Thomas Donkin, a journalist with BBC for nine years, was ready to read out a report on Hurricane Irma during an early morning broadcast on Saturday when confusion plagued him.
Soon after the opening credits of the show, the anchor was seen running out of the frame trying to find the right camera, leaving behind an empty TV screen still flashing his name.
Seconds later, he reappeared but cluelessly still facing the wrong camera. Possibly prompted by his director through the earpiece at this point, the anchor finally looked into the right camera and opened the bulletin with a "Hello and welcome" keeping a perfectly straight face.
Clip of the hilarious blooper was posted online by several viewers. One of them quickly gained traction with about 4,300 retweets.
Watch the clip here
😂 wonderful car crash opening to BBC World News just now. Pick a camera, any camera 😛 pic.twitter.com/5XxrdwQXcr
— Andrew Roberts 💬 (@AndyMRoberts) September 9, 2017
After many viewers pointed out the hilarious blunder to him on Twitter, the anchor said he was happy to give them a good laugh.
Happy to oblige - thanks for tuning in, sorry about the cameras at the top
— Tom Donkin (@TomDonkinBBC) September 9, 2017
Live TV mate, anything can happen
— Tom Donkin (@TomDonkinBBC) September 9, 2017
Bit of a perfect storm mate of camera fail - this stuff happens with live TV. Never had so much attention albeit odd attention.
— Tom Donkin (@TomDonkinBBC) September 10, 2017
BBC uses remotely controlled robotic cameras in their studios. So, the absence of camera people comes with its sets of challenges.
