Sky at Night: Who best to take over from Patrick Moore

Patrick Moore is a bit of an institution but can't go on forever. I
wondered what other people think of who would be best to replace him
as lead presenter of The Sky at Night.

I know that it's sometimes easier to comment on individuals than to
pick out a name so I've made a list below of people who have appeared.
Maybe you have comments on each of them. I wonder if it would be
possible to come up with a consensus. Unlikely but who knows.

The list is in alphabetical order of surname so does not imply any
preference on my part. Of course, some are more likely than others but
the list represents all those I can think of. If you watch The Sky at
Night what do you think of them?

Paul Abel

Brian Cox

Michelle Dougherty

Pete Lawrence

Chris Lintott

Brian May

Chris North

John Zarnecki

Are there any others I have missed who should be considered?

I have my own opinions, of course, but I'd like to see what other
people think. Any you would rule out? Should there be a rotating
presenter? ... Not a reference to Patrick's swivel chair. :-)

James

On Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:08:28 -0700 (PDT), James Harris wrote:

Are there any others I have missed who should be considered?

Helen Czerski

--
Cheers
Dave.

Dave Liquorice wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:08:28 -0700 (PDT), James Harris wrote:

Are there any others I have missed who should be considered?

Helen
--
Cheers
Dave.




A non-astronomer is no bad thing, avoids the rather faux double act of Paul
Abel (good TV presence so must be high in the list) and Pete Lawrence both
very knowledgeable on the subject.
Czerski with good TV presence and a science background probably a good
contender
I did not realise she was local - I'll have to try and get her to give a
talk on the science of bubbles to the Southamton Sci caf group
http://www.divdev.fsnet.co.uk/scicaf.htm
Any central South Coast atronomers could give a talk? its been a while
since the talk on the CMB

Has everybody forgotten Heather Couper and Alex Lovell?

On 22/04/2012 11:22, N_Cook wrote:
Dave wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:08:28 -0700 (PDT), James Harris wrote:

Are there any others I have missed who should be considered?

Helen
--
Cheers
Dave.




A non-astronomer is no bad thing, avoids the rather faux double act of Paul
Abel (good TV presence so must be high in the list) and Pete Lawrence both
very knowledgeable on the subject.
Czerski with good TV presence and a science background probably a good
contender
I did not realise she was local - I'll have to try and get her to give a
talk on the science of bubbles to the Southamton Sci caf group
http://www.divdev.fsnet.co.uk/scicaf.htm
Any central South Coast atronomers could give a talk? its been a while
since the talk on the CMB




--
"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."

And then there's always Jon Culshaw:

"Good evening. I am the Doctor and you're watching 'The Sky at Night'.
See those stars? I've been to them!"

Just a thought...

On 22/04/2012 12:59, Quornhog wrote:
Has everybody forgotten Heather Couper and Alex Lovell?

On 22/04/2012 11:22, N_Cook wrote:
Dave wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:08:28 -0700 (PDT), James Harris wrote:

Are there any others I have missed who should be considered?

Helen
--
Cheers
Dave.




A non-astronomer is no bad thing, avoids the rather faux double act of
Paul
Abel (good TV presence so must be high in the list) and Pete Lawrence
both
very knowledgeable on the subject.
Czerski with good TV presence and a science background probably a good
contender
I did not realise she was local - I'll have to try and get her to give a
talk on the science of bubbles to the Southamton Sci caf group
http://www.divdev.fsnet.co.uk/scicaf.htm
Any central South Coast atronomers could give a talk? its been a while
since the talk on the CMB






--
"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."

Quornhog wrote in message
...
And then there's always Jon Culshaw:

"Good evening. I am the Doctor and you're watching 'The Sky at Night'.
See those stars? I've been to them!"

Just a thought...

On 22/04/2012 12:59, Quornhog wrote:
Has everybody forgotten Heather Couper and Alex Lovell?

On 22/04/2012 11:22, N_Cook wrote:
Dave wrote in message
ll.co.uk...
On Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:08:28 -0700 (PDT), James Harris wrote:

Are there any others I have missed who should be considered?

