General BBC-related comment thread!

Please use this thread for comments about the BBC’s current programming and activities. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog – scroll down for new topic-specific posts. N.B. This is not an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or chit-chat. Thoughtful comments are encouraged. Comments may also be moderated. Any suggestions for stories that you might like covered would be appreciated! It’s your space, use it wisely.

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224 Responses to General BBC-related comment thread!

  1. Grant says:

    Apparently, Jeremy Clarkson has called Gordon Brown a “one-eyed Scottish idiot ” ( he has obviously been reading the posts here by our good friend Martin !). Sorry, I can’t quite get the link.
    Leaving aside any debate about the veracity of this statement, I assume he will be sacked by the BBC immediately.

       1 likes

  2. Abandon Ship! says:

    The Today Programme 8.45am

    Just listen to how MontaQuinn hurries the conversation on as the Israeli Govt spokesman mentions the case of the Israeli shells NOT hitting the UN school. Compare that with the EXTENSIVE coverage of the story by the BBC at the time, when the opposite was, naturally, assumed by Beeboid Goons..

    Also listen to how the MontaQuinn in traditional Beeboid fashion tries to imply that Israel’s actions made Hamas fire rockets.

    You couldn’t make it up.

       1 likes

  3. La Cumparsita says:

    Sorry to go back over old ground, but I’m beginning to think that the BBC & Sky had a point re the DEC appeal. Naturally the BBC publicised Hamas stealing aid parcels earlier this week because it kind of vindicated their decision. Even more telling though was this comment:

    “UN officials said the aid was kept in a local storage facility because the organisation’s other warehouses were FULL”. (My capitals)

    http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/foreign/display.var.2487027.0.UN_anger_after_police_seize_aid_destined_for_refugees.php

    If the warehouses were full, why the need for such an appeal?

       0 likes

  4. JohnA says:

    AbandonShip

    The Gaza item started with them letting an Israeli author give “an essay” on why he believes that a disproportionate response to Hamas rockets is “immoral”.

    Any chance of a dissident Arab author being invited on to say that he believes that Hamas is immoral to the core – and that generations of Palestinians have been brought up in an utterly immoral way, fed endless foul propaganda against the Jews ?

    (OK. Spike that item. Doesn’t fit BBC endemic bias.)

       0 likes

  5. Concentric Circles says:

    I also noticed the Clarkson comment and have replied to it on my blog.

    http://theconcentriccircles.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-dont-get-it.html

    I notice that the BBC reports the “anger” over the comments but when you read it you find that it is from two Scottish Labour politicians who owe their loyalty to Brown.

    Very impartial.

       0 likes

  6. frankos says:

    “UN officials said the aid was kept in a local storage facility because the organisation’s other warehouses were FULL”. (My capitals)

    http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/ …or_refugees.php

    If the warehouses were full, why the need for such an appeal?

    Cos they were full of Hamas rockets not aid?

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  7. Grant says:

    CC 9:12
    Read your blog, well said.
    It will be interesting to see how the BBC handle this one.
    Clarkson is pretty much their only right-wing presenter and presumebly on a very big pay package so could be costly to sack.
    Maybe, the BBC will use the “cutting edge humour ” defense.
    My guess is that they will just sweep it under the carpet.
    Problem is he has said something derogatory about Brown, the BBC’s hero !

       0 likes

  8. Bron says:

    Sorry, no, I can’t buy that the BBC is being biased against Clarkson, the man is a BBC employee, gets very well paid, and has got away with gaffes that most would have long got the sack for.

    As for the one eyed scots jibes from him and some on these threads I find them puerile, pointless, boring and distracting from addressing the issues and I wish they would stop but I can’t say its enough to get me ‘enraged’.

       0 likes

  9. Chuffer says:

    So I’m busy trying to find the Clarkson news on BBC, and I come across this:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7869744.stm

    Did you ever see such a lightweight piece of nonsense? I thought BBC wasn’t supposed to do advertising.

