Comments on: 2009 BBC Commentary Team Predictions

By: Geena

Geena — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:12:40 +0000

At the end of 2009 season, it has been a terrific job from the commentators. Martin Brundle is a must for 2010, maybe with Johnny Herbert, and David Coulthard is another must. Jake Humphreys got better as the season went on, and I can do without E.J.
It is certainly great to hear people who know what they are talking about.

By: Frankie

Frankie — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 19:21:57 +0000

Re Murray on five live – he was brilliant. I had his commentary to ITV pictures and it made F1 enjoyable again. I lost interest in the TV version when ITV took over – there were too many times when they returned from a break and mis-described what had happened while they were away (and I was watching on RTE).

By: A GUY

A GUY — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 20:50:56 +0000

I’m not bringing down on the BBC but i think its going to be hard to beat Itv they did a preety good job of broadcasting it but in my mind coulthard and brundel should commentatte

By: Neil

Neil — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:53:59 +0000

Murray walker is great, I don’t think there will ever be a better racing commentator than him. It would be great to see him back where he belongs. His passion, mistakes, excitement all bring F1 to life, with brundle next to him to keep him on track when he goes off an a tangent he’ll be fine, good team.

Most of all I would like to see Mark Blundell stay.

By: Seb

Seb — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:08:15 +0000

You know, I was thinking. I think that the BBC need to introduce a completely new approach to the race build up, the race coverage, and the reviews. Now that we are in the era of the Red Button, it would be a perfect oppotunity for them. I had in mind the F1 Digital format, where it had multiple choices- the studio, where Damon Hill, some journalists, and the commentators, pundits sat and talked, whilst thered be pit reporters getting right into the mix of things.
Race team:
David Croft, Anthony Davidson(pundit), Martin Brundle (main comentator), John Watson, Ben Edwards (as commentators), David Coulthard (pundit), Murray Walker (part time commentator), Damon Hill (pundit), Louise Goodman (pit reporter), Peter Windsor (pit reporter, insider), Jim Rosenthal (presenter). All represent the passion, buzz and feel for an f1 season!

By: hazel

hazel — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 05:41:10 +0000

Please please keep Brundell over the years he has grown tremendously into his role. Also feel he does not blast you with all the technical knowledge he has under his belt say in the form of ‘when I was driving’
Don’t feel Damon Hill would be any good heard him commentating in the past and he never sounds comfortable.

Quite frankly love the present ITV team but no no to Clarkson (yuk best suited fronting Top Gear)

David Coulthard could be excellent, always concise and level headed when making comments. Would it pay him more than keeping the connectionn with Red Bull.

Hazel Notts

By: Anthony

Anthony — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 08:22:27 +0000

I do have doubts about james allen, but he has been around for a long time, and knows his stuff! He was more suited to the pits than ted kravitz! I believe the team should remain the same, as they work well together and rarely make mistakes.
I hope to God we don’t get hammond or clarkson because they’d trail off, talking about road cars, and loose focus on the racing!!
And finally, Murray was a legend!, who cud make even the dullest gp, edge of your seat stuff! He made mistakes, but have you ever tried to mute the tv during a race and commentate?? Very easy to slip up!!

By: cowboyjunkie

cowboyjunkie — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:43:01 +0000

Potentially yes, but at least it would be one declared relationship, rather than a constant hunt for others. I still think Julian Ryder & Toby Moody might be the answer.

By: Oliver White

Oliver White — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:04:41 +0000

am I the only one who thinks there’s a conflict of interest in a manager doing the commentary?

Thing is, Brundle is quite open about it when he feels the need to be. And Brundle has often criticised Coulthard on many occasions for incidents that he feels are his driver’s fault. I don’t see it as a problem.

The other thing is, we all want relatively recent drivers commentating because of their knowledge. But drivers, once retired, will often remain directly involved with the sport in one shape or form. Coulthard has already said that will remain with Red Bull in a Schumacher-at-Ferrari-type role (as far as I can gather). Isn’t that just as much of a conflict should DC become a commentator?

By: cowboyjunkie

cowboyjunkie — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:58:33 +0000

I cannot think of one person from the current team who should be kept – with the possible exception of Louise Goodman. James Allen is one of the worst commentators I have ever heard; he seems to believe that shouting loudly and being wrong will get him a Murray type standing (who I wouldn’t want back either). He spends the rest of the time sucking up to Brundle whose commentary is a mixture of spite and politics – and am I the only one who thinks there’s a conflict of interest in a manager doing the commentary? Let’s have someone more recent in the driver seat – Damon or David would do a decent job, and someone new. Also, the best UK team I’ve ever heard are the Moto GP Eurosport duo, and they’re available next year…..

By: Clive A

Clive A — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:13:45 +0000

I think the team should be:

Presenter: Suzi Perry (is very good on Moto GP IMO.)

Main commentator: David Croft.

Summeriser: David Coultard.

Pits: Dan Walker and Johnny Herbert.

Simon Brotherton to replace Croft on 5 live.

Don’t think Steve Rider will come back to the Beeb anytime soon.

By: Markie73

Markie73 — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:57:08 +0000

I sure hope that it is not james allen!,my bet that it will be Martin Brundle and possibly Ben Edwards?

By: Ted

Ted — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:21:32 +0000

Oo er! People will think me odd – but I think the present team does a pretty good job and I can’t think of a race where the current team of commentators has spoilt anything. Murray Walker on the other hand made me feel embarrassed for him many times.

