Working in live TV can often be stressful with last minute changes, batteries to change or a presenter not hearing the gallery but normally you still get on air.
Not today...
I was booked by BBC Breakfast with my LiveU to broadcast a story from an estate on Bermondsey in South London.
Working in certain parts of London carries a greater risk of theft of kit, abuse or possible assault. Today Matt Graveling and I went to the Kirby Estate. The story was about the hundreds of England flags they have put up all around the estate to celebrate Euro 20. Working as a unified community the place looking splendid and we were met with a very warm welcome by the organisers.
The plan was too interview a few of them for a live at 8:40am. Matt and I rehearsed the piece and I had started sending live pictures to Salford when all of a sudden a lady started rowing with a passerby.
This is very quickly escalated to a full on fist fight with both parties landing blows. Residents started emerging on the balconies and eventually the police arrived.
Wisely the BBC producers cancelled our broadcast as the sound of swearing and the amount of police made it impossible to continue. An ambulance then turned up and both people were arrested.
Matt and I were keen to try and get the piece on the news channel so we recorded an "as live" which I then sent them.
Sadly the schedules on Sunday are very busy with repeats of other shows etc and with the G7 coverage so it never made it to air there either.
You can see below what we SHOULD have broadcast.