After Jonathan Ross announced that he was leaving the BBC it raised huge questions as to who would take over his role in a number of places, from his flagship chat show Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, to The Film Programme (currently known as Film 2010), but now the answer to the latter question has been given an official, and rather shocking, answer; Claudia Winkleman.
The news has come as a bit of a shock, as there’s been huge amounts of speculation over who the new presenter would be, and Claudia would never have been the bookie’s favourite; there was a great deal of attention focussed around Mark Kermode (who writes for The Observer, and doubles on Radio 5 Live with Simon Mayo for legions of dedicated fans), or other critic-come-presenters such as Charlie Brooker (who writes for The Guardian, presents his own critical TV show Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe on BBC Four, and writes books about film and TV), some of whom acknowledged the interest, but most of whom didn’t.
Nevertheless, despite the establish critics that were passed over, Ms Winkleman is no stranger to either the presenting world (having presented this year’s Sports Relief, Strictly Come Dancing, and Hell’s Kitchen, as well as a number of other prime time 
programmes) or the film world (she’s married to Kris Thykier, producer of Kick Ass, which was coincidentally written by Jonathan Ross’ wife Jane Goldman), and has even presented film shows before; having previously presented Sky’s coverage of The Oscars, The BAFTA Awards, and her own Arts show on Radio 2.
And even though simply appointing a woman was enough to shock most fans of the show, she won’t be its first female presenter; as Joan Bakewell previously hosted the show that is now most famous for being presented by Barry Norman (who took sole control of the show back in 1972) until Jonathan Ross took over in 1998; however, she will be the first person to change its established format in nearly 40 years.
The new format involves dropping the single host talking towards the camera, and will instead involves many more studio guests (who will consist of pundits, journalists, critics, and other experts from the world of cinema) that will “share their knowledge” and debate the weeks news and reviews. Something that should prove interesting, as Winkleman herself said it would be “horrifying” if it was only her on screen, and should mean that all films can be expertly covered; as she herself has stated that she is “rubbish on horror.”
But despite the initial shock of the selection, it may have been a wise choice to go with somebody with a less thoroughly established foothold in the film world, and change the format (as many viewers now believe that the single, camera –addressing, host format is tired and outdated); and it’s a decision that is wholly supported by Ross, who recently said on his Twitter page that he “hopes everyone will give the lovely Winkleman a chance” and that she “knows her stuff.”
