I’ve been doing the Wright stuff all this week (barring Thursday), which for those who don’t know is Matthew Wright’s current affairs panel-led discussion on Five every morning from 9 until 10.15. It’s great fun to do, and nice for me to get away from talking about money. Not, I hasten to add that I don’t love my job, but a change is always rather refreshing, and I’m even allowed to be funny – if only I was able!
Thought I’d let you in on the process behind it. When you’re on the panel (there are four guests, two are panellists for the week, one is the day guest and the other is there to do the ‘clinic’ bit at the end) you get a call the day before to tell you the subjects for discussion the next morning. I know some people then gen up at that point, personally I don’t. Often the subjects have changed by the time I arrive the next morning, so there’s little point. I cross my fingers and decide to leave it to lady luck.
The car comes to pick me up from home at 7.30am to be at the studio at 7.45. From there we sit in the Green Room with the Exec Producer Michelle and she hands out the ‘paper stories’ each of us will talk about in the first section and a briefing pack on them. These packs contain the raw factual notes on each story, to make sure everyone knows what they’re about. They don’t contain any opinion which is what the programme is more about.
That’s why, at this point, I leaf through the notes on the papers, then usually take about a minute to have a mull. It’s not that easy as the Green Room is busy, with all the guests often talking through various subjects. Great fun though as they’re usually people I’ve watched on the TV, so it’s fun to meet them. Matthew normally comes in and says hello at some point, though he has other responsibilities so Michelle is his voice in the Green Room. Then it’s into make-up (early in the morning, thank heavens, it’s amazing how the bags aren’t as visible) and then on to the set.
And if you know the programme, you’ve watched the rest!