On reflection

The audience figures will, of course, go to the BBC.  Of the papers that have expressed an opinion, The Telegraph, Mail and Guardian largely preferred ITV's treatment of the day as a whole.  And Huw, whilst praised by Tim Walker, in the Telegraph, is pronounced as dull.

There was little invention in the BBC's coverage. Some blue lights in the commentary boxes at the Palace and Abbey. Some spectacular twisting shots of Abbey architecture. The odd run of archive film.  Daft promises of "global conversation" (copyright Mark Byford). But generally, they dusted off the running order, camera positions and style guide from 1981 - and re-cast the guests that provided the crutches for Huw.

The camera positions are still largely about tracking vehicles and wide shots; the audience wants close-ups, at eyeline level. Catherine responded more to the banks of press cameras, and thus we often got side shots.  As we said yesterday, celebrity culture is not Huw's speciality, and he needed a helper.

For me, it was the cumulative effect of the "ordinary people" OBs was the problem.  Those "producing" Chris Hollins, Fearne Cotton, Matt Allwright, and Edith Bowman seemed determined that each segment was an event, that had to end on cheering and waving. Their "guests" responded in X Factor tone, as if the day was still a battle between Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson.