This popular, long-running BBC current affairs programme took over the early evening slot from Tonight in 1969 and was presented by Michael Barratt and Frank Bough (who were later joined by Richard Dimbleby).
Created by Derrick Amoore, editors on the show included Richard Tait, John Gau, Tim Gardam, Michael Bunce, Paul Corley, Huw Williams, Ron Neil, Paul Woolwich and Roger Bolton, supported by a huge team of researchers and journalists.
In many ways, Nationwide was the Golden Shot of current affairs – something always seemed to go wrong.
The programme ambitiously attempted to link all the BBC regions; but, when needed, Newcastle would be heard but not seen, Manchester would be seen but not heard, while Bristol had disappeared up its own channel.
It needed all the skill of Barratt, Bough and co to keep it afloat.
Bough was once caught out when a film failure on an allotment story left him with four minutes to fill until the end of the programme with no standby items. So he waffled on about the cabbages in his own garden!
Possibly because of its accident-prone nature, viewers took Nationwide to their hearts. The programme upset some traditions in news at the BBC because it mixed current affairs with softer news, such as the famous ‘skateboarding dog’.
The episode of Nationwide on 24 May 1983 upset Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher when, during an interview hosted by Sue Lawley, a member of the public was allowed to question Thatcher’s decision-making in the sinking of the Belgrano during the Falklands War.
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