Victoria Derbyshire (TV programme)

Until 2018, the show was broadcast live on BBC Two and BBC News from 9:00am to 11:00am every weekday, from then on its start time was shifted forward an hour to 10:00am. Its episodes were available to watch for 30 days after release on the BBC iPlayer catch-up service. On 22 January 2020, it was announced that the programme would be axed in later 2020 as part of BBC cuts.[6][7] However, due to priority put on coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, the BBC suspended the program earlier than initially planned with the final episode airing on 17 March 2020. It was replaced by a standard edition of BBC World News presented by Derbyshire.

When Derbyshire was away (on leave, on an assignment, or elsewhere), the titles described the programme as 'with' the stand-in presenter.

The BBC described it as the "centrepiece of domestic daytime TV news," and the initial "digital first" TV show. Of the first ten editions of the Victoria Derbyshire programme, one show in April 2015 attracted only 39,000 viewers and gained a 'zero rating."[8]

The programme was cancelled in January 2020 as part of the cost-cutting in BBC News.[6][7] On Twitter, Amol Rajan, the BBC's media editor, said the costs were deemed too high for a conventionally watched linear show, but said its "Digital impact was huge. Show was designed to reach audiences the BBC struggles to connect with, and it did - online."[9] The last programme was broadcast on 17 March 2020, the end being moved forward because restrictions imposed by the BBC because of the Covid-19 pandemic .[3]

An episode of the Victoria Derbyshire show broadcast on 22 May 2015 featured an interview with Lisa Longstaff from the organisation Women Against Rape. During the broadcast, Longstaff made reference to the case of Eleanor de Freitas, a woman who had falsely alleged she had been raped and committed suicide while on trial for perverting the course of justice as a result of her false allegation. Longstaff twice wrongly referred to the victim of de Freitas' false allegations as a "rapist", with this smear unchallenged by the interviewer. The BBC later issued an apology for any distress they had caused as a result of the broadcast.[10][11]

In 2015, Derbyshire was nominated for RTS Presenter of the Year along with Zand who was nominated in the Young Talent category which Zand won. Derbyshire won Broadcaster of the Year at the PinkNews Awards in 2015 and 2016.[12][13] In 2017, the programme won a BAFTA for its coverage of former footballers who had been sexually abused.[5]

• Victoria Derbyshire at BBC Programmes (BBC Two)