Simon Hardwick @simonhardwick Twitter profile

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Simon Hardwick

1 year

Having now remembered the login credentials, I've updated the social media page on my website which explains a little more how I use these platforms.

Social Media

FIRSTLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: PLEASE DO NOT DM ME ON ANY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS I have turned off social media notifications so won't see it in any hurry.

www.simonhardwick.com

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Last Seen Profiles

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

1 year

Hi @antanddec @itvtakeaway I’m afraid I won’t be your studio engineer for the rest of the series but as you can see I have a good excuse… welcome to the world Luca Hardwick. Born 23/03/23 at… 3:23am! 😍

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

Sad that circumstances meant tonight was the last live show but safety first. Still a career highlight to be engineering supervisor for the series working with a wonderful talented crew and the legends that are ⁦ @antanddec ⁩ who made us all laugh! #SaturdayNightTakeway

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

6 years

There’s always tea strength confusion when making a round of teas so I’ve come up with a solution, a tea strength chart using the internationally recognised guinea pig standard.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

Here’s a great analogy why it’s worth wearing a mask...

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

The annual #SaturdayNightTakeaway video patching picture. And yes, we do know what every one of these patches is doing! 😬

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

6 years

I rarely talk about personal life on here but today I want to shout my news from the rooftops. Together we have created a tiny human and today we saw Baby Hardwick for the first time - moving, squirming and kicking! Cannot wait to meet him/her towards the end of the year! 😍😍😍

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

When Ant and Dec say “roll the titles” here’s where the titles are rolled from! EVS video servers play in prerecorded items in the show. #SaturdayNightTakeaway

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

6 years

The BBC do this already and they even have different coloured lanyards so you can find them easily and grab someone for a chat. A superb idea and one that other businesses could easily adopt.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Been so busy I haven’t had time to post the annual Saturday Night Takeaway video patching photo. It’s just ever-so slightly simpler this year because less covid workarounds but still quite busy. 12 Outside Sources into TC1 for the first episode.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 months

There was a heated debate online tonight about why the #Eurovision Song Contest didn't look quite right. And the answer is complex, it's not actually technical reason, it's down to how our brains interpret the world! So I wrote a post about it:

Why Did the Eurovision Song Contest Look Odd This Year?

This year’s Eurovision Song Contest was broadcast as 1080 25pSF (the broadcast compatible version of 25p). It caused much controversy with non-technical viewers commenting something “didn’t feel...

www.simonhardwick.com

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

#TechSupport #SaturdayNightTakeaway

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

Don’t mind me, just casually geeking out at these photos of old @BBCR1 studios in Egton House around 1991. The first is Studio 2 where late night shows came from, and the second is the production studio. Not a playout system in sight - everything manually played.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 months

Bloody hell. Career highlight. Such an incredible production team and it’s been an absolute honour to be able to glue all their hard work together and send it down this u-link to the nation. Gonna miss this show a lot 😍 @antanddec @itvtakeaway

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

1 year

The craziness of Saturday Night Takeaway returns! I'm supervisory engineer once again, but possibly not for the whole series this time as little one is due on 23rd March. But for now I'll sticking a few bits of BTS stuff where I can on my mastodon account so come find me there!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

7 years

I put the subtitles on...

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

2 years

Massively speeded up but this was the unplugging / replugging of every single camera in the space of an ad break for the power tool racing in the helios.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

That’s it! Prerecords done, live show done, trails for next week, now we switch off the studio, cameras etc and remove literally everything takeaway related till next friday!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Engineers always first in and last out! Switching the gallery on ready to make some telly!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

Last day at work before my christmas break. I’m helping look after TC3 today but I popped into my own studio TC1 to take a rare photo of it completely empty! It’ll be very busy again in January but for now a short festive pause!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

Wanted to use my radio experience to give something back. Health Info Radio has arrived & launches this wk. No discussions debates or opinion, just facts on how we can help keep each other safe. DAB Digital Radio in various parts of the country and online

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Just on an ad break so an opportunity to share this wonderful image from earlier! 😍 #SaturdayNightTakeaway #TakeawayRainbow #TelevisionCentre @thisistvc @BBC_Studioworks

