After 12 years away from the channel, the UK's coverage of F1 returned to the BBC in Melbourne, amid many promises of high-quality coverage of the weekend. And much as we bitter cynics here at Patty would have loved it to fall on it's face, it was largely brilliant.
The extent of the coverage was the main draw. ITV had increased the number of hours of TV air they dedicated to each GP weekend during their tenure, and the BBC showed that they could do even better than that. With all three practice sessions covered on their interactive service, complete with piped-in radio commentary, both qualifying and the race afforded a decent amount of build-up and rudimentary analysis, and even a special "red button" post-race show when the main TV coverage was cut short, it was a sickly, gluttonous feast for F1 fans hungry for action to gorge on until their televisual bellies ached. Even anyone sitting down to the dinner table a bit later than others could find the sessions repeated on the red button throughout the weekend, while the main TV broadcasts were available on the Web 2.0 pornography that is the BBC iPlayer. The return of the ubiquitous Chain theme tune sent any number of older F1 fans into a state of tumescent ecstasy (especially after years of this garbage), despite the counterpoint of the nostalgia of the tune and the garish futuristic CGI intro, which after craning yourself in front of the TV for a bleary-eyed early-morning start felt like someone rubbing a cheese grater over your eyeballs. Nifty computer graphics were a heavy feature of the coverage in general, with the feature on the new regulations accompanied by a 360 degree fly around an exploded 3D model of the new Red Bull, something that ever so slightly fell on the side of the line marked "overkill".
There was a high standard in the other features too. With it being Mark Webber's home race, the Aussie featured heavily, both with a one-on-one interview with Martin Brundle discussing his injury rehabilitation, which was insightful as well as disturbing (though the latter was entirely down to the entirely unhappy sight of a topless Martin Brundle), and also with a genuinely touching piece with Webber having a wander around the areas of Victoria devastated by the recent bushfires. The Beeb had promised to focus on drivers throughout the grid rather than simply rolling out an endless series of featurettes on the pair of Brits, and so far they seem to be genuine in their promise. I for one can't wait for a tour around Sebastien Buemi's garden shed.
In the programme itself, it was a first chance to see the new presenting team. Jake Humphrey was an affable-enough host, not doing much of note other than linking parts of the show together and prompting the analysts to talk about stuff, but then that's all he really needs to do, and he accomplished it well. Plus, he didn't have a terrifyingly enormous hand. Humphrey was joined by David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan, and for an opening broadcast, the three of them did seem a bit awkward together, like a bunch of people who had turned up at a house party without really knowing anyone, and ended up gathered around the kitchen table engaged in a stilted and unhappy conversation about what each other did for a living while gazing into the bottom of a cheap glass of plonk. But this is a situation that should resolve itself as the year wears on and they grow more comfortable with each other.
Up in the commentary box, Martin Brundle was, by-and-large, his usual competent self (he even interviewed actual drivers on his gridwalk, which made a change from 2008), while Jonathan Legard endured a difficult start to his TV commentary career. He was all over the place in an admittedly chaotic qualifying session, while in the race he made a few obvious mistakes, not least failing to spot that Rubens Barrichello couldn't possibly be on a one-stop strategy because he hadn't used the softer tyre (though Brundle too failed to pick up on this), and later talking about Barrichello being Button's reargunner as the final safety car peeled off, despite the fact that it was the final lap and nobody (Jarno Trulli aside) could pass anyone before the finish line anyway.
Once or twice as well, he wandered off in a long and seemingly directionless ramble, something that would be fine on radio when airtime has to be filled with something, but came across as a bit cringeworthy on television. He came across like a sort of chummy Geography teacher, who tries to get on with the kids and thinks he's succeeding, but really all his students are laughing at him, not with him. Again, hopefully he can improve as the year goes on, and as sports to commentate on go, motor racing is certainly one of the trickiest given the wealth of different strategies, cars, drivers and corners you've got to watch out for. Nevertheless, the jury is out on him for now. Still, at least he's not James Allen.
Speaking of overblown jingoistic Brit-cheering, there were, inevitably, the usual Button and Hamilton features worked in to the coverage, but then you'd expect nothing else from the actual British TV broadcaster. After all, it's not as if Polish TV doesn't spend a bit of it's pre-race show wondering how Kubica might get on. What did seem to have been reduced, though, was the amount of Brit-talk woven into the main commentary, which given that this is far from a UK-only broadcast, is a very positive step indeed.
Aside from teething problems, one main niggle was the apparent lack of footage from the ITV seasons. Whether the Beeb have been unable or unwilling to buy much beyond a few seconds-worth of clips is unclear, but it made for some slightly silly-looking moments. A look back at the history of the Australian race had plenty of old Murray Walker-heavy clips, but then cut straight from "that accident" for Brundle in 1996 straight to a brief clip of Hamilton crossing the line to win last year. It is difficult to see how the coverage can continue on with a "nothing important happened here" approach to those years.
In summary, though, the Australian GP weekend was a fantastically positive step for F1 on TV in the UK. And while some of the packaging and accessories were a bit dubious, there is no doubt that the BBC is off to a cracking, almost unhateable start.
Annoyingly.
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