Andrew Marr to leave the BBC

[Brekkie]

The George Alagiah situation obviously complicates things but they are long overdue giving the One and especially the Six a new permanent presenter.

Talking of George actually if he was at full health I actually think he'd really suit the Sunday morning format.

[House]

The George Aligiah situation obviously complicates things but they are long overdue giving the One and especially the Six a new permanent presenter.

Talking of George actually if he was at full health I actually think he'd really suit the Sunday morning format.

George Alagiah is actually a really interesting suggestion, especially if they named someone else as a secondary presenter for when he’s on leave. George is another BBC journalist whose wider skillset isn’t well suited to national bulletins.

As for Sophie, she will likely be perfectly competent on an interim/fill-in basis, but not necessarily the kind of person likely to regularly make headlines with high profile interviews over the longer term. If/when she’s replaced, no one will think it’s a slight to Sophie, in a way they might if it was someone like Nick Robinson or Laura Kuenssberg. That said, if she excels in the role and keeps it, no harm done.

A bit like NBC’s Today programme giving Hoda Kotb the Matt Lauer chair on an interim basis - she wasn’t his obvious successor by any means while was a very familiar and capable fill-in, but then proved herself the natural appointment once she was in the chair. Win-win.

[Worzel]

It's a shame Norman Smith is no longer at the BBC. Another name I would've thrown in the mix.

[CantGetIn]

I know many have said it can't be Neil but I think it may well be him. Or perhaps some kind of duo! I think if they used him it would have to be with a bit of new as well. Two generations if you like.

A wildcard could be Alister Stewart or someone at LBC who the BBC want to snatch. The more I think about it, I think they would do well to get someone from outside and make a statement or sorts that they mean business.

[boddington]

Interesting to see Susanna Reid reviewing the papers on the show this morning, though I know she's done it before on the Andrew Marr Show, in her post-BBC career.

[watchingtv]

Interesting to see Susanna Reid reviewing the papers on the show this morning, though I know she's done it before on the Andrew Marr Show, in her post-BBC career.

And presented part of a programme while Marr was delayed getting back to the studio.
https://youtu.be/69orlhINZZs

[cally_]

Interesting to see Susanna Reid reviewing the papers on the show this morning, though I know she's done it before on the Andrew Marr Show, in her post-BBC career.

And presented part of a programme while Marr was delayed getting back to the studio.
https://youtu.be/69orlhINZZs

So that episode of The Susanna Reid Show didn't last long...

[Rolling News]

I wonder if Susanna Reid could be a possible contender.

[Brekkie]

The set looks so much better in that clip.

I wonder if it might get to use Studio B once it is repurposed for the national bulletins.

[boddington]

I wonder if Susanna Reid could be a possible contender.

I doubt it. She's committed to Good Morning Britain and itv for life. Plus she's hardly a fan of the BBC and the licence fee these days, if the evidence of anti-BBC features on Good Morning Britain are anything to go by. That plus it would inevitably be a pay-cut for her.

[Brekkie]

I don't think there is any evidence at all that Susanna is anti-BBC.

If they were looking towards someone from GMB though Ranvir Singh would probably be the better option. I do think it is someone in that mould likely to get the gig - someone who can hold their own in political interviews but also has the accessibility factor for a wider audience, something I don't think the likes of Nick Robinson and possibly Laura Kuenssberg have, although Laura is somewhat untested on that front.


Christian Fraser would be a good shout actually as since his show ended with Katty he doesn't seem to have the purpose at the news channel he once had. Probably not got wide enough name recognition though, but then I don't really think Andrew Marr did when he started either.

[Scratch_Perry]

I don't think there is any evidence at all that Susanna is anti-BBC.

If they were looking towards someone from GMB though Ranvir Singh would probably be the better option. I do think it is someone in that mould likely to get the gig - someone who can hold their own in political interviews but also has the accessibility factor for a wider audience, something I don't think the likes of Nick Robinson and possibly Laura Kuenssberg don't have, although Laura is somewhat untested on that front.


Christian Fraser would be a good shout actually as since his show ended with Katty he doesn't seem to have the purpose at the news channel he once had. Probably not got wide enough name recognition though, but then I don't really think Andrew Marr did when he started either.

I think Christian Fraser is a very good presenter; if of anything, I reckon he would be good on BBC Breakfast, as IMO, he is far superior than the two current male presenters currently in situ. The irony of the situation is that the BBC have a number of good male presenters/high-profile correspondents who were born and bred in the North (Fraser, Clive Myrie, Ben Brown, Ben Thompson, Simon Jack, Faisal Ahmed), but a multitude of reasons means that they wouldn't be in a position to change their lifestyle to present that programme full-time.

[Solari]

I saw a very interesting (if more than a little out-of-left-field) suggestion in the New European: ex-Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig.

“Maybe it’s serendipitous that Andrew Marr’s Sunday morning slot should have come up for grabs in the same week Geordie vacated the editor’s chair,” whispers my mole at the Beeb. “Geordie is an experienced interviewer with a hinterland and a contacts book, and, frankly, he’d get the BBC out of a hole. There’s a staleness to the internal candidates and a lot of them are getting on. As for Andrew Neil, he can’t reasonably be seen to be rewarded for his defection to GB News.”

[adamiow]

I saw a very interesting (if more than a little out-of-left-field) suggestion in the New European: ex-Daily Mail editor Geordie Greig.

“Maybe it’s serendipitous that Andrew Marr’s Sunday morning slot should have come up for grabs in the same week Geordie vacated the editor’s chair,” whispers my mole at the Beeb. “Geordie is an experienced interviewer with a hinterland and a contacts book, and, frankly, he’d get the BBC out of a hole. There’s a staleness to the internal candidates and a lot of them are getting on. As for Andrew Neil, he can’t reasonably be seen to be rewarded for his defection to GB News.”

Seems a bit rich in saying that "a lot of them are getting on" when he is 60 and most of the names suggested are of a similar age or younger.

[House]

Was Andrew Marr particularly known as an interviewer when he took over from Sir David Frost? I know he had a clear pedigree as political editor, but similar to Nick Robinson when the latter moved to Today, I don’t recall him having tonnes of live broadcast interview experience? Or live presenting, for that matter.

I don’t see a reason the next presenter needs to be a veteran presenter, by that logic?