The day BBC died

Let’s not get all rosey tinted.

Doctor Who ? Blake’s Seven ? We knew as we watched first time around that the special effects were rubbish. By then we’d all seen Close Encounters and Star Wars. Doctor Who was crap, just folk dressed in tinfoil running about in quarries or corridors all the time.

Back then the cool kids just didn’t watch watch Doctor Who. They still don’t.

Sorry boys. Had to be said.

John Craven’s Newsround was good though. It’s amazing watching that now, as I did tonight on YouTube, how complex news was explained to children so that they could understand.

The taking of American hostages in Tehran, power cuts, the Troubles, the Apollo-Soyuz space capsule hook up, the miners strike (1974), joining the Common Market. You seemed to get more news in those short kids programmes than you ever get on GB News today. Miaow !

Do they even still show Newsround nowadays ? Or Blue Peter ? You feel like a paedo suspect for even glancing at the online TV guide for what’s on CBBC, let alone by tuning in.

In Scottish terms nothing much has changed. BBC Scotland journalists too timid to take on the First Minister (or, back then, the Scottish Secretary). BBC from London still reporting on Scotland as if it’s some colonial outpost.

Even tonight, on the subject of this weekends tragic drownings, it was “over to our correspondent in Scotland” … can’t remember them ever saying “over to our correspondent in England” …

See the bias through our eyes ? And we pay for it too.

“A Scottish court today ruled that …”, “the accident happened just north of the Scottish border”, “the Scottish Procurator Fiscal, which is the Scottish equivalent to the Crown Prosecution Service, decided that” … substitute English for Scottish and you’ll see how London centric the BBC still is.

What’s the alternative, though ? Some tartan shortbread version of RTE ? Shetland Isles pullovers and beardy weirdy hipsters with with skinny jeans, pointy shoes and fiddles playing Ally Bally Bee like it’s a folk music classic ?

Sod that. We’ve seen the future … the BBC Scotland channel and everyone’s tuned out of that already. That and Hogmanay tv. Scots just can’t make decent tv. Sorry, that’s got to be said too.

Don’t know the answer to the BBC and all it’s faults tbh. Such an infuriating organisation.

Better the devil you know maybe ?

a reply to: TheShippingForecast

Let’s not get all rosey tinted.

Of course there was some crap on as well.
I don't think anyone has claimed other.

John Craven’s Newsround was good though.

It was excellent.

It’s amazing watching that now, as I did tonight on YouTube, how complex news was explained to children so that they could understand.

They reported the facts in a simple, easy to understand way with no bias....something most adult news programmes could learn from today.

Do they even still show Newsround nowadays ?

My Grandson watches it at school.
He talks to me about what he's watched all the time.

In Scottish terms nothing much has changed. BBC Scotland journalists too timid to take on the First Minister (or, back then, the Scottish Secretary).

They are petrified of being accused of anti-SNP bias, modern day hypersensitivities and all that.

BBC from London still reporting on Scotland as if it’s some colonial outpost.

It is!

Even tonight, on the subject of this weekends tragic drownings, it was “over to our correspondent in Scotland” …

And what would you have them say?

FFS, talk about looking for offence when absolutely none whatsoever is intended.
Mountain out of molehill springs to mind.

....can’t remember them ever saying “over to our correspondent in England” …

No, but I can definitely recall them saying things like "over to our correspondent in North Eastern England" or "North Western England" etc.
Guess what, no-one gets all whiny and pissy.

And they say we English are a nation of whingers and moaners....ain't got nothing on you my friend.

See the bias through our eyes ? And we pay for it too.

No, I don't.

Try coming from North East England mate.

“A Scottish court today ruled that …”, “the accident happened just north of the Scottish border”, “the Scottish Procurator Fiscal, which is the Scottish equivalent to the Crown Prosecution Service, decided that” …

And what would you have them say instead of Scotland?
Was it a 'Scottish' court that made the ruling?
Where did the 'accident happen'?
There is no such thing as an English Procurator Fiscal - I know what they are - and how would you have them described?

