AS millions of families sit down to watch television on Christmas Day, spare a thought for the man who will make sure it happens.
Steve Graham will leave his wife Jillian behind and begin a shift at Emley Moor TV Mast.
On Christmas Day, the responsibility for the transmission of terrestrial television for the entire country falls on the shoulders of one man
And that man is Arqiva network supervisor and unsung hero Steve Graham.
It’s his job to make sure you don’t miss that festive episode of Coronation Street or the Queen’s Speech.
It’s not the last Christmas he will give up to make sure everyone else can enjoy theirs, but Steve says the only problem could be the weather.
He will work a 12-hour shift over Christmas Day at Emley Moor tower.
Steve said: “Over the festive season there are few more critical things to the nation than television on Christmas Day.”
And while a plate of mince pies will be passed around, there will be no sherry or festive tipples for anybody on duty.
The team’s approach is to see it as just another 12-hour shift.
And in a shift where anything can happen, one guaranteed feature of the day is the Queen’s Speech – which is granted ‘protected status’.
Certain programmes have this priority status, meaning a total embargo on technical routine work is put in place to ensure that broadcasts go on air without any hitches.
Steve added: “I’ve been doing this for a few years now, so I’m not one to get nervous in the run up to the Queen’s Speech.
“Still, if it didn’t go on air, I suppose I might be up for treason.”
Steve and his team is charged with ensuring that Doctor Who doesn’t get lost in time, that Shrek doesn’t go missing or that the Eastenders love-triangle involving Stacey, Janine and Ryan is finally resolved.
He added: “Emley Moor is much more than just a tower, this is the control room that monitors all transmitters and the programme distribution network.
“From here, we can identify any problems and co-ordinate field operations.
“The challenges we face are mainly with the weather – anything from power outages to lightning strikes.
“The system is in fact very robust with a great deal of built-in redundancy, and we have a whole team of duty engineers on stand-by to ensure we can quickly fix anything that is thrown at us.”
The team will be having Christmas lunch together, and Steve added: “Then after my shift, it’s back home to my patient wife Jillian, before doing another shift the next day.
“Well, what would you do without TV on Boxing Day?”