By: Dominic

Dominic — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:01:03 +0000

commentators – Ben Edwards & martin brundell
Presenter(s) – Steve Rider & martin blundell

Ted Kravitz – Pit reporter
David croft – Pre-race preview

Louis goodman i think should keep her job

By: tonycxd

tonycxd — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 11:57:14 +0000

No-one suggested Damon Hill? He’d be a good man for some kind of role in the broadcast team.

By: maff

maff — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 14:04:37 +0000

suzi perry has got the job

By: Ashleigh

Ashleigh — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:54:14 +0000

Agreed, and brundle and Blundel work well together when they are allowed to.

Plus it would be a shame for the BBC to stop the technical insight series that the two of them do together.

It would be nice for the beeb to introduce some young blood into the sport, but not sacrifice all the stuff that made the ITV show good, after all ITV does not put on a bad show overall.

By: John Beamer

John Beamer — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:57:37 +0000

I’m with you Ollie — I had fond memories of Muzza but then compared to Allen that isn’t a surprise. I do agree it is time to get new blood in. Croft would be good, I suppose.

I don’t think enough consideration has been given to making sure Blundell stays part of the team. The man is an absolute monkey, but boy is he entertaining.

By: F1-Blog » F1 Live Stream

F1-Blog » F1 Live Stream — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 02:19:11 +0000

[...] and another quick thing, Oliver has a poll going over on BlogF1 to see who you think should be in the BBC commentary team, go have your say. Related Posts: ITV [...]

By: Ashleigh

Ashleigh — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 02:07:43 +0000

Cheers for that, nice of you to say…

As for who clicked on James ‘Stop The C**k’ Allen (yes I still wear my Sniff Petrol T shirt) I hope you have the IP addresses logged, and probably sure that they all come from ITV’s address range… The reason they let the BBC have the F1 was to get rid

By: Oliver White

Oliver White — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:28:28 +0000

@Ashleigh: Nail. Hammer. Head. Whack! Did you see their attempt at hosting a radio show though? For sure the whole thing was ~~faked~~ ballsed up on purposed, but still! It would be amusing to hear how the boys do at an F1 race though.

I enjoyed your Australia run-through post, by the way.

Edit: Erm, at the time of writing, James Allen has five votes and is lying in third. I know that maybe some of you may have miss-clicked and that is a problem we all face from time to time. Some of you may think he is a good commentator but that is only because you haven’t heard any different. But five! FIVE! Come on people, work with me here!

By: Ashleigh

Ashleigh — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:27:45 +0000

Oh yeah, meant to say, JH was last seen in the 007 Aston Martin at LeMans, not sure if he’s kept that gig or not though.

By: Ashleigh

Ashleigh — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:20:52 +0000

I reckon it will be Richard Hammond, and the TG crew will be involved in the broadcasts

By: openwheel

openwheel — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 00:38:52 +0000

Oliver,
I commented over on sidepodcast about the news but I think we (America) needs some overseas help. We (or I, because I am not sure of all cable networks) at Comcast Cable get BBC America. We need some help getting the BBC to televise the race on BBC America.

By: Clive

Clive — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:45:11 +0000

Exactly, she sold her soul. Oh, woe is me…

By: Oliver White

Oliver White — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:22:07 +0000

“And if you need to consolidate all your loans into one easy monthly payment…”

By: Clive

Clive — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:16:38 +0000

I was thinking of Carol Vorderman, actually. She was hugely successful in the BBC show Countdown, her dramatic looks and amazing mathematical powers propelling her to immediate favorite as the thinking man’s crumpet. She had a bit of a squabble with the Beeb in 1999 and ITV lured her away with pots of money – the result was a classic case of ITV not knowing what to do with someone of Vorderman’s skills. Basically, they made her into a tart on crummy game shows and celebrity nonsense. Needless to say, she lost all credibility instantly with her brainy fans.

It was an attempt to illustrate the difference between the BBC’s style and ITV’s.

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:14:19 +0000

I’m afraid I’ll have to agree with Clive – it would be terrible if Murray Walker made a return to the commentary box!

As you say Ollie, he had passion and enthusiasm oozing from every pore but the number of mistakes he made drove me mad!

Passion for what you are doing is all very well, but if I’m having a heart attack and 2 doctors turn up, one who is excellent at his job and the other who is rubbish but very passionate and enthusiastic I know which one I’d want operating on me!

I was actually just thinking that depending on how the season goes, perhaps a newly retired DC could join his manager Brundle in the box…

By: Oliver White

Oliver White — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:35:12 +0000

I thought I’d liven up your comments on this one

I figured by your choice of language. Thanks.

your output always amazes me

I blushingly thank you.

The thinking man’s crumpet? The only petrolhead-crumpet I can think of is Vicki Butler-Henderson, but she won’t do in the ‘box. Anyone else have any ideas?

By: Clive

Clive — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 21:08:53 +0000

You are anything but a crap blogger, Ollie, and your output always amazes me. To be absolutely honest, I don’t really care who the Beeb gets to do the commentary – the main thing is that there’ll be no ad breaks. I thought I’d liven up your comments on this one by insulting Muddly Talker – it usually gets plenty of protests.

I don’t particularly rate the guy as a commentator but it’s not an issue with me (although I do get heartily sick of the constant praise and adulation heaped on his shoulders these days). If he was brought back, it wouldn’t be long before everyone would be moaning about him again. Thing is, we can always turn off the commentary.

Johnny is a gas, a comedian with a great touch and insight, but I don’t think he’d make a great commentator in reality. They need to find someone completely new to the public who really knows his stuff and cares about it – and, knowing the Beeb, that’s exactly what they’ll do. It’s gone on for years, ITV stealing the Beeb’s best commentators only for Auntie to produce someone fresh-faced and even better than the old has-been that ITV pinched. Where is the thinking man’s crumpet now (what was her name?)?