From a non-toxic Question Time to the broadcasting hub that is Steph McGovern’s living room, the current moment is influencing everything on the airwaves – perhaps for good
Coronavirus is changing television. How lucky Susanna Reid is to be able to use social distancing as reason to sit further away from Piers Morgan on the Good Morning
Britain sofa. Ruth Langsford hasn’t got Reid’s excuse. She is married to and lives with Eamonn Holmes, poor woman, and so can sit in an intimate tight two-shot with him on the This Morning sofa.
On Saturday Kitchen, we have seen wine expert Olly Smith join the show via video link, kicking back on his kitchen banquette, while host Matt Tebbutt holds the fort in the studio. The comedian Tom Allen was their guest last week, but his audio kept cutting out. As a result, punchlines were consigned to
comedy oblivion. That said, I liked his kitchen’s recessed lighting and how he told his parents to get back into the cupboard when they strayed into shot. What’s more, in a pandemic era in which the slobathon of guests appear in onesies and pyjamas, how excellent that Allen was wearing a jacket and tie.