       0 likes

  10. Chuffer says:

    And the curious thing about the Clarkson piece is that one paragraph is titled ‘lying’, as if to suggest that Clarkson was not telling the truth.
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7873624.stm

       0 likes

  11. Gareth says:

    BBC faces fresh row over level of celebrity pay

    “The BBC is facing a backlash over the scale of its celebrity salaries after spending watchdogs found presenters’ pay packets helped push the costs of the corporation’s radio shows far above those of commercial rivals.”

    Does this hole below the waterline the BBC’s frequent claims of simply paying the market price for it’s talent? The BBC, particularly in radio, is the market.

    Is there a need for quite so many staff for these shows? Telly credits run and run and run. Radio studios can have up to half a dozen people in them. They can’t be that much use for maintaining standards as we know from recent experience no ammount of supervision is enough to prevent deceit or offence.

       0 likes

  12. Sproggett says:

    The country’s ‘cheapest’ MP. Does anyone know which party Philip Hollobone represents? The article doesn’t say. 🙂

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7845210.stm

       0 likes

  13. JohnA says:

    Gareth

    The puff-piece on Hay Hunt (on anither thread) when she took over Radio 5 in 2007 says that Radio 5 has a budget of £220 million a year – probably more now.

    Unfrickingbelievable. But true.

    The BBC sloshes our money around – mostly among themselves – with gay abandon.

       0 likes

  14. Mike says:

    Just followed a link from Guido’s site to the cheapest MP. Strangely it does not mention which party he belongs to.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7845210.stm

       0 likes

  15. Gigits says:

    Jeremy Clarkson has branded Gordon Brown “a one-eyed Scottish idiot”.

    How is this inaccurate??

       0 likes

  16. caveman says:

    I was stuck in the car for an hour so I listened to ‘Costing the Earth’ yesterday. They started off by saying that the replacement for CFSs called hydroflurocarbons (I think this is the name) in refridgeration equipment are fine as far as the ozone layer goes, but unfortunately have earth warming properties ‘2000 x that of C02’. Then they went to a BBC studio in Birmingham and found some of this ‘global warming gas’ was leaking from the air conditioning system. Okay so far. Now, here is the challenge for the programme maker – how do you blame the Americans for the BBC office leaking gas? He made an admirable attempt at his challenge, and here is what he came up with:
    1) The Americans hold the patents for the gases and they have a vested interest in their continued use.
    2) The gases are so cheap it is easier to top up with fresh cannisters rather than fix the leaks, which is quite straightforward but time consuming.

    There you have it – the BBC are too lazy to fix their leaking gas, so it is the Americans’ fault.

       0 likes

  17. Dick the Prick says:

    I thought Clarkson’s comparison of Rudd and Brown was beautiful.

    Oh – and as always – the real hustle – brush up those skills criminals.

       0 likes

  18. Dave S says:

    Clarkson’s show is about the only thing many of the younger generation watch on the BBC. They dare not upset him too much. Poor old Carol is expendable. The BBC knows it cannot lose any more young viewers so this Clarkson affair will be quickly buried.

       0 likes

  19. JimBob says:

    Has anyone seen this article on the BBC website:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7845210.stm

    Its about Philip Hollobone, the Tory MP for Kettering, who claimed the least amount of expenses of any MP. Notice that nowhere in the text does it say that he is a Tory. Only by implication do we know he is not Labour.

       0 likes

  20. mike says:

    The BBC news website currently has an approving article about the frugal Philip Hollobone MP (‘Is this Britain’s cheapest MP?)

    They have managed to write the whole thing without having to mention that he is a Conservative MP.

       0 likes

  21. JimBob says:

    Sorry, see someone beat be to it!

       0 likes

  22. jimbob says:

    bad news for john humphreys…

    Shares in YouGov lost almost half their value yesterday after the online opinion pollster and market research business issued a profits warning.

    The group, whose shareholders include John Humphrys, the BBC Today presenter, warned that full-year profits would be “significantly below” current market expectations of about £10 million.

    humphreys is estimated to have suffered paper losses of tens of thousands of pounds yesterday.