Scotland; so proud of being Scottish yet it's wrong somehow to mention the word 'Scottish'?

What a lot of moaning and complaining for no #ing purpose whatsoever other than to moan....or maybe its just some rubbish attempt at humour that's gone way, way over my head?

....substitute English for Scottish and you’ll see how London centric the BBC still is.

Of course its London centric.....do you honestly think the rest of England isn't aware of that?
We dislike it probably way more than you ever will and for reasons way beyond your apparent insular outlook and comprehension.

What’s the alternative, though ? Some tartan shortbread version of RTE ? Shetland Isles pullovers and beardy weirdy hipsters with with skinny jeans, pointy shoes and fiddles playing Ally Bally Bee like it’s a folk music classic ?

How about a state TV station dedicated to producing entertainment and informative programmes that people actually WANT to watch and reporting news in a simple, direct, yet at times in an in depth manner free from any political bias.

Scots just can’t make decent tv.

Who can?
Wokism seems to have put a stop to that!

Don’t know the answer to the BBC and all it’s faults tbh.

The BBC both could and should be so much better.
Something that can be said about most things in the UK at present.

Better the devil you know maybe ?

Look at the alternatives, which do you prefer?

a reply to: TheShippingForecast

I never really got into Doctor who as a kid , i was more interested in Buck rogers , battlestar galactica , and the A team , and all the cartoons in the 80's , cartoon cavalcade etc

I dunno man there are some decent scottish comedy shows , chewin the fat, still game , burnistoun , Absolutely,
then there are independent film studios , that one outside cumbernauld that made Outlander.

or hey we have such a rich history maybe we could get more historical shows about our heritage
Scotland contributed a lot to the world so there is no shortage of history based shows we could have.

I mean people like Bruce Fumey on youtube does excellent Scottish history shows could well see him on the telly he is a damn sight better than that wank stain Neil OLiver.

a reply to: TheShippingForecast

Watch the very end of the credits on BBC shows - it tells you where the programme was made. Most of the best programmes aren’t made in London.

Many are made by BBC Scotland, who’s HQ is a huge building in Pacific quay, Glasgow. BBC Scotland are making great nationally broadcast programmes.

Also many great programmes are made by BBC Bristol; docs and wildlife, as well as many a drama.

The main thing made in London is news, lowest common denominator ‘entertainment’ and a portion of the drama.

For many years the BBCs productions been spread around the country. Even more so recently with many bbc jobs being relocated to Birmingham and Salford.

a reply to: McGinty

And since Dr Who is predominantly filmed in Cardiff I've met Peter Capaldi scoffing an ice cream walking past my office and Matt Smith and Karen Gillan in Tesco. Happy to report she is fitter in the flesh

Still not going to watch the woke BS anymore however.

Its so s0dd1ng blatant it makes me want to throw up.

a reply to: Cymru

Forgot Cardiff - my humble apologies. Some great shows produced there, not least dr who…

I think capaldi and smith were the best drs of the reboot (but still not a patch on Baker).

Tennant was good, but that whole Russell t Davies pop-soap opera approach was #e. Davies stuff was less pink fluff when counterbalanced by Eccleston’s seriousness, but otherwise it was cerebrally lightweight and pretty forgettable.

I initially rejoiced Moffat taking over, but that wasn’t great either and the new twat currently show running it into the ground, Chibnal, is hopeless with his woke dr, who doesn’t have the acting chops and woke themes coming out it’s arse. Sad times for dr who. Must admit that I stopped watching halfway through Whittaker’s first series - absolute tosh! Only thing I like about the chibnall reboot is the music, which has moved away from orchestral to electronic. It needed that change.

I’m not against a female dr; Helena bonham-Carter would be perfect. But whittikar has a couple of cliche actors crutches - ticks and mannerisms that are on permanent cycle with nothing else to offer.

Oddly I think the best of the reboot was Moffat before he was in charge. Although Capaldi stuck in that castle was pretty great - an old school time oriented mystery. That’s what made the baker eps so good - didn’t care about the wonky fx - it was all about the mystery. Sherlock Holmes with the laws of physics in the mix.

