Her career with the BBC began, after graduation, as a station assistant at BBC Radio Durham. By 1976, she was a regional TV news reporter in Plymouth and Southampton, before a move to BBC national television news in 1979. She was the duty reporter one evening in May 1980 and first on the scene when the Special Air Service (SAS) went in to break up the Iranian Embassy siege. As smoke bombs exploded in the background and SAS soldiers abseiled in to rescue the hostages, Adie reported live and unscripted to one of the largest news audiences ever while crouched behind a car door. This proved to be her big break. Adie reported extensively for BBC News, including from the north London crime scenes of serial killer Dennis Nilsen, in 1983.