    “IT SEEMS John Humphrys just has no luck when it comes to his finances. Today, polling firm YouGov’s shares fell 33p to 37p after it admitted that profitability for the current financial year will be “significantly below market expectations” of around £10 million. And who is one of YouGov’s most famous shareholders? Step forward Mr Humphrys, who bought a significant stake in the company when it floated and is believed to retain his original stake of 200,000 shares (worth £250,000 in 2005).”

    evening standard

       0 likes

  23. Libertarian says:

    As for the one eyed scots jibes from him and some on these threads I find them puerile, pointless, boring and distracting from addressing the issues and I wish they would stop but I can’t say its enough to get me ‘enraged’.
    Bron | 06.02.09 – 9:57 am | #

    Gordon Brown is a useless socialist dumb one eyed jock.

       0 likes

  24. Libertarian says:

    I do not see the word Conservative anywhere……………..funny that!

    at the bottom of the allowances league table – on £44,551 – was Philip Hollobone, MP for Kettering in Northamptonshire.
    The quietly spoken 44-year-old is highly unusual in employing no staff: no secretary, no researcher, no-one.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7845210.stm

       0 likes

  25. JohnA says:

    Here’s an example of what a proper reportwer can do when questioning / challenging his Government :

    http://hotair.com/archives/2009/02/05/comedy-gold-tapper-humiliates-white-house-spokesman-over-transparency/

       0 likes

  26. mailman says:

    I loved the Top Gear skit when Clarkson had that little car he drove in to the BBC and interrupted some board meeting (lezzo, tree hugger, ethnic person, climate weirdo)…quite funny 🙂

    Mailman

       0 likes

  27. gordon-bennett says:

    Although the beeb didn’t mention that Philip Hollobone is a Conservative they were careful when praising Dunwoody in the piece to mention that she was Labour.

    A double whammy!

       0 likes

  28. martin says:

    Can I just say how proud I am today of Jeremy Clarkson? And no I’m not Mr Clarkson, but today we are all Clarksons.

    Why is the BBC so wound up, in particular tossers like Nicki Campbell this morning. I notice the BBC never kicked up a fuss when Clarkson slagged off Americans for being stupid or fat on a weekly basis on Top Gear. Clarkson has called George Bush far worse.

    Brown is a fat one eyed jock. What’s the problem? Maggie Thatcher got called far worse on the BBC and no one got the sack for that.

    I’m very very proud today.

       0 likes

  29. George R says:

    ‘Mail’

    “Outrage as BBC presenter Jeremy Clarkson brands the Prime Minister a ‘one-eyed Scottish idiot'”

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1137242/Outrage-BBC-presenter-Jeremy-Clarkson-brands-Prime-Minister-eyed-Scottish-idiot.html

       1 likes

  30. martin says:

    The BBC said Brown was called a liar. If you listen to what Clarkson said he called fatty one eye a liar for claiming to have ‘saved the world’.

       1 likes

  31. Nearly Oxfordian says:

    The Gaza item started with them letting an Israeli author give “an essay” on why he believes that a disproportionate response to Hamas rockets is “immoral”.

    Amoz Oz is a prat. Of course he fits Al Beeb’s narrative.

    Oh, and talking about narrative: the lying antisemitic Al Beeb always refers to the Israeli ‘narrative’ or ‘version’, as though naturally Joos are all liars, but accepts the most lunatic lies by Hamas at face value.

    Utter scum.
    .

       1 likes

  32. Ethan says:

    With respecto Clarkson he should have included Fat.
    Two reasons
    One it’s entirely accurate.
    Two – reportedly it drives our Dear Leader up the wall.

    Thus Brown becomes our ‘Fat unelected one eyed Scottish idiot’.

    Though in fairness I do think the comparison with idiots is completely unfair…..to idiots. They have an excuse for their idiocy..

    Clarkson for PM!

       1 likes

  33. martin says:

    Read the Dail Mail comments. That vast majority agree McFatty One eye is a tosspot.

       1 likes

  34. Nearly Oxfordian says:

    Gordon Brown is a useless socialist dumb one eyed jock

    Unfortunately he is also a lying, thieving Stalinist.
    .

       1 likes

  35. Nearly Oxfordian says:

    Clarkson is a dumb git. Being right just the once happens to gits by the law of averages.

    But yes: McOneEye is also unelected.

       1 likes

  36. Hugh Oxford says:

    The BBC have had a long time to cover the story of “Lord Ahmed” holding the House of Lords to ransom with the threat of Islamic violence, and succeeding.