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

5 years

I got married yesterday! An amazing day with my beautiful wife, my gorgeous daughter, amazing family & wonderful friends who graciously gave up their bank holiday weekend to celebrate with us.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

To all the armchair pundits filling my timeline, if you’re suddenly leading experts in mixing hugely complex and unpredictable LE shows with live music and a minimum 12 clean feeds whilst still maintaining R128 compliance, put your efforts into sending your CVs to broadcasters 😝

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

8 years

I vote #Eric mainly because I'm not entirely sure what he is? Does he even have legs? #crufts2016

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Last day of the Television Centre car park before demolition! I took a few photos earlier as there’s some curiosities! Particularly the floor dedicated to “late arrivals”!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Phew! That’s it! My second takeaway as engineering supervisor. Taking a short easter break from twitter but happy to answer any questions on my return. In the meantime i’ll leave you with this that’s haunted me for the last 48 hours 🤣

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

2 years

It was a fun show! But now it’s time to put TC1 to bed! Engineers, always first in and always last out #SaturdayNightTakeaway See you next week 😀

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

For every broadcaster doing their show from home, there’s a handful of engineers, tech ops and MCR staff still going in to work to make it happen.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

6 years

Would you be interested in a video detailing what geekery I'm up to with these bits of TV camera? Thinking about documenting it as I go along but don't know if there's any interest from my tv enthusiast followers? Hit like if it's a yes, ignore me if not! 🙂

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

here we go, hope you enjoy the show! #SaturdayNightTakeaway

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Right then, final show of the series and it’s a biggie! 18 cameras this week, three galleries, two studios, and more led pixels than you could shake a stick at! #SaturdayNightTakeaway

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

2 years

The @BBC_Studioworks crews are first in and last out for all the shows we support - making sure studios are ready for the next programme. It’s a constant shuffling of sets and kit but we can achieve quick turnarounds by having studios actually designed & built for that purpose

Martin Lewis

@MartinSLewis

2 years

34 minutes after the @itvMLshow ends the set has already been cleared. I hope you enjoyed tonight's show or at least it helped. I've just left and am on m'way home. #MartinLewis

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

6 years

Where sound engineers drink?

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

Give this a like if you used these in anger for a few hours every day! The frame by frame nudge options were brilliant for creating those tight segs 😝 #CDPlayer #RadioStudio #RetroMusicFormats #Broadcast

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

6 years

It seems I can present my (slightly abridged) CV in mug form.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

6 years

This Television Centre meeting room has a table made out of the original studio hoist control panel! It's the little things that appeal to us geeks 🤓

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

My daughter came to visit me at work today, I think she was most impressed with the cameras! #inspiringageneration #WomenInSTEM

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

This happened today - all studios on air/recording at the same time! Social distancing still priority amongst productions but it’s great to be busy making TV again 🙂 @BBC_Studioworks

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

Found in Television Centre storage wedge. Wonder if i called 01 811 8055 it might ring? #IfYouKnowYouKnow

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

9 years

"Go to your room Denny". /6 months later Denny returns from his room completely different and with a brutal haircut/ #eastenders

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

I’m building a radio studio and apps room, hopefully completed by christmas. If you’re interested I’ll do the occasional tweets about progress? Today’s jobs, cleaning the years of crud out of a cisco router and installing the air con.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Shall I do a thread? It’ll have to be quick before we go live! Come with me on a journey from the TV studio to the screen in your home?

Peter Scandrett

@proogs

3 years

@simonhardwick Is there a single final output that is basically 'send to the nation'? Or do you have a rack that splits out to (I'm guessing) Arquiva, Virgin, Sky, iplayer/itvplayer and so on? In other words, where does the final actual programme distribution/broadcast system take over?

