Papal visit: BBC sets out plan for blanket coverage

The BBC has today unveiled more details of its extensive plans for coverage of the forthcoming UK visit by Pope Benedict XVI, with more than 10 hours of live broadcasting on BBC1 and BBC2.

In addition to about 12-and-a-half hours of live programming on the two main TV channels, Radio 4, Radio 5 Live and other BBC TV, radio and online services will be contributing to the coverage.

Huw Edwards will be the main television anchor for the pope's arrival, broadcast live on BBC1 from Edinburgh on Thursday, 16 September, when the pope will also meet the Queen.

Edwards will give commentary on the Westminster Abbey service the following day on BBC2, which will also be on Radio 4 Longwave, covered by Ed Stourton.

On Saturday 18 September, Edwards will present coverage of a mass at Westminster Cathedral, where he will be joined by Monsignor Mark Langham.

Sunday coverage will include the beatification mass of Cardinal John Henry Newman at Cofton Park in Birmingham, which will air on BBC2. The programme will be fronted by Edwards, joined by Stourton and Langham.

On the same day, Radio 4's Sunday Programme and a special edition of Sunday Worship will also be broadcast live before the main ceremony.

In addition to the blanket live coverage during the papal visit, there will be "some current affairs programming looking at the different aspects of the Catholic Church".

There are also a wide range of papal-themed documentaries. BBC2 is airing two documentaries, Benedict: Trials of a Pope and Newman: Saint or Sinner? fronted by Ann Widdecombe, plus highlights of the trip in The Pope's Visit.

BBC 4 is screening Vatican – The Hidden World of God's Servants and Radio 4 is airing The Pope's British Divisions, which will feature Mark Dowd examining the impact of the sex abuse crisis in Britain's Catholic community, plus highlights of the beatification of Cardinal Newman.

Radio 2 will air a special hour-long edition of Sunday Half Hour from a vigil in Hyde Park, while Radio 5 Live will have "extensive" coverage led by Shelagh Fogarty and including live broadcasts of the Pope's arrival in Edinburgh on 16 September and of his first mass the same day during 5 Live Drive.

The following day Fogarty will present 5 Live Breakfast from Twickenham, where Pope Benedict will be staying, with "live coverage of his official engagements throughout the day", plus broadcast of the final mass of the visit.

The BBC said it "will also be covering other events during the papal visit on the BBC News Channel".

Aaqil Ahmed, BBC commissioning editor for television and head of religion and ethics, said: "This is the first papal visit to Britain for 28 years and the first ever state visit and is of great significance not only to the millions of Catholics in this country but to the countless others who will be watching in the UK and around the globe. I am delighted that the BBC is bringing together a team of presenters and specialists who can provide insight into such an historic occasion."

It is understood that the BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, has been invited to some of the events but it is not yet clear if he is attending as a BBC spokesman said that his "plans haven't been finalised yet".

SIC: TGUK