As
an ITV1 programme, Premiere Bond would always have to appeal to the
widest possible audience, even in an 11.30pm timeslot. I felt
strongly that it should also be enjoyable for aficionados of the
James Bond movies, the kind of viewers who might have made a special
effort to tune in.
Without
pandering to any viewers, my team and I made great efforts to put in
content that was rather more interesting than just a plug for the
movie. Hence packages such as "Premieres of the Past" or
Lindy Hemming's costume retrospective.
Once
I'd recovered from the mammoth overnight edit session, I was keen to
read viewers' reactions (courtesy of the ITV Duty Office Calls Log)
and those of fans posted on the various 007 internet forums. Some of
them are reproduced below and, happily, most are positive. Along with
the high viewing figures, they made it worthwhile.
Only
Julia's "rubber ducky" question, put to Pierce Brosnan and
Toby Stephens, divided opinion. The comments about this made me
laugh, which is why I have included them below. I wanted Julia to ask
Pierce what his porn star name is but we ran out of time at the
junket. A great loss to journalism!
Two
viewers made calls to the ITV Duty Office, and they were more
concerned about the scheduling of the programme. I happen to agree
with their comments...
