, with tonight’s episode, Guns, Gangsters, and Getaways: The Story of the British Crime Thriller, described in Radio Times as follows: There are some tremendous thrillers here – Brighton Rock, Mona Lisa, Get Carter – but I hope you’ve seen them all, because if you haven’t, there’s little point in hiring the DVDs. Crucial plot details and endings are all given away. Even actual closing scenes (Get Carter) are fully … Continue reading →

, former BBC Business Editor in today’s Daily Telegraph. Here are some highlights, first, Randall on the culture of the BBC: In a commercial organisation, these undesirables would be driven out by market forces. The yardstick of success and failure provided by profit and loss is a visible reminder of whether you are winning or losing. When results are poor, or mistakes are made, heads roll. A line is drawn … Continue reading →

conflict of interest from yesterday, Biased BBC reader ‘Al the Hat’ coments: A few weeks ago, Radio 5 Live had an extensive discussion on who should replace Michael Vaughan as captain of the England one day cricket team. Guest and former England cricketer Alec Stewart made a long and considered argument in favour of Paul Collingwood, without feeling the need to tell us that he is, in fact, Collingwood’s agent. … Continue reading →

On Saturday Anonanon commented: On this morning’s Breakfast “writer and broadcaster” Simon Fanshawe used his post-7am newspaper review to make overtly pro-Labour, anti-SNP and anti-Tory comments. When Iain Dale does the papers for the BBC his Tory party affiliation is mentioned without fail, but Fanshawe’s Labour activism is ignored. In fact, when it comes to declaring his interests Fanshawe seems to have been granted immunity by his long-time employer [the … Continue reading →

this afternoon about a BBC News Twenty-Bore reporter asking: “What have you got to say about reports that people are selling bottled water AT A PROFIT from the side of the road?” Which is of course shocking – shocking that the Beeboids should make such an assumption – how are they to know what the costs are of providing bottled-water at the side of the road? Perhaps those selling bottled … Continue reading →

Please use this thread for BBC-related comments and analysis. Please keep comments on other threads to the topic at hand. N.B. this is not (and never has been) an invitation for general off-topic comments, rants or use as a chat forum. This post will remain at or near the top of the blog. Please scroll down to find new topic-specific posts. Click through to read and contribute comments on this … Continue reading →

reports that BBC apologises in row over ‘mistake’ in SNP survey: THE BBC has suffered another credibility blow after admitting that it made up a Newsnight survey suggesting that most of Britain and Scotland’s leading businesses were not in favour of independence. Presenter Jeremy Paxman had told SNP leader Alex Salmond that ‘not one’ of 50 firms, made up of 25 in Britain and 25 north of the border, supported … Continue reading →

from end to end, echoing so much of what we have said and discussed here for so long. Particular highlights of his article, BBC in need, sub-headed “Poor old Auntie Beeb is unwell. She’s confused and no longer knows right from wrong, truth from fakery”, include: Management surprise at management ignorance: Much to the apparent surprise of Bennett and Abramsky, two experienced and highly respected corporation bureaucrats, a procession of … Continue reading →