Well, this has gone a bit off topic. Not complaining, though

a reply to: Freeborn

Ah that's ok mate each to there own.

I liked Michael Crawford because he performed all his own stunts plus i thought he was hilarious.

I never watched "Sorry" much but i did love The Two Ronnie's, both Corbett and Barker were up there with Monty Python which was also fabulous.

Some of which i have to say through was not my cup a tea or simply went over my head.

a reply to: TheShippingForecast

Aye but when your about 7 TheShippingForecast and CGI wont be a thing for about 30 years.

There was more to it that just the horrendous garden shed special effects and piss poor acting.

Well there seemed to be at the time.

The two Ronnie's, Ronnie Barker really were possibly the greatest comedians ever.

The limits of what they could say and do to keep within the boundaries at the time and the word play and farcical situations are pretty much unparalleled when you think about it.



a reply to: andy06shake

originally posted by: andy06shake
a reply to: Freeborn

Ah that's ok mate each to there own.

I liked Michael Crawford because he performed all his own stunts plus i thought he was hilarious.

Me too! Rewatched them all recently with my kid. Still mental - still hilarious 🤣

a reply to: McGinty

Forgot Cardiff?? You're ok Butty.

I'm still daydreaming about Karen G behind me in the queue in Tesco.

Indeed, many a real ale evening in the Valleys discussing the merits of "New" Who with fellow Fans. (these people have a TARDIS bar in their game room)

We do however always go back to the good old days pre Eccleston and argue the Baker/Pertwee eras into the small hours.

There was on overarching story but those episodes could be watched in isolation and still be enjoyed.

The Green Death springs to mind. Shonky sets, check. Based in or around a mine, check. Assistant leaves , er , booooo.

a reply to: nonspecific

🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯

😉

a reply to: Cymru

My favourite was Baker’s City of Death. What’s the point of a time travel story if it doesn’t play with time. Doing that with a well know cultural item, which itself is shrouded in mystery - well, it doesn’t get better.

They may have been episodic in those days, but each story was around 2.5 hrs long - feature length. One of the reboot’s biggest pitfalls is trying to cram what should be a complex time travel story into just 45 minutes, meaning that all the complexity has to be thrown out. What we get instead is a brief set up, a dilemma, bit of running around and bam, it’s over.

Dr who’s Gone from being a kids introduction to Einstein in 70s/80s to a live action Scooby doo without the dog. Maybe the reason they don’t bring back K9 is the fear they’d be sued for copyright infringement by Hannah-Barbara, since it’d then be almost indistinguishable from Scooby doo!

The reboot’s rare 2-parters usually work far better, being able to retain some of that time travel complexity.

a reply to: McGintywww.abovetopsecret.com...

I know the old BBC had some good integrity, it stood for the national character. 'like You don't kick a man when he's down, the moment they cry uncle it's over, a fair fight, and all that. But it was probably over when I could automatically say things like Washington DC, or Houston Texas. The British kids got Americqnised after the fifties and that was that. It took a long time with hardly any changes to get from 1800 to 1900 but to the people that lived in that time it must have been dazzling, but the culture shock from 1900 to 2000 was devastating. In fact, it might actually be insane as to an observer people are quite literally walking around talking to their own hands. What grounds this modern society in something substantial and sustainable... nothing someone has to make it up as we go along, in fact, entertains us. Saville did that not only did he do it for years, we got emotionally involved big time when he died and the show continued exciting our outrage even when he was cold in his grave. It also was a great diversion and no doubt saved a few others heading for a fall.
The moment that Guy Burgess took up his KGB rank and flat in Moscow, remembering that he saw what a fascist state looked like up close in Europe pre-war which cleared his mind. ... British intelligence couldn't be trusted anymore and that's when the Yanks took over. Whoever is running the show now is anyone's guess but it isn't the British parliament. To control a foreign country, and key Members of Parliament would mean having something on them, this has to play out, till the end as it's looking like the whole British state has been compromised and will eventually break up into its separate parts. Which will be smaller and easier to control. At least looking at how things have played out over the years it's something like that. The BBC is collateral damage.

a reply to: anonentity

In that scenario I’d imagine the BBC would be it’s most critical tool. When a silent coup is being unrolled and ongoing, then making sure the populace is non-the wiser by controlling the narrative they’re fed is crucial.

