The press statement reads:
David Dimbleby will not be chairing Question Time this week – the first he has missed in over 15 years – but he will return next week. John Humphrys will temporarily take the chair tonight.Though I obviously would wish Mr Dimbleby a speedy recovery and hope he recovers well, I was disappointed to see that the replacement host has been announced as John Humphrys. Not because I have any particular gripe with Mr Humprys, it’s just, a more radical guest host could make for a one off exciting episode.
David Dimbleby was injured yesterday in a minor farming accident. David was loading a bullock onto a trailer when the bullock reared resulting in David being briefly knocked out. He also received a cut to the head that required stitches.
David is recovering well. He attended hospital yesterday, but as he received a head injury, he is staying there for observation. This is just as a precaution, which is not unusual for a patient suffering concussion, and he should return home shortly.
David would like to thank the staff at the hospital and he looks forward to returning to Question Time next week. He said: “I haven’t missed a Question Time in over 15 years. Trust my wife’s bullock to take me out. I’ll be giving bullocks a wide berth in future.”
Imagine say, David Starkey or Nigel Farage steering usually sterile debate along in a different direction. There are absolutely loads of people who could have made a one off crack at it that could have make for an excellent episode. Perhaps even more of a firebrand, someone like George Galloway who might not bother letting the panellist answer and just answer all the questions himself with some blairing rhetoric. This is such a missed opportunity!
Ho hum.
As it happens, joining Mr Humphrys tonight will be former Tory Shaun Woodward, Pauline Nevile-Jone for the Conservatives, Lib Dem Julia Goldsworthy, Will Self and James Cracknell. Might I also recommend that if you are watching Question Time you simultaneously join in with the excellent live blog session that will be hosted over on Biased BBC where the debate and lively banter is never sterile.
