chancellor Gordon Brown on his three year spending plan and the decision to sack 100,000 civil servants.
A German wartime pilot came to England to apologise for accidentally bombing a Saxon church in Northumberland.
The argument over the safety of Grey Goo picks up pace. Lord Winston and Jonathon Porritt discuss whether nanotechnology is safe.
Rebecca Jones finds out why the saucy seaside postcards by Donald McGill were banned 50 years ago.
Hear the celebrations from the Lib Dem camp after another successful by-election result.
Much was made over the long awaited Butler report:
President of the Iraqi interim government Iyad Allawi
and former Tory cabinet minister Kenneth Clarke.
Former US President Bill Clinton on the failings of the intelligence services in Britain and the US.
Leader of the Liberal Dems, Charles Kennedy, and former foreign secretary, Robin Cook.
UN weapons inspector Hans Blix and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.
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