British television

[metropolis]

On my last trip to London (January 2009) I had some time to watch TV at the lovely Yotel - Gatwick Airport. I was really impressed with the excellent quality of the British television shows.

The only problem was choosing: there was Tom Cruise talking about his latest film (Valkyrie), another talk show with the brilliant Stephen Fry, a comedy with Steve Carrell and some fascinating documentary about penile enlargement (I'm guessing the latter got the best ratings that evening).

In Portugal, all we get is soap operas and football (soccer) - that's what the people wants. Spanish tv is crap too. In Venezuela and Latin America it's even worse: President Hugo Chavez all the time.

So I wonder:

Is it true that great countries produce great television?

If so, does Britain have the best television in the world?

 

[HughJass]

Did you happen to catch Neighbours?

 

[thenational]

Britains Got Talent
X Factor
Big Brother
Im a celebrity

These are some of the worst television porgrams i've ever seen! They all spawned in Britain. But then again they have some decent stuff to, just gotta filter through the rubbish.

 

[metropolis]

Britains Got Talent
X Factor
Big Brother
Im a celebrity

These are some of the worst television porgrams i've ever seen! They all spawned in Britain. But then again they have some decent stuff to, just gotta filter through the rubbish.

Yep, they're definitely horrible but it's not just Britain, all European countries have these tv shows.

Big Brother was created in Holland if I'm not mistaken, so the Brits are not to blame for that one.

 

[metropolis]

Did you happen to catch Neighbours?

lol

No, I didn't see that one. It smells like a soap opera, am I right?

 

[Nashville Hairline]

British television can be terrible but its the BBC that saves it - it still is the best broadcaster in the world because as its budget is entirely from licence fees it has a responsibility to make a broad range of television (entertainment, educational,sport etc) and be politically independent.

 

[ali777]

So I wonder:

Is it true that great countries produce great television?

Not necessarily. I think it comes down to economics and society/culture. The Americans produce the best commercial TV shows. 300 million potential viewers compared to 60 million potential viewers is a different scale. Americans are better with high budget productions.

If so, does Britain have the best television in the world?

BBC has a social responsibility to produce a wide range of programmes, as already highlighted here:

British television can be terrible but its the BBC that saves it - it still is the best broadcaster in the world because as its budget is entirely from licence fees it has a responsibility to make a broad range of television (entertainment, educational,sport etc) and be politically independent.

I think it's that responsibility that makes BBC a good broadcasting corporation. I'm a big fan of BBC documentaries, especially Horizon.

Commercial TV can be really annoying sometimes. They may have footage of about 20 mins, they'll stretch it to 40 mins and with 20 mins of ads, they fill a 60 min slot. BBC doesn't operate like that. If they have 20 mins footage, they might stretch it to 30 mins with the intro and stuff, but it wouldn't be 60 mins.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is, BBC has a culture of producing TV shows without caring about the rating figures. The quality of the programme, and the educational value of it are still important.

Ch4 makes some good programmes as well. They are a strange company, I think they are a public company but operate like a private company. They don't have any shareholders to satisfy, so they are free to do whatever they want, and they do deliver. If there is anything shocking to broadcast, they will be there. Eg, last week they were showing real medical surgeries in full, it's not for everyone but it's different.

Then there is the other side of the coin with ITV, SKY, etc. Apparently ITV is the most watched TV channel, and they are commercial TV with programmes for the dumb people. Think of ITV as the TV equivalent of The Sun newspaper, in this anology the BBC would be more like The Independent or The Guardian.

I agree with Nashville Hairliner here, BBC and Ch4 save the day. Apart from Simon Cowell's shows, I hardly ever watch ITV (it's my guilty pleasure :whistle: ).

 

[ali777]

Did you happen to catch Neighbours?

I used to like it when I was younger. I'm too old for it now. The last time I saw it, Dr Kennedy was sleeping with some stupid woman. After Flick Scully left, I lost interest.

When I was a teenager I used to have a crash on Anita from Hearthbreak High :sobbing:. I've just googled her... She's still good looking, but she doesn't look like someone I would go for now. I've also found out that we are the same age, so I don't feel like a pervert :innocent:

I also got into "The Secret Life of Us". You can see the natural progression there, someone around my age would be into Heartbreak High in the 90s and then The Secret Life of us later on.

Aussies do make some good soap operas and TV dramas.

 

[The Gardener]

I remember seeing Jeremy Paxman's interview of Tony Blair and had instant admiration for British media. Paxman gave Blair a relentless, no BS, no spin grilling for a good half hour I believe... and they were talking about REAL issues, not the superficial BS that American media wallows in.

I wish we had a free enough media here in the states to allow a Paxman-like figure to thrive.

 

[optimus prime]

British TV is sh*t. The channels are losing massive money. Channel 4 is awful.