Owain Wyn Evans, the “unapologetically flamboyant” weatherman for the BBC’s nightly news program North West Tonight, which covers North West England (a region that includes the cities of Manchester and Liverpool) and the Isle of Man, has incorporated his drumset into broadcasts, while in shelter-in-place isolation during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
“That’s the forecast. Stay safe, and I’ll see you,” Evans said, ending a recent weather report, just before bolting out of frame and into a separate camera setup, this one focused on his home drumset.
Within an hour, Evans’ post garnered more than 20,000 likes and 5,000 retweets on Twitter, spreading quickly beyond the British Isles.
Evans’ drum theme was so beloved that other BBC programs invited the weatherman to provide versions for their own show themes, including for BBC Radio 2’s most popular show, Steve Wright in the Afternoon.
Evans’ drum performances are just one of the ways that British news broadcasters are adapting to shelter-in-place and social-distancing orders that have many of them working from home or otherwise changing their normal work routines. Local news broadcasters shared some details about their new practices in a behind-the-scenes video for BBC North that highlights their efforts.
“Local news has been a key component in everyone’s day-to-day lives,” Evans says in the video, which notes how interview programs are keeping guests two meters apart on couches, recording voiceovers from adjacent cars, or arming field reporters with microphones on appropriately long poles, to maintain proper social distancing.
“I normally would be working in Media City,” Evans says, referencing the BBC media studios in Manchester, before revealing a green screen set-up in a room of his house. “But at the moment, I’m doing all of my forecasts from home.”
Evans has a long history in broadcasting, going back to Welsh-language children’s programs he hosted as a teenager. He began presenting the weather for BBC Wales Today in 2012 and became the lead weather presenter for BBC North West Tonight in 2019. Even before his viral drum solo, Evans had already established a reputation for social media engagement (including on the defunct video-shorts platform Vine), which he’s used to distribute quickly digestible GIF forecasts.
Evans is also a longtime advocate for LGBTQ issues, collaborating with Karamo Brown of Netflix’s Queer Eye and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK to celebrate pride events and broadcasting a drag queen tribute weather forecast.
