Why I Love the BBC (Again)
I have lived all over the world and am in the final throws of moving back to my homeland, England. In fact my wife and kids got here today for us to find a house over the next four days. Europe is rapidly evolving in front of everyones eyes. When I left in early 2000 there weren’t vodka bars and Polish shops everywhere for instance. Turkey the historic border between the East and West is lining up to join the EU; Istanbul was the capital of the Roman Empire for gods sake! England is certainly at the head of these dramatic change and that change is everywhere.
Whenever and wherever I have lived I have always been able to look at England and been proud of one common thing that England has consistently produced for generations: Culture. Arts, Music and Science. It’s just an inbred part of the culture that you take for granted growing up and living here, but really learn to really appreciated when you are dropped back into it.
I think a lot has to do with the BBC. The BBC is a British institution. Like many things here everyone always loves to moan at the Beeb (the Aussies don’t call us Whinging Poms for nothing) but it really does produce some amazing culture. One reason is everyone in the UK who has a TV is legally obliged to buy a TV license. This generates huge amounts of money to fund quality programming without adverts. Another reason is there is a Royal Charter setout which dictates the mix of programs that must be made. You may think its socialist but it works. In comparison last week in the States I had to watch the cartoon channel to avoid getting angry at news that just wasn’t news at all.
Here are some highlights from the BBC this week.
Radio 4 - last night on my way back from the office I listened to the Moral Maze. James Watson discovered this week that being a distinguished Nobel prize winning scientist is no protection when you stray in to controversial territory. His claim that race and intelligence are linked provoked outraged condemnation. Lectures and speaking engagements were canceled and the professor had to fly home to America, as he put it, to save his job. I had lunch today with Stuart King and we touched upon a similar topic, when security people start making outrageous claims about business.
BBC Electric Proms - It’s late (my sleep pattern is screwed up, more in next post) so I am watching late night TV. The BC has the Electric Proms. Just watched the Kaiser Chiefs backed by the BBC Philharmonic. Superb! On Radio One this morning they played an Editors song from a few nights ago.
Jonathan Ross and Duran Duran Live - A few hours ago Duran Duran were live on Jonathan Ross. They did Girls on Film and a new track. Classic!
BBC Documentaries - Michael Palin (ex Monty Python now brilliant travel journalist) has a new series on Eastern Europe. Its brilliant.
Best of all the BBC have a new iPlayer so you can download the previous 7 days TV shows and watch them on your laptop when traveling. I have to VPN to the UK network as they do geo-location but no big deal.
And no Ted, BBC America with Alan Titchmarsh doesn’t count as real BBC 