    As someone elsewhere has pointed out, has the MSM just given up on reporting the news? I would have though the end of parliamentary democracy and its replacement with an Islamic dictatorship would be news. Obviously not.

       1 likes

  37. Chuffer says:

    Are we not doing ‘shirt-lifing’ and ‘autistic’ any more?

       1 likes

  38. martin says:

    Chuffer: If you want to big boy 😉

       1 likes

  39. Concentric Circles says:

    Grant,

    You also have to remember that Top Gear is the number one cash cow for BBC2. That is why Clarkson gets away with a lot of stuff, he delivers the revenue through worldwide sales. Something Wossy does not.

       1 likes

  40. Dr Michael Jones says:

    To my mind the real problem with Clarkson is not his yobbish style (ie “edgy” in Beeboidland) but his stupidity. The man has as much subtlety as an ox. Compare him with Letterman, or John Stuart, or any good US presenter, and you start to understand just how far the vile, grasping, dumbed-down BBC has betrayed this nation culturally.

    Anyone notice how Paxman and Clarkson are starting to look like twins?

    Overrated bullying fools.

       1 likes

  41. Chuffer says:

    Martin: twit!!

    I love the f-word business on Breakfast Time today. What perfect timing!

    I don’t think their apology was good enough, so I’m starting a ‘Susannah Reid Must Be Spanked’ campaign.

       1 likes

  42. Chuffer says:

    …by Fiona Bruce, btw.

       1 likes

  43. Jonathan A A Miller says:

    I was at the Citizens Advice Bureau’s social policy conference the other day, and came across a BBC journalist who joined my discussion group. We were talking about the problem of homelessness – she asked whether we approached our MPs about the subject, and realising that most of us in the group were from rural constituencies she quipped that ‘…they’re Conservatives, so they won’t be interested’. The implication being that the Conservatives are evil and uncaring.

    I was not really shocked, I have got used to the BBC’s pro-Labour mindset, just sad.

       1 likes

  44. mailman says:

    Another difference between Clarkson and Wossy…is that Ive never heard Clarkson swear on air.

    It appears he has the ability to be witty (and to wind people like Dr Jones up) without having to resort to swearing…something very few “comedians” has these days.

    And I agree with the geezer above who said something about the money Clarkson generates for Al Beeb2. That alone is probably why Clarkson continues to push the boundaries with Al Beeb. They KNOW he makes them money and as long as he does, he will be safe (just as Wossy is safe).

    Mailman

       1 likes

  45. George R says:

    Moral maze for BBC over ‘Eyegate’:

    “MPs call for BBC to take Jeremy Clarkson off-air after calling PM ‘one-eyed idiot'”

    http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/879361/MPs-call-BBC-Jeremy-Clarkson-off-air-calling-PM-one-eyed-idiot

       1 likes

  46. martin says:

    mailman: Top Gear would be bought up by Sky in a minute.

       1 likes

  47. Hugh Oxford says:

    Clarkson can move his feast anywhere he likes and will be rewarded handsomely for it.

       1 likes

  48. martin says:

    Dr Michael Jones: Yes Clarkson is at times an utter pillock. But he takes it as well as dishes it out.

    Funny that again no one seems to care that for years Clarkson has taken the piss out of Americans for being fat, stupid and gung ho. But we don’t hear Americans complaining do we? In fact Top Gear does rather well in the USA.

    What about the recent Top Gear against the Germans? Turning up in Spitfires and continual references to the war. The Germans involved knew it was just a piss take and Clarkson and the other Top Gear presenters were made to look like idiots themselves. It was just a bit of fun.

       1 likes

  49. Chuffer says:

    I went to a Top Gear filming this summer; if you want to hear off-camera swearing of the ripest kind, get along to one of those! And it was all directed at Gordon Brown and Ken Livingstone. And it went down a storm with us punters in the hangar.

    And, no, Clarkson isn’t stupid or over-rated. You should see him mixing it with the crowd during the many fag-breaks. Charming, polite and tolerant, even after the two-hundredth ‘can I have my picture taken with you’ request!

       1 likes