As a total coincidence I was watching BBC News 24 (as it was known back then) on a day off at home and saw a portly man speaking but saying next to nothing, smiling a lot but mostly looking uncomfortable. I’m used to seeing even the most confident people struggle on live TV so I wasn't that shocked as the presenter Karen Bowerman tried to coax answers about a very important legal judgement out of her guest ‘Guy Kewney’.

Something had gone wrong but I assumed that the producer, who we’ll simply call ‘F’ had published the incorrect Aston (the BBC term for the on-screen text caption or descriptor).

Soon the interview was over but the text messages started arriving on my phone from my BBC business unit colleagues. ‘F had put the wrong guy on air’. This was pre Twitter and pre Whatsapp so things didn't ‘trend’ online in the way that they do nowadays. But if there was a ‘trending’, this ‘wrong guy’ story was it. Soon the website editions of the Evening Standard and the Metro had the story, the foreign media soon followed. The BBC press office was trying to bat away the mistake - all to no avail. There had been no Aston mistake because that was who the team had thought was on their set but there had definitely been a mistake. Guy Kewney had not been on our screens.

In the old home of the BBC - Television Centre - guests who were set to appear on TV or radio or indeed to meet anyone within the Corporation, waited in the main glass fronted lobby of the building which had been destroyed by a ‘Real IRA’ bomb 5 years earlier. Harried but usually polite producers are the first point of contact or the ‘face of the BBC’ for the show or channel that guests are about to appear on. These journalists usually remain behind the scenes though many want to become reporters or presenters. Normally they would come down the steps, tag out of the newsroom and go to the reception desk to enquire after their guest.

Sometimes producers are busy or bored or even lazy and simply enter the Reception area and shout out the name of their quarry - especially if they already knew them. An arm would usually shoot up, handshakes proffered, temporary ID badges issued and the two people enter the secure area of the newsroom together and from whence to the studio. This is what happened on the 10th of May 2006. Except what happened after that - or rather what didn't happen after that - led to the BBC being the laughing stock of the world for a brief news cycle.

F walked into the Reception area and asked the colleague behind the desk to point out Guy Kewney. The receptionist gesticulated towards a nervous African man. F approached and simply said ‘Guy?’. Since the man’s name was indeed Guy, he responded positively and stood up.

F did not mention the surname of the guest that he actually wanted. This is the point when it turns into a Martin Scorsese accelerated story sequence - without the violence or the weaponry.

Meanwhile in the same lobby at the same time - probably reading something or looking out the window at Wood Lane, Guy Kewney sat patiently waiting to talk about the implications of a High Court ruling which allowed Apple Corps (publishers of the Beatles music catalogue) to continue to trade as such and dismiss a claim lodged by the Californian technology giant Apple Inc for breach of copyright.

By the looks of things ‘F’ didn't say much to Guy Goma who was reportedly there for a job interview in the IT part of the BBC - very much behind the scenes. Other versions say he was a minicab driver waiting to pick someone up. Alas I don't have any deeper insights into his CV.

In the 100m and two flights of stairs that it took to get from Reception to the ‘green room’ of News 24 on the 2nd floor, F could have and would have established that Guy GOMA did not know much about copyright law, nor Apple Corp nor the latest bleeding edge trends in Silicon Valley. Indeed English was not Mr Goma’s mother tongue - unlike Mr Kewney.

Technology guru Guy Kewney who passed away in 2010

Goma was mic’d up and even got a dab of makeup. Raw footage of him sitting on the set and realising that he was about to be on national television is still funny 15 years later.

The presenter Karen Bowerman didn't really chat to Guy Goma before launching into her cue and questions for the stricken guest. To some, she may have appeared a bit cold or distant or that perhaps she should have taken the time to engage her next guest. But to understand why the presenter was not to blame, you need to understand that in 24 news, the host may often not get to meet their live guests at all before the little red light above the camera goes red. They probably won't have booked them and may not have even read the briefing note that the producer would have prepared. That’s especially true if there are multiple live guests back to back.

That’s what happened on May 10th 2006.

Mr Goma’s reaction was great. He didn't correct the host nor rip off the mic nor refuse to answer. He thought that this was the unique way the BBC had to test how their computer engineers handled pressure i.e. by putting them on live TV to talk about something they knew little about.

Meanwhile back in TVC Reception and doubtless staring at one of the giant screens in the lobby showing News 24 on air, sat Guy Kewney almost certainly with mounting incredulity as his name flashed up on screen and a very different looking Guy (guy) talking about his specialist subject. Alas Guy Kewney passed away in 2010 so we can't ask him his thoughts as this cock-up unraveled on air.

Meanwhile in the business unit it was the talk of the town and everyone thought it was funny until the then Channel Controller sent out an email to everyone in BBC News telling them all that he was having a ‘sense of humour failure’ about this mistake as it showed a lack of professionalism and lack of attention to detail.

Then the BBC does what it does best. It owned the mistake. Just as only the BBC could air a mockumentary like W1A the BBC invited Guy Goma on Breakfast TV to discuss his 15mins of fame.

F was removed from working on any live TV or radio shows and was ‘relegated’ to the planning desk - though some would describe that as a promotion as it meant no more 14 hour night shifts. Later he would join a major business channel as a correspondent and even presenter. It’s unclear whether he ‘dines out’ on this episode or not.

FIN

Why not check out my latest podcasts: Global News Podcast (BBC World Service), Connected Investor and EUNICAST: Meet Visionary Europeans