Claire, Creative Director, BBC Events

Thank you all so much for your superlative efforts over the weekend on The Lord Mayor’s Show and our Remembrance programmes.

Behind every great producer and director is a brilliant team, and I could not be more proud of what everyone achieved this weekend.  To work with a team who are at the top of their game (and so far beyond) is very humbling, and our three broadcasts are testament to what can be achieved when everything and everyone comes together as one.

From our remarkable presenters and commentators to the editorial teams who created such beautiful events and broadcasts, and the technical crews who brought that vision to life, it’s a very genuine, thank you.  While these events are on a grand scale, it’s the small things that help audiences relate to them - that special shot, those beautiful turns of phrases, the little girls who said they were lonely when their dad was away.  Everyone who worked with the BBC Events team over this weekend ensured the stories we were telling and the people we were representing was done so with respect and empathy.

No one can say our events broadcasts aren’t varied!  The Lord Mayor’s Show is always a challenge to reflect both the stunning ceremonial and miliary involvement, alongside more dancing pandas I thought it was possible to include within one programme – all working their way live through the streets of London.  And of course there was the new road layout at Bank - who’d have thought that would have given us such challenges!

The Festival of Remembrance was simply stunning and to quote Charlotte Moore ‘one of the best ever’.  It had a contemporary narrative whilst still reflecting the heroism and achievements of our older veterans, and the creative storytelling was inspiring.  It was a visual and sound feast, and quite how the floor team achieved what they did in two minutes was remarkable.  The show was pushed to its limits creatively, technically and editorially, and we are very aware how everyone gave so much to ensure it all came together so beautifully and with such elegance and emotion.

The Cenotaph was simply perfection - impeccably paced and judged - the camera and sound work was phenomenal, just enough silence and wonderful commentary. Great emotional films and live interviews which seamlessly came together to create a beautiful broadcast.

None of these shows would make their air without our remarkable production management teams and everyone else working behind the scenes including the scanner and engineering crews, riggers, vision engineers, script supervisors, editors, floor managers, make-up and our huge team of runners and volunteers.  A special thank you to our vision mixers who sit so quietly in our trucks taking everything in.  Thank you for not only cutting our shows with faultless timing when the pressure on your shoulders is immense, but for creating the perfectly measured mix or cut and spotting that magical shot which help tell a story more than words ever could.

There were some new members of the Lord Mayor’s Show/Remembrance Weekend family this year, both in front of and behind the cameras and microphones; you were all especially welcome and thank you for giving us a new, fresh, perspective on these shows which have been around since before any of us were born!

These are always challenging events to cover, but this weekend in particular had additional security pressures which made everyone’s roles, keeping everyone’s eye on the ball, even harder.  You did your jobs with confidence, care and pride - especially with the risks we faced; thank you all very, very much.