Hence the new films and series of Adam Curtis, the BBC’s most accomplished documentary narrator of global politics, culture and where they intersect to manipulate the populace are now released only on BBC iPlayer, where only his fans will find them. No more terrestrial network screenings of his insights into state political and corporate skullduggery and control on industrial levels. He’s fallen victim to the operations he’s been at pains to reveal.

I did notice the BBC covered the FIN CEN documents leak which was critical of the UK government and their possible involvement with russian oligarchs related to the banking fraud

but apart from that nothing else.

How good was BBC's coverage of apparent cronyism from the tories ?

I mean didnt Hancock give contracts to all his pals and his sister and now he is fired over a affair ?
seems like he took the fall for something less dangerous than being put in jail for theft of public wealth

a reply to: sapien82

Apologies for repeating myself because I've brought this up in other threads.

Look at how the BBC treated Dominic Cummings when he was working with the government.
They (allegedly) despised him, called him and liar and stuck the boot in at every opportunity.
Now he's being critical of number 10 and their policies, they're fawning over him like a saviour and a paragon of virtue.
A cleverly designed op to use him as a distraction.
Such a hated figure , no matter how valid his criticism may be, will only bolster support for the people he is spilling the beans on.

a reply to: sapien82

It's a lip service scam. They can't ignore hot topics completely, since they'd then not be in control of that narrative. The trick is to address the issue, so that people feel they're being heard, but editorialise and omit key factors to make the viewer feel that the issue has been addressed and resolved. 'Nothing to see here!'

a reply to: Tulpa

The unfolding Cummings narrative is indeed a complex one for those in the firing line and their direction to the beeb on how to handle it.

They haven't fawned over him! The recent interview they did with him half hour on BBC1 and 1 hour on rolling news and iplayer was chaired by the tory loving, Boris loving Kuenssberg. Instead of following up fully on his accusations, she instead at every opportunity turned on him and made the airtime about him rather than enquiring further about Boris, Hancock, corruption, corporate manslaughter.

Look at the epic 7 hr enquiry testimony Cummings did not so long ago (chaired by a Tory FFS!). He repeatedly, and as skilfully as you'd expect from this latter day Machiavelli, evaded the panel's attempts to steel things away from Boris and the fitness of his government. They tried to concentrate on Hancock who'd always been kept on in order to take fore and sacrifice in such an eventuality. Cumming's answered (with words to the effect of), 'Yes, of course Hancock is hopeless and could've been sacked for many mistakes, but the real problem is Boris. He's not fit to be PM.'

However, when watching the BBC news' account of the testimony later on the rolling news and the BBC1 10 o'clock news they omitted Cummings' principals assertions, inverting his argument, so he was instead apparently most concerned about Hancock, with an addendum about Boris being unfit to rule. They don't have to lie in order to alter the narrative enough to misdirect the public. Hancock became the big story, eventually quitting after that fabricated snog on cctv scam and Boris again slips through the fingers of justice.

a reply to: McGinty

I only saw some clips on you tube and I didn't watch the whole enquiry either.
The clips I saw gave the impression that he was somehow now a trustworthy source and I wasn't aware they'd interviewed him again.

I must admit that most of my criticism of the BBC recently is based on what's being reported by others because I stopped watching them some time ago. They've been in decline for some time and I can't imagine they'll improve from the course they've set themselves on.

Still, Boris, Hancock, Cummings and the beeb all leading us on a merry dance around the truth so we'll never see any other picture than the one they want us to see.

Once you know it's all theatre it's hard to have the stomach to keep watching so alternates have to be found.





Adding. I'm sure you've seen it already but in case others haven't, there's a site called Biased BBC where they raise points about the beeb and have lengthy threads from users a bit like ATS.
I haven't visited it for a while but there's a healthy bunch of regular contributors there and some good information to be found.