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Been such a busy couple of days I haven’t had time to tweet, but we’re all ready to go live on ITV! The end of the show show is rather clever this week and there’s plenty of behind the scenes shots of television centre for the geeks!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

5 years

76% of young people don’t know what engineers do. @ThisIsEng is looking to change that and encourage the next generation. I’m a broadcast engineer at BBC TV Centre: I set up studios for TV shows, support crews making TV, fix broken kit & come up with solutions #ThisisEngineering

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

5 years

This makes me very happy! #cartmachine #radionostalgia #fixedit #needmorecarts

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

2 years

Last minute checks before we go live to the nation!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

ATTENTION TV GEEKS! On Sunday BBC2 are repeating the Inside Number 9 episode made using vintage Ikegami Cameras and captured in PAL at Studio D Elstree. You can read more about the unique production process on the @BBC_Studioworks website here

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Answering a few questions in between rehearsals... “How does the show get from the studio to ITV?” We use 3 digital fibre optic circuits, 1 via BT Tower, and two via ITV’s internal ‘x-net’ network. They all end up at ITV’s playout centre in Chiswick.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Late night “open heart surgery” on TC1’s vision mixer. All buttons freed up and ready for the Graham Norton recording tomorrow.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

Happy 60th Birthday Television Centre. Glimpses behind-the-scenes grabbed my attention as a kid - this iconic building held such mystery and intrigue and I wanted to be part of it. Now, as Supervisory Engineer for TC1 I can really say dreams do come true! Happy Birthday TVC 🍰

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

One for the tv geeks, it’s TC2 on air right now on ITV for the @MartinSLewis show using the Peston touchscreen and the Lorraine videowall! My @BBC_Studioworks colleagues doing a great job keeping all the shows on air.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Hello from TC1, about to go live on Channel 4. It’s very important that I don’t unplug these red u-links because they’re the last point they leave the building to wherever channel 4 is operating from this week* *genuinely don’t know after the fire suppression incident 🙃

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

2 years

Hello to everyone who worked the bank holiday 👋 Amongst other things, today I found a rack-mount henry.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

5 years

ITV daytime in TC3 uses 6 cameras. When they do outside stuff we loan them extra cams and we repatch the camera control units (ccu) to outside during ad breaks. Today’s show is particularly complex. If I patch at the wrong time I may take @Schofe off air! 😐

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

The less showbiz side of telly is the mad corridor rush to the loos when we hit an ad break.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

As Dec says “we’ll hopefully be back next week”... it’s an uncertain time for everyone at the moment, not least those who work in TV and entertainment industries. Stay safe and healthy all!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

I’ve spent a year making TV in lockdown covid restrictions so I know tricky it is -so I applaud every single person @EBU_HQ and the Dutch host broadcasters who made that such a phenomenal production. You all deserve a huge drink but of course the derig will be first! #Eurovision

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

2 years

just home… quick replies as i probably need to pour myself a drink! Yes the party was in TC2, yes Sam Fender was live, yes we repatched 11 cameras in four minutes - top teamwork from my eng colleagues Steve and Tom, Cam assistant George, and Daryl and John in vision!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

5 years

Goodbye Dad. 1940-2019. 💔 You fought a brave battle but cancer finally won. Thank you for being a great dad and proud grandad x

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

5 months

This cable is playing the SNT repeat to ITV transmission. I have to unplug the rest. It’s like the worst game of jenga 😬

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

2 years

9 of the 13 cameras!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 months

I got to go up BT Tower last night… you know, the 177m tall structure that was a state secret and doesn’t actually exist, right? 🤫 Here’s my timelapse from the revolving 34th floor.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

I wasn’t going to write this... but you know what? it’s ok not to be ok. I’m going to disappear from here for a couple of days for some quiet time as it’s the anniversary of my dad’s death. Grief lessens with time but never goes away completely, and anniversaries are trickiest.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

1 year

The negotiations/arm twisting to use Sony cams instead of Grass Valley this year has paid off, it looks stunning, wonderful character to the pictures.

