To make it into week two of Wimbledon requires mental toughness and a swift reactions, as the BBC executives behind the much-derided new highlights show Wimbledon 2Day have discovered.
After relentless criticism of the programme during week one of the tournament, the show has ditched its original 'Top Gear' format and relocated to Centre Court as the competition hots up and producers try to appease an audience in revolt.
The show, fronted by Claire Balding, had already made a number of changes since its debut on the opening day of the Championships, when it became clear that innovations including a live audience, a perspex bar and presenters and pundits standing around or perched on stools were not welcome.
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The BBC was inundated with an "avalanche" of complaints, according to the Daily Mail. "Tennis fans criticised Wimbledon 2day for showing hardly any tennis. They were also put off by the set featuring a bar, 'strange' camera angles and a 'bored' looking live audience."
It was likened to an idea from spoof documentary W1A and amid all the outrage Mail columnist Jan Moir described it as a "nightmarish cross between Top Gear and Play School". On Friday a Radio Times poll found that 95 per cent of viewers wanted a return to the old highlights show, Today at Wimbledon, presented last year by John Inverdale from behind a desk.
"Wimbledon 2day has a horrible name. But that's only part of the reason why everyone hates it – and, let's be clear, they really do hate it," said Stuart Heritage of The Guardian on Wednesday last week. "They hate it because it can't decide whether it wants to be Top Gear or The One Show, when actually it should be a sober review of matches that people missed because they were working."
But already the BBC was backtracking. "Little by little, the original vision of Wimbledon 2Day is receding," noted Heritage. "At this rate, Clare Balding will have to present the last few episodes in a John Inverdale mask as a nightmarish final act of absolute contrition."
His prediction may not be too far wide of the mark. The Daily Mirror revealed that from today "Clare Balding and her guests are moving to a new studio on top of the Centre Court building" and leaving the "distracting" audience and bar-room set behind.
"Effectively, the entire format of the show will have been changed in the space of a week," notes Toby Keel of Eurosport.
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