Joy of The One Show is in its unapologetic weirdness

On paper, BBC One’s weeknight light entertainment show should be one of the broadcaster’s most tedious programmes. But its jarring tonal shifts and random guest list often make for brilliantly bizarre viewing, writes Katie Rosseinsky

- Katie Rosseinsky

What do Mike Leigh and Steven Bartlett have in common? Very little, surely. I can’t see the octogenarian auteur behind Baftawinning films like Secrets & Lies and Vera Drake kicking back after a long day’s shoot with a nourishing glass of Huel and amotivational episode of The Diary of a CEO podcast. Their incongruence is so overwhelming that there’s only one cultural force powerful enough to bring these two men together on the same sofa. And that cultural force is The One Show.

Since 2006, the 7pm weeknight slot on BBC One has belonged to the broadcaster’s premier something-for-everyone-and-noone grab bag of a magazine show. The delirium-inducing theme tune – trumpet fanfares accompanied by someone shouting “ONE… ONE… ONE!” at increasing volume and pitch – heralds the start of a televisual rollercoaster, presided over by the perma-cheery Alex Jones, alongside whichever reliable BBC stalwart has been rostered in to be her presenting partner.

Each 30-minute episode is an odyssey through current affairs, uplifting local stories and every possible echelon of celebrity. It’s like kids’ TV for adults, an evening show that should by all rights be airing at 10.30am. The tonal shifts are enough to give you whiplash, defying all accepted rules of cohesive broadcasting. The agenda follows the nonsensical logic of a fever dream: unconnected scene follows unconnected scene with zero explanation. And that’s precisely how what should by all rights be one of the BBC’s most boring programmes has instead become unapologetically unhinged viewing. I like to think this is why around 3 million people tune in each night, not just because they’ve forgotten to turn over after News at Six.

Take last Thursday’s broadcast, hosted by Roman Kemp and the unflappable Jones, a One Show veteran of 15 years. First up, Bartlett had to sit through a short video of Harry from season two of