I think it is all too evident that the BBC has an anti-military pro pacifist agenda which informs much of its output. Now read on…
The head of the British army has complained to the BBC about a drama showing bullying among troops in Afghanistan, calling it “deeply offensive to all those serving”. Sir Peter Wall has written to BBC director general Mark Thompson about the programme, Accused, said the MoD. The episode features a corporal who bullies two friends who join the Army, one of whom goes on to commit suicide. The BBC said it was in no way an attempt to denigrate the Army.
Through the BBC prism, our Armed Forces are a great evil and so it is not in the least surprising that bias flows through such output as that highlighted by Sir Peter.
Yet the BBC has no problem in pulling this documentary.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/lebanon/8144429/BBC-pulls-series-as-Hizbollah-protests.html
No matter how hard you hold your nose the stench of BBC wartime collaboration with the enemy makes you vomit.
“BBC snubs plea by head of the Army to scrap ‘deeply offensive’ Afghan bullying drama”
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1331616/BBC-snubs-plea-head-Army-scrap-deeply-offensive-Afghan-bullying-drama.html#ixzz15uPoFWwe
But when it comes to Islam Not BBC (INBBC) being told by Hezbollah of Lebanon not to show a series implicating Hezbollah in the assassination of Lebanon President Harari, INBBC capitulates to Islamic jihad forces.
“BBC series on Rafiq al-Hariri pulled as tension rises in Lebanon”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/nov/17/bbc-lebanon-film-rafik-hariri
Oh joy another pathetic pile of made up drivel about nasty men in the army with no input from those who actually serve [one silent minority the beebles don’t mind kicking] , just the usual revisionist drama school mindset that gave us the hell of ‘Martin shaw rewrites the dambusters so the Germans are not bad ‘ programe.
I watched A.F.N .CLARKES ‘contact’ ,a play for today from the 80’s about troops in N.Irland last night and all i could think was how far the BBC have sunk into the gutter !
I’m amazed that the military let the BBC scum mix with our forces.
Contrast that to the Beeb’s complete supplicance to the Islamic community in not showing Islamicists burning poppies last Thursday… Absolutely NO coverage of this whatsoever via ‘Auntie’. Unbelievable!
I think Jimmy McGovern is overrated. Is there a paucity of new writers? Why do we get old-hat ‘safe-bet’ writers over and over? If there is new talent out there, does the BBC manage to constrain it, emasculate it or ignore it altogether?
A couple of years ago Jimmy McGovern accused the BBC of being racist because all the black faces he saw in TV dramas were cleaners and menial workers. In a kind of Stockholm syndrome gesture, they’ve hyped up his Accused series as though he’s a genius who must be indulged.
Previews that appeared all over the place heaped lavish praise upon last week’s Accused. “Wonderful.” “ Gritty drama.” “ Realistic. “ “Christopher Ecclestone is so good at this kind of thing.” What a load of drivel. The plot was plain stupid. The casting was terrible. The vicar seemed to have supernatural powers.
If this army production is as bad, no-one will take it seriously.
Incidentally, there’s a whole thread about the BBC pulling the Hezbollah programme, but comments about it keep cropping up, here and on the Open Thread, as though it was something new.
I know the first paragraph wasn’t very eye-catching, but …….a whole thread?
Sue I to wonder about the reliance on the old time left wingers like McGovern. My guess is that the powers that be at the Beeb look back to the last time drama got a good audience which was in the 70’s with Play for Today and just try to replicate that hoping against hopes it will work and reverse their audience decline.
They don’t want to produce anything by a newer younger writer possibly fearing the result wouldn’t fit their worldview and anyway they want to keep their mates in work.
Will this lead to the British Armed Forces publicly refusing to cooperate with the BBC? Probably not.
Hopefully it will lead to the Chiefs of Staff making the strongest possible recommendations to the Prime Minister to do something about BBC connivance with the enemy at time of war.
Yet according to the DT, the BBC pulled the documentary about the four London Islamic suicide bombers. They show this shit though, I hate the BBC can someone point me in the direction of where I can complain?
Paul, I would suggest complaining to the BBC is a waste of time. It is rotten to the core.
If you have a half decent MP you could request he makes representations to the BBC on your behalf owing to your lack of confidence in the organisation. You may also wish to ‘CC’ the Chiefs of Staff. I guess an internet search would procure the best address/es to send those to.
I think everyone’s being a little unfair to the BBC here. The world’s most powerful, most famously impartial newscaster often broadcasts news stories which show the positive side of the US/UK involvement in Afghanistan too.
Take for example the moving BBC broadcasts about Bibi Aisha: a beautiful teenage Afghan girl who was sold into a forced marriage by her family to pay off a debt.
After constant beatings the poor thing fled her ‘husband,’ who then tracked her down and, to teach her a lesson she wouldn’t forget, enlisted the local Taliban to help him cut off her nose and ears. Which they then did.
