The market will decide whether Doctor Who survives. That seems to be the future. I'm one of those few who consumes the niche history, art, and science documentaries that the BBC produces. They're usually much higher quality than the US-produced equivalents but I envisage they'd be judged expendable if the BBC went commercial - or I'd have to pay a premium subscription to access them. That seems fair enough to me. It'd be great if the wider public wanted to broaden their horizons but most seem to be happy with soaps and other entertainment. I'm just a pretentious nerd. The oligarchs don't want the masses educated - they want them mesmerised by soma/pablum TV so that they don't realise that they are being manipulated and controlled, do what they are told and won't even think about rebelling against their masters.
The TV license isn't remotely mandatory. It has never been mandatory. It pays for specific services (BBC content, regional channels, radio) and the infrastructure that live terrestrial broadcasting requires. You only need one to use those facilities. I don't, and haven't had a license for years now. No threatening letters or jackboots kicking my door in. I don't have any particular fondness for the BBC (they're a blight on my industry - they pay peanuts for production work and act like the 'prestige' of working for them makes up for it), but it's not unreasonable to insist that people pay for things they use.
Did you miss the last general election? You must have if you actually believe the BBC is a left wing propaganda tool. To be honest both the left and right complain about BBC bias, which probably means they're doing something right.
I am sure those that DO have threatening letters or jackboots kicking their door in will be comforted by the fact you have never had to deal with both of them. lol
How many right-wing comedians have shows on the BBC? (How many appear on the BBC at all?) How many dramas do they make in which the hero has right-wing views? And just be clear I'm not talking about the alt-right, or the BNP or whatever. Just people who aren't fully paid-up socialists.
What are right-wing views, in your opinion? I suspect the heroes of Line of Duty are pretty conservative. Dragon's Den is still a thing, isn't it? Capitalism in distilled form... What's "leftist" in your view?
Maybe they're just not funny? I mean they might be if we had a Labour govt I guess because humour's like that, it should always punch up.
I’ve got two TV Licenses. Well… one of them is my grandmothers, no longer with us, but they seem to insist on sending one for her regardless. It’s very inclusive of them.
The BBC generally skews socially liberal, though not always, but its hardly a bastion of socialism. Love the idea that their drama leads are all socialists, what nonsense! It very rarely supports anything but the status quo. How often does it do anything critical of the main pillars of the establishment. It may report on the rise and fall of individual politicians and parties but it rarely digs into the underlying unfairness of British life. Look at something like austerity, when did it challenge the governments line that it was a necessary reaction to Labour overspending rather than a political choice. Anyway we don't know what's going to happen next. It's become clear Dorries went too early on this to help give Johnson cover and threaten the BBC. There's already been considerable pushback on this being the 'last ever' settlement. There's certainly a discussion to be had about the future of the BBC's funding model but if this goverment was serious about that discussion they wouldn't have put someone as fundamentally unsuited to the position as Nadine Dorries in charge.
It’s an open secret that the BBC skews left. Whether people have a problem with that, and how they express it, is a different matter. The media is general, in the western world, pretty much skews left. British Comedy skews so left it flies in circles, quietly humming the Red Flag. (It’s also a protracted exercise in nepotism at times xD) Whether this has any bearing on anything to do with license fees and what have you, is entirely a different matter to be honest. Perhaps it’s better thinking of it as ‘pro government’ instead, which is probably what does stick in some peoples craw, one way or another. The BBC is an establishment that also loves to think of itself as being anti establishment. On BBC 2 at least. Maybe after nine on the Big Channel. The license fee issue really is down to times and media landscape changing. In some respects it is a century of perfecting the ‘try us for free and forget to unsubscribe’ model, as beloved by Sky, Netflix et al. It’s just more in the public consciousness. If it were government funded, it would be the same as most other countries national broadcasters, but then it would be accused of being a stooge even more. Who knows, it may even become one.
As do people aged between c. 20-50 - the majority of BBC employees The only comedy I can think of that could be described as relatively right wing is South Park. That's the problem cap, they're all fundamentally unsuited to the position
Funny I must have imagined all those jokes at Corbyn's expense from this ultra left BBC. Starmer gets his fair share as well. Most comedy punches up and attacks the powerful, in the UK that is usually the right but not always. Go back to the late 90s and particularly the 00s. Lots of comedy at the expense of the Labour government at the time then.
South Park is (a) American and (b) all over the place. XD Even Jim Davidson was more left wing when on the Beeb. (Don’t forget his kind of comedy was ‘working man’s club’ stuff, which was also home to the Unions and by extension the Labour Party) Who in the eighties was quite openly anti-Tory/pro-Labour, and Cartmel’s little CND speech in Battlefield is still one of my top three or five Doctor Speeches. Moffat, on the other hand, wrote a great and hilarious ‘anti establishment’ speech that could be seen as pro-Tory in his sitcom coupling, but really it was sticking its fingers up at what was then the establishment. His who work, like always, skews left of centre. On the other hand, a few Who writers/figures skew in support of the Tories, whilst still being essentially left-wing by many metrics. Which, by being in the muddled middle, suits the real political sensibilities of the country pretty well tbh.
Of course. You see something in the political sphere worth mocking, you take the piss. Corbyn and his front bench was a buffet. Pretending Johnson isn’t or wasn’t also a regular subject of ridicule (or May, or Cameron) would be ridiculous. Taking the piss out of *any* sitting MP is *never* punching down, government bench or opposition, so long as it isn’t about something beyond the pale (even then a few digs around eyesight and Brown or Blunkett ocassionally seemed fair game, but only occasionally) is not only fine, but is practically a civic duty here. One which usually happens with a great deal of political equality. But pretending the mainstream comedy set isn’t all still 5 steps removed from Ben Elton and the alternative scene of the eighties, which is openly left wing, would be silly. Admittedly, I would be hard pressed to think of *any* obviously right wing comedy or media, or arts and culture in general, that is popular or even that I enjoy. Small c conservative, sure. Apolitical stuff definitely.
So comedy is so ultra left it sings the red flag but is happy to take the piss out of Corbyn, the politician most likely to be singing along and some of it is purely apolitical. Yeah that makes a huge amount of sense. As with the BBC itself most comedians these days tends to be socially liberal and are more likely to take a pop at the Tories than Labour because of that but the angry socialist comedy of the 80s isn't getting mainstream attention. Most of them just want to sell tickets for their live tours.
Please. I put an x in a box next to Diane Abbots name and still take the piss when she does maths or puts mismatched shoes on. Most mainstream comedians openly support the Labour Party, every actor in the business pretty much has to be in a Union, and will still make jokes at the expense of the individual politicians. It has *always* been that way. Being basically left/Labour supporting doesn’t mean you *won’t* take a pop at it. Which is good, because no one should think themselves beyond satire/reproach in politics.