Blog: Yes, I know it’s a royal wedding, and yes it’s nice to have a bit of good news amid all the gloom, but is it really necessary for the BBC news channel to have a small army of reporters covering it – not to mention a helicopter circling Buckingham Palace?

Now, before I go any further, let’s get one thing absolutely clear: this is not a blog calling for the BBC to be dismantled. I spent a year in Australia where there is no equivalent public service broadcaster.  Imagine Channel Five. And now imagine Channel Five as every channel.  Believe me, if you ever watch one evening’s worth of Australian TV, with its diet of bought-in American shows and advertisement breaks every seven minutes, you’ll come home, wrap your arms around Broadcasting Centre and plant a big kiss on its letterbox. You’ll sing as you hand over the licence fee. “Take this,” you’ll sob, tears of gratitude cascading down your face. “Take this and promise me – promise me – that you’ll always be there….”

So, it’s an important story, and, as I say, it’s a nice spot of good news for a country struggling to deal with economic misery, crime, Jordan and Danny Dyer.

But, we have two presenters in the studio, a reporter outside Number 10 Downing Street, a reporter outside Buckingham Palace and a reporter in the centre of London; there’s also one at RAF Valley, one outside Ms Middleton’s family home in Berkshire, one in Prince Charles’s model village of Poundbury, another in St Andrew’s, where William studied, and I’ve just spotted another one outside St James’s Palace. I think there are others, too.

And then there’s the helicopter buzzing the royal rooftops at Buck House. Exactly how much is it costing and why, exactly, is it flying there? I know it’s important to get a wide shot of a TV reporter, but that’s a bit over-the-top, isn’t it? Perhaps we’re expecting Her Maj to appear on the roof, in a Brian May-stylee, shouting out the good news to Londoners?  WHAT’S THE POINT OF IT?

“And now we have a lovely helicopter shot of Buckingham Palace, which looks…exactly the same as it did five minutes ago… Hope you like it, after all you’ve paid for it.”

12.53: Look everyone, it's Buckingham Palace. BUT FROM A DIFFERENT ANGLE.

13.49: Can you guess where this is?

13.56: That'll be Buckingham Palace then...