The wretched girl would probably have bled to death from her mutilations, were it not for the U.S. Army troops who stumbled across her, rescued her, and placed her in a secure refuge for such women.
Now then, which of the BBC’s many channels did I see this report? Oh, sorry. I now recall I didn’t see it on the BBC after all. I actually saw it on ITN, who certainly ran the story, as did scores of other broadcasters throughout the world including several in Pakistan:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&tbs=vid%3A1&q=taliban+nose+ears&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=#q=aisha+taliban+nose+ears&hl=en&tbs=vid:1&ei=XDfpTPTmM4XNhAe-n5GGDQ&start=0&sa=N&fp=64a7e7a70a9f9bbc
And to think that this Jimmy McGovern play, running down the British Army with invented portrayals, was waiting in the wings all the time the Remembrance commemorations progressed, and was scheduled for broadcast barely days after their completion.
Fucking BBC.
Graun: BBC defends Jimmy McGovern army bullying drama
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/21/bbc-defends-jimmy-mcgovern-army-drama
One is sure they did.
The BBC said it did not intend to offend those serving in Afghanistan, and emphasised it was a work of fiction.
Well, besides wondering how they kept a straight face with the first part, that’s all right then.
Firstly, one usually has to have *seen* (or in this case ‘watched’)something in order to have a *valid* opinion on it.
Secondly….
“…running down the British Army with invented portrayals…”
So bullying *never* *actually* occurs in the British Army? Really?
Thirdly, it is a work of FICTION and not a Documentary!!
The bullying was done by an individual before joining the army, according to the BBC’s own description, so one doesn’t need to have seen the show to know this. Unless you want to tell me the BBC lied about it.
Bullying, as all good children know, is wrong, so a film depicting the horrors of bullying is de facto a film criticial of someone. Who is it, do you think?
‘Firstly, one usually has to have *seen* (or in this case ‘watched’)something in order to have a *valid* opinion on it.’
I have never watched or seen a murder ! but i can still have a opinion on it’s morality!
“…running down the British Army with invented portrayals…”
So bullying *never* *actually* occurs in the British Army? Really?
Yep and schools hosptals and in any place there is power of one over another! so why this story line and why now? just another lucky break ?
‘Thirdly, it is a work of FICTION and not a Documentary!!’
Now this is a good one! so i can lie about anyone or any event as long as i think up fictional names for all the characters cool i am forwarding my cv to the BBC news department as we speak !
Firstly, I haven’t seen it but here’s my opinion based on the BBC’s past form of reporting, or even showing fiction about the Armed Forces.
It’s biased. It invariably shows servicemen, and women, in the worst possible light.
Secondly, of course bullying occurs in the Armed Forces, just as it does in many schools and work places. What’s different in the case of our forces serving abroad is that an immense amount of heroism, self sacrifice and exemplary personal and professional conduct also occurs.
But you’d never know that if you based your opinion solely on the BBC’s output. Fiction or otherwise.
Thirdly, perhaps at a time when our boys and girls are risking their lives in far off places to protect our way of life the BBC could perhaps show even some “FICTION” that does not accuse them of bullying and even war crimes.
As Maturecheese points out below, the BBC is silent about the insulting and offensive manifestations of hate organised by Muslims.
Now why is that do you think?
Not newsworthy?
Goebbels favourite form of Jew baiting was inserting casual anti-semitism in the popular cine soaps of the time. Subtle and effective, just like the evil we see on the BBC. ‘Spooks’ anyone??
‘Guest’, it seems to have escaped your attention that Army top brass have seen it and are making the strongest possible representations against it. If it’s all the same to you, we’d rather take sides with the people defending our nation rather than the subversive vermin at the BBC taking the enemy’s side. I’m sorry to hear you dont like that.
Oh, and as notasheep pointed out on the open thread, the BBC put this on ice for 20 years:-
The BBC are quite simply the worst kind of unpatriotic vermin.
The point that you have missed, is that the BBC pulled drama documentaries concerning the July 7th bombers and also pulled a documentary concerning Hezbollah. In the words of their own director they must show extra sensitivity towards Islam. Yet they never miss a chance to stick the knife into the Armed Forces. A simple point really, its about what gets past the commissioners and what does not – bias drives those decisions.
Is “dramatic fiction” an excuse to tell lies? No need for impartiality here, says Beeb, it’s “fiction” after all.
I always though dramatic license was an opportunity to reveal the subversive truth. Apparently not in ImpartialGenesLand.
Now how about a play written by, say, Ken Loach, in which a former President of the USA is a secret paedophile. “Its only fiction”, says £800k a year BBC chief. “You mustn’t take it too seriously”
Then why show it, you hateful b*stards?
I’m not so sure about this one as there are rogue elements in all armies. What about the channel 4 film The Mark of Cain.
I am more concerned about the BBC’s coverage of events like the poppy burning and the abuse our returning troops get from certain sections of society. I feel that in these cases the outrage felt by most of us is not conveyed adequately.
