Monday. 8.40 a.m. Yet another sunny and warm morning. I don't mind it being sunny, but when it's too hot, I am not so keen.
Why has television in this country become so dire? At one time, you could spend most of the evening enjoying a really wide range of programs. You could start at around 4.30 with some sort of children's programme, ranging from Jackanory, Blue Peter, Vision On, and Magpie, ITV's answer to Blue Peter, and then move on at around 5.45-5.50 to The Magic Roundabout. That was a sort of bridge between the children's programmes and the adult world of the Six O'clock News. Then, Nationwide, a sort of mixture of stories from around the British regions, the serious and not-so-serious. Then, around 7.30, a sitcom, aimed at the whole family. These ranged from anything with June Whitfield and Terry Scott in, or Richard Briers, in 'The Good Life.' Then, 'Dad's Army', which is still as popular as ever, some 50 years since its first broadcast.
At around 9 o'clock there might be a documentary or a drama. The BBC was always good at drama, whether it be an adaptation of a classic novel or something with a social comment, such as the strand 'Play for Today' or 'The Wednesday Play', with writers such as Dennis Potter or Alan Bennet providing scripts or directors such as Ken Russell or Mike Leigh putting in the necessary spade work. Some of these plays could be quite controversial, such as Up The Junction or Kathy Come Home. Several series of dramas by Dennis Potter were produced, such as 'The Singing Detective' or' Pennies From Heaven.' Then BBC 2 opened in the early 1960s. This bought what they liked to term 'alternative' programming', in contrast to the more mainstream stuff shown on BBC1. So, we got such things as 'Late Night Line Up' which had Joan Bakewell as one of it's presenters and featuring late night discussion. Joan Bakewell was described as 'A thinking man's crumpet' apparently said by Frank Muir, who, with his writing partner, Denis Norden, appeared in a BBC 2 panel game which rand for years, called 'Call My Bluff.' BBC 2 produced the 26-part adaptation of the John Galsworthy series of novels, 'The Forstye Saga' which, although probably the last big dramas to be made in black and white, can be said to be the grandfather of such serials as 'Upstairs, Downstairs' and much later 'Downton Abbey, both on ITV during the 1960s and 1970s. BBC 2 also had comedy by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, fresh from the success of their comedy review 'Beyond The Fringe', called 'Not Only, But Also.' It was also from'Beyond The Fringe' that the remaining pair, Alan Bennett and Jonathan Miller, went on to either write or direct. Miller did a rather self indulgent adaptations of 'Alice In Wonderland', which was never intended for a children's audience. Downstairs', 'Downton Abbey' and a range of crime serials, from 'Morse' through to 'Broadchurch' and 'Grantchester. A really big serial came in around 1981, 'Brideshead Revisited.' Based on the Evelyn Waugh novel. It had a great cast, which included Jeremy Irons, Anthony Andrews, Laurence Olivier, Diana Quick and John Gielgud, with Castle Howard in Yorkshire standing in for Brideshead. It was very lavish and not the type of series that would be made now, because of the cost of production and wouldn't be a fit for how ITV has now become.
In around 1982, Channel 4 came along. It was intended to be an alternative to the mainstream channels and to not pander to ratings. A great deal of imaginative and original material, not seen elsewhere. Channel 4 was what's known as a 'publisher' channel. It doesn't make it's own programmes, but commissions programming from independent producers.
In the early 1989s, along came Sky television, beamed into