Helen
--
Cheers
Dave.




A non-astronomer is no bad thing, avoids the rather faux double act of
Paul
Abel (good TV presence so must be high in the list) and Pete Lawrence
both
very knowledgeable on the subject.
Czerski with good TV presence and a science background probably a good
contender
I did not realise she was local - I'll have to try and get her to give
a
talk on the science of bubbles to the Southamton Sci caf group
http://www.divdev.fsnet.co.uk/scicaf.htm
Any central South Coast atronomers could give a talk? its been a while
since the talk on the CMB






--
"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."


Or even Darra O'Brien after that programme from Jodrell Bank a few months
back .
And his spot-on quip relating to the LHC supraluminal neutrinos and his
request to viewers of the programme , currently in the future, to email back
to confirm the phenomenon

On Apr 21, 8:08*pm, James Harris wrote:

Cross-posting this to a wider group as The Sky at Night is known in
other countries. If you watch the show would you care to express an
opinion on the following?

Patrick Moore is a bit of an institution but can't go on forever. I
wondered what other people think of who would be best to replace him
as lead presenter of The Sky at Night.

I know that it's sometimes easier to comment on individuals than to
pick out a name so I've made a list below of people who have appeared.
Maybe you have comments on each of them. I wonder if it would be
possible to come up with a consensus. Unlikely but who knows.

The list is in alphabetical order of surname so does not imply any
preference on my part. Of course, some are more likely than others but
the list represents all those I can think of. If you watch The Sky at
Night what do you think of them?

Paul Abel

Brian Cox

Michelle Dougherty

Pete Lawrence

Chris Lintott

Brian May

Chris North

John Zarnecki

Are there any others I have missed who should be considered?

Additional names suggested in uk.sci.astronomy:

Heather Couper

Helen Czerski

Alex Lovell

Dara O'Briain

So, any opinions on who should take over from Patrick?

James

James Harris wrote in message
...
On Apr 21, 8:08 pm, James Harris wrote:

Cross-posting this to a wider group as The Sky at Night is known in
other countries. If you watch the show would you care to express an
opinion on the following?

Patrick Moore is a bit of an institution but can't go on forever. I
wondered what other people think of who would be best to replace him
as lead presenter of The Sky at Night.

I know that it's sometimes easier to comment on individuals than to
pick out a name so I've made a list below of people who have appeared.
Maybe you have comments on each of them. I wonder if it would be
possible to come up with a consensus. Unlikely but who knows.

The list is in alphabetical order of surname so does not imply any
preference on my part. Of course, some are more likely than others but
the list represents all those I can think of. If you watch The Sky at
Night what do you think of them?

Paul Abel

Brian Cox

Michelle Dougherty

Pete Lawrence

Chris Lintott

Brian May

Chris North

John Zarnecki

Are there any others I have missed who should be considered?

Additional names suggested in uk.sci.astronomy:

Heather Couper

Helen Czerski

Alex Lovell

Dara O'Briain

So, any opinions on who should take over from Patrick?

James

+++++

Dr Lucy Green

"James Harris" wrote:

Patrick Moore is a bit of an institution but can't go on forever. I
wondered what other people think of who would be best to replace him
as lead presenter of The Sky at Night.

The guy is irreplaceable; the S@N format of an old geezer in his study does
not suit anyone else. The show will likely die with him, to be replaced by a
completely new show with a more modern style of presentation.

Al wrote in message ...
"James Harris" wrote:

Patrick Moore is a bit of an institution but can't go on forever. I
wondered what other people think of who would be best to replace him
as lead presenter of The Sky at Night.

The guy is irreplaceable; the S@N format of an old geezer in his study
does
not suit anyone else. The show will likely die with him, to be replaced
by a
completely new show with a more modern style of presentation.






Format probably like BBC Click, also lost in the nether regions of
scheduling. Just a regular in-camera link-person but moving around various
planetaria/observatories as backgrounds, rather than the nightclubs of
Click. And a cluster of reporter/interviewers for sub-topics.
Click is probably cheap programming but I rate the intro piece of video up
with the best programme idents.