ALOOK at the cultural impact in the USA of President Obama’s first year in office is the subject matter for a revamped BBC TV programme, to be made in Glasgow for the rest of the UK.
The Review Show was previously Newsnight Review, broadcast on a Friday evening. Its first broadcast is scheduled for a week on Friday. Kirsty Wark and Martha Kearney will share hosting .
Being made live from BBC Scotland’s HQ at Pacific Quay, The Review Show is just one of a number of UK-wide, network shows that has been, or are about to be, allocated to Scotland as part of a BBC plan to devolve network programme-making beyond London.
It was a perceived lack of programmes being made in Scotland for BBC network transmission that partly led to First Minister, Alex Salmond, establishing the Scottish Broadcasting Commission – looking at Scotland’s broadcasting future – two-and-a-half years ago.
This week, for instance, the quiz shows, Eggheads (hosted by Jeremy Vine) and Question of Genius (hosted by Kirsty Wark), are both in production at Pacific Quay.
Says The Review Show’s executive producer, Liz Gibbons: “The Review Show will continue to be the place to find the kind of intelligent, spikey, challenging conversation and debate which Newsnight Review has fostered over the past decade. The move to BBC Scotland and its base in Glasgow seemed an appropriate time to unveil a new format.
“The new longer regular timeslot of 45 minutes allows us the scope to develop the conversation beyond reviewing new work to think about subjects and topics in terms of a wider cultural impact.
“We will look at the political and historical context of art, culture, current affairs and ideas. Sometimes, as with this first one, The Review Show will devote an entire episode to one particular topic, other weeks it will look at a range of work. Sometimes panellists will debate stories in the news which have an interesting cultural context.”
