Judi Dench, Tom Hiddleston, Patrick Stewart, Benedict Cumberbatch, Maxine Peake, Julie Walters, Simon Russell Beale.
The current crop of best British actors? The best dressed at the recent Met Ball? A list of the most attractive Brits in films, in order? (Damn right Dame Dench comes first.)
Nope, they’re just a few of the stellar cast of The Hollow Crown, the BBC’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘History Plays’. Fifteen hours worth of Shakespearean goodness to binge-watch, which I’ve been doing with relish (although binge-watching for me now means watching TV in the boy’s 45 minute naps, so it’s taken me quite a while).
Patrick Stewart’s John of Gaunt eulogises on “this scepter’d isle, this earth of majesty, this seat of Mars”. Tom Hiddleston’s Henry V urges his men “Once more unto the breach, once more.”
(Although I had to laugh at Henry V’s speech wooing Catherine: “notwithstanding the poor and untempering effect of my visage… My comfort is that old age, that ill layer-up of beauty, can do no more spoil upon my face.” Come on, Hiddleston. The make-up department didn’t bother to even try to make you look ugly.)
The Hollow Crown is just one of the many programmes that the BBC excels at producing. And this is what our dominatrix-denying Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, John Whittingdale, wants to destroy. (For the record: there’s nothing wrong with dominatrices. There is something wrong with disowning them once your submissive proclivities are made public. Stewart Lee’s article Defy John Whittingdale and a dominatrix will whip you into line made me cry with laughter, as does most of what he writes. Read it and weep with laughter, and then with despair.)
Whittingdale’s suggested changes are intended to limit the broadcaster’s autonomy, reduce its licensing fee revenue, and impose scheduling restrictions – and even some senior Conservative MPs are opposed. The BBC’s status as an independent broadcaster, free from advertising (for the most part – some of its websites have ads), is what allows it to commission and produce thousand’s of hours of original, world-leading television. In the past fortnight alone the BBC has shown:
- David Attenborough’s excellent Life that glows, which uses revolutionary camera technology unlikely to be funded by any other broadcaster. This new camera technology, as well as providing ground-breaking TV, enabled scientists to learn much, more more about the species they study.
- Hinterland, a detective drama set in the Welsh valleys, including Welsh subtitles. Which other broadcaster would produce a Welsh sub-titled programme for mainstream TV?
- Peaky Blinders: Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy on prime time TV. Do I need to say more?
The BBC also produce popular TV (hello Strictly Come Dancing, you sequinned fiend), impartial news in a sea of other broadcasters and newspapers pushing their ideological agendas, and countless hours of regional programming, given a voice to those regions who often lack other representation in the media. Not in the UK? Don’t think this is a Britain-only spat – your favourite shows could be affected too. Shows such as Dr Who and Top Gear, regardless of what you think of the genres, are hugely popular across the globe. BBC World Service broadcasts a huge range of programmes in 29 languages, to most countries in the world. And it’s not just TV. The BBC websites and the iPlayer are world-leading in terms of their technology. 6Music, Radio 4, Radio 1 Xtra, all your regional stations – from where else would you get such a diversity of niche and popular music, sport, comedy, drama, factual and local programming? The BBC is ridiculously good value for money when compared to broadcasters such as Sky for TV alone (40p per day for the license fee vs a minimum of £20 per month for Sky), let alone the radio and technology aspects.
Whatever your ideological bent, we need the BBC in our lives – without it we’re culturally poorer.