I forgot to add that I have not seen it as yet 🙂
Well, that’s kind of the thing, Maturecheese. Whenever the topic is one that’s difficult for the left, the BBC either surrounds it with a cloud of morally relativistic blather, wraps all criticism up in absurd caveats about the Vast majority of Peace-Loving Serial Killers, or just plain ignores.
On the other hand, when it’s someone the left hates, well, as our visiting Beeboid nicely sums up, they use their own form of Murphy’s Law, whereby anything bad that could have happened will be shown as having happened, and if you disagree, why, it’s only fiction, init?
(…so why not air a disclaimer before the broadcast then?)
Meanwhile, over five years after July 7, we still await a single BBC show that will depict the reality of Jihadist ideology.
Meanwhile, over five years after July 7, we still await a single BBC show that will depict the reality of Jihadist ideology.
Absolutely DJ, you can read in the DT how the BBC had such a script written for them but they refused to commission it. In case it gave offence to Muslims of course.
http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2007/06/mybrotherthebomber/
We will of course never see such a drama.
The BBC somehow managed to find time to produce this material.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tg1c1
If the British public ever rise up and trash BBC studios over filth like this I dont think it would be the worst thing that could ever happen.
Guest
I bet you £50 that the BBC “play” by the left-wing author is anti-Army, based on zilch as regards Afghanistan.
Afhganistan for the British Army started nearly 10 years ago.
Maybe I have missed the BBC plays about sadness in a local village in the midst of conflict. Maybe I have missed the BBC play about the tension, the fear, the bravery of British troops.
MAYBE YOU CAN POINT US TO A SINGLE EXAMPLE OF THE BBC PORTRAYING IN A PLAY OUR TROOPS AS FRIGHTENED BUT BRAVE, AS SKILLED, AND IN SOME CASES AS HEROES.
During WW2, many films were made about the British and Empire effort. Of course some of them were tinged with propaganda. But many have stood the test of time, as real dramas.
The idea – when there is an on-going war, that the BRITSH Broadcasting Corporation – in those days – would run an anti-Army play during war is laughable.
You and the BBC are sick.
As an example of the sort you asked for in block caps, I’d recommend Occupation by Peter Bowker.
Nope occupation hardly dealt with the Army, it was about realtionships not the troops.
And why do you assume that Accused isn’t also about relationships – especially since the plot summary (both that released by the BBC and additional details included by the press) seems to indicate that it’s about the relationship between a corporal and men he knew before going into service?
God this is tiring, well for one thing occupation was not about an ongoing war in which the British Forces are taking casualties. The British had withdrawn from Basra by the time it was aired. Also the ‘relationship’ in this case is about that between a bullying NCO and his subordinates. Occupation dealt mostly with a relationship between the main character (Nesbit) and an Iraqi woman. So again you have to answer the question, where has the BBC done a documentary or drama that portrayed British Soldiers in a positive light? Oh and bear in mind that the BBC refused to allow a dramatisation about the actions of Johnsson Beharry VC. They are anti-UK military that’s why.
Also the title ‘Occupation’ is hardly a tribute to the service HMAF performed there ousting a tyrant and helping to establish democracy.
Guest :
As you seem to be on a roll (and god knows what’s in it) would you like to enlighten us lesser mortals with further examples of the BBC’s undying patriotism towards our Armed Forces ?
You can choose your format – Fictional / Reality.
I think most people here could excuse the BBC for this if it were part of a general policy to offend everyone at some time or other, to show deference to nobody, to challenge all serious opinions and to trust the public to decide for themselves whether a political view is extreme.
‘Guest’ doesn’t seem able to grasp this.
It’s not that the Beeboid Corporation shouldn’t do dramas about bullying. (They could always set one in their own backyard, for that matter – I am sure lots of bullying goes on at the Beeboid Corp.)
It is that the Army, the individuals in it, their families and all concerned with the army are involved in the most serious and consequential enterprise, living constantly on the extreme edges of life, fear and danger. So any treatment of drama and entertainment involving an army engaged in war that daily confronts death and brings home to their door the terrible reality of death, deserves the most serious and sober consideration. I hope the programme isn’t a frivolous enterprise (the luxury of the privileged) undertaken lightly by an insouciant publicly funded and protected broadcasting organisation with an ideological bent.
The ongoing spat between Hytner – the leftie running the “National” Theatre – and Tim Walker of the Telegraph rumbles on. This crit http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8149642/Global-CO2-expected-to-rise-to-record-levels.html by Walker says it all about taxpayer-funded luvvies and their “apolitical” theatre and TV drama. Hytner’s response, reported by Mark Shenton in The Stage http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/shenton/2010/10/warning-shots-for-the-national-and-fight/ exemplifies the de haut en bas attitude of the taxpayer-funded theatre and the taxpayer-funded broadcaster.
Sorry – the link to Tim Walker’s crit is http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/margaret-thatcher/8005746/Its-time-to-traduce-Margaret-Thatcher-once-again.html