Grand Prix (TV programme)

Grand Prix, (also simply referred to as Formula One on the BBC or BBC F1 during its second run from 2009 to 2015) is a British television programme based on the Formula One World Championship, had three main presenters during its history: Murray Walker from 1978 to 1996, Jake Humphrey from 2009 to 2012 and Suzi Perry from 2013 to 2015. Among the more occasional hosts were Steve Rider, Des Lynam, Sue Barker and Lee McKenzie.

In the early days of the programme, all races apart from the British Grand Prix were commentated at BBC Television Centre in London due to the high costs of travelling to races with live broadcasts done on location. The team would not usually travel to non-European races to commentate unless another broadcaster paid for the travel expenses. Murray Walker would usually be flown to the location of the tracks to record a short scene before returning to England to watch the race from London with some broadcasts having commentary live with highlights aired or recorded commentary in highlights. On occasions the BBC employed a "ghost commentator" which was someone who would be in touch with the production team in London and gained access to timing monitors so that cameras could record what was occurring off the track. The first "ghost commentator" was Mark Fogarty with Joe Saward taking over in the early 1990s.

Following the excitement and interest of the 1976 Formula One season, the BBC decided to cover all races from 1978. The BBC originally wanted to have Raymond Baxter as commentator but his commitments with Tomorrow's World and air shows that aired on BBC taking his priority, BBC had Murray Walker on their list as well and Walker got the job.

The corporation had initially shown the odd race that featured on the calendar from 1959 till 1977 either live in segments or in highlights (these mostly being Monaco, Belgian, British (BBC being host broadcaster), German, Dutch and Italian Grands Prix) but elected to go with as many races as possible from 1978.

The first broadcast of the programme came at the 1978 Monaco Grand Prix and the show featured one of the most iconic theme tunes in sport, with Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain".

In 1978, the BBC showed 11 races, Monaco, Belgium, Spain, France, Britain, Germany, Austria, Holland, Italy, United States and Canada. Most of their highlight shows were aired on BBC2 late at night although the British Grand Prix was shown live and they aired highlights of the Canadian Grand Prix on the Wednesday after the race on Sportsnight and also the first race in Argentina on the Wednesday after again on Sportsnight both on BBC1. The South Africa, Brazil, USA West Long Beach (both as highlights the week later) and Sweden races were also shown on ITV.

1979 saw Monaco and Britain live on BBC1, highlights of all their races were shown on BBC2 except Brazil which was aired on the Wednesday after the race on Sportsnight, and the Austrian Grand Prix which was not aired due to a TV dispute with host broadcaster ORF and the race promoters. From the Italian Grand Prix onwards saw James Hunt join the commentary booth alongside Walker after Hunt announced his retirement from racing that year.

1980 saw Monaco and Britain live on BBC1, highlights of all their races were shown on BBC2 except Brazil.