BBC Scotland’s new-look format for its Hogmanay show was slaughtered by viewers – with one saying it was worse than the year the celebrations were cancelled due to bad weather.
Veteran anchor Jackie Bird stepped aside for the first time since the Millennium, to be replaced by comedian Susan Calman.
Large parts of the programme had been recorded in November, leaving producers with the task of marrying the content up with “live” inserts from Des Clarke in Edinburgh and Amy Irons in Stonehaven.
Within minutes of the bells, viewers took to Twitter to register their disgust.
One user, Sparkybhoy Hughes, wrote: “The worst BBC Hogmanay ever. Even the weather in past years did better when it cancelled.”
Neil Morrans said: “Christ on a bike. BBC Scotland and Susan Calman have really f****d up Hogmanay good and proper and turned it into a cross between a poor man’s stand-up and a ‘celebrity’ chat show. It is utter s***e.”
The programme featured guests James Cosmo, Martin Compston, Mark Bonnar and Jane McCarry swapping stories with Calman.
Calman tweeted: “Thanks so much for all the lovely tweets about the Hogmanay show.
“Absolutely delighted that so many of you enjoyed watching.
“I hope it started 2020 off in a most excellent fashion. Happy New Year.”
Line of Duty star Compston flopped in a quiz about acronyms from the cop show.
A spokeswoman for BBC Scotland said: “From 9.45pm until 1.45am, BBC One was the top TV channel in Scotland.
“We offered our audiences a great range of entertainment including Susan Calman’s Not Quite The End Of The Year Show, Selling Scotland, Only An Excuse? and Hogmanay 2019.”