Peter Hayes

@ThatPeterHayes

1 year

Cameras this year are Sony HDC. 6 Pedestal Cameras, 5 Rails, 1 2D Cable, 4 Remote heads, 3 Steadicam, 2 Moviebirds and 3 HandHeld #Eurovision

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

5 years

Bit mean... just told a colleague the outside lights were now connected to the on air lights and the wall would light up red for transmission and blue for rehearsal. He *almost* believed me! 😇

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

Before DAT tape, the only way of recording digitally was with the Sony PCM F1, which converted audio to video for recording on betamax. I had the digital encoder (I used two over video links) but a colleague has found the matching tape deck.... this is wonderful 80s tech! 🤓

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

2 years

Phew… Another tech crazy show went on and came off air cleanly! Lots more patching this week for the TC2 infrared cameras!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

No booking in the studio today so a chance to play, experiment and learn in UHD and HDR.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

It’s snowing at Television Centre @thisistvc

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

5 years

Here’s the cart machine in action again, this time with actual audio from an original @BBCR1 cart recorded I guess 1995ish. It’s survived pretty well all things considered.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 months

Heading home now… still buzzing from an incredible day! Tomorrow morning I’ll be spending with the kids as I haven’t seen them for two days, but will reply to some of your tweets and questions in the afternoon.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

Two minutes to air... hello if you’re joining us on ITV live from TC1 🙂

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

“There’s a billion pounds more food in people’s homes than there was a week ago.” says Helen Dickinson, British Retail Consortium. My 70 year old asthma suffering mother was unable to buy bread and milk during an OAP’s shopping hour this morning. Don’t be a bellend.

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

6 years

Tomorrow morning, not one, not two, not three but FOUR live tv shows launch from a custom built facility at TVC. The most ambitious tech project I've been involved in and a brilliantly talented team on both BBC & ITV sides. Wish us luck, early start and over 8hrs of live tv ahead

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

6 years

Happy Birthday Television Centre @thisistvc @BBC_Studioworks - opened on this day in 1960. This photo from 6am this morning before we embark on another busy day with all the studios busy producing live TV!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

One of the things I hadn’t considered until I started working in TV is that studio floors get painted for every show, often different colours as the set dictates. This morning in TC1 the paint is being washed back off again using machines that look fun to drive! #IWantAGo

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

I suspect it’s a bit more complex than that… shall I dig out my old photos? (incoming thread of radio geekery)

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

2 years

Thanks for being part of the fun!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Ah this is lovely... (via @BBC_TopGear )

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Just wrapped on Graham Norton recording, overnight the set turnaround team will take out the graham norton set and put in the saturday night takeaway set. By the time I get in at half 8 tomorrow they’ll have pretty much finished and the tech teams can move in!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

5 years

#CareerGoals it took me 20 years of mucking about in radio but I’m actually working for Radio 1 this weekend!

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

Saturday Night Takeaway vision and engineering team! Making sure the show looks good for millions of viewers (whilst at the same time making sure Shepherd’s Bush bars remain in business!)

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

I work with a Spanish colleague called Jorge... I’m not sure what’s going to prove more annoying for him: having the same name as a storm, or UK journalists constantly pronouncing it George! #stormjorge (For the record it’s pronounced “Horhay”)

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

2 years

A bunch of cheap LED strips in the back of the bays really makes life easier when camera unpatching at the end of a long day. #TC1 #TelevisionCentre

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

Q: “If you’re BBC why you making shows for ITV”? BBC Studioworks is a commercial subsidiary that provides facilities/expertise for all broadcasters. I might write a blog post on the history of “producer choice” sometime. When I was ITV staff I made more BBC shows than ITV 🤣

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

My fellow radio colleagues will appreciate the satisfaction of hitting the correct back-timing 🤓

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

Shout out to Steve on Cam 16 who’s been up there all day! #SaturdayNightTakeaway

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

Here we go again then... #SaturdayNightTakeaway

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

3 years

An unusual tech request: Last Leg have a new on-set TV with some kind of sharing setting switched on - an audience member’s phone kept auto connecting moments before going live! Was ridiculed by the presenters and warmup but got it sorted 🙂 (Halloween Ghostbusters T-shirt FTW)

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

5 years

We’re watching you live @Number10cat

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

4 years

It’s a very surreal feeling on the studio floor, doesn’t quite feel like we’re on the air but seeing the twitter comments we are and it’s working 😃 #SaturdayNightTakeAway

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Simon Hardwick

@simonhardwick

8 years

Yes @DanGasser the maths adds up! Freight train from China quicker than getting from Vic to Littlehampton via train on #southern strike day