You soon know your place in the pecking order of the BBC newsroom, especially when there's a bank holiday looming. Yes, this is one of those long, lazy weekends when the undead of the news channels get their chance to break free from the shackles of 24-hour rolling reports and barely discernible audiences to shine in the bright lights of terrestrial television.
Reading the bank holiday news, it seems, is one of those rites of passage that every hungry news presenter must endure on their arduous journey to the top of the news tree. No day off in lieu. No time-and-a-half. No choice. Just dragged away from the howling winds and tumbleweed of that all-night slot to fill in for Fiona or stand in for Silverton. Welcome instead, then, to the fleeting household names of Chris Eakin and Mike Embley, Lucy Meacock and Maxine Mawhinney, some of the most dedicated, hard-working and largely anonymous journalists in the business working for BBC News, BBC World and ITN.
Go on. Try putting a face to the names. Not that it's really that important. But it begs the question: Who on earth will they get to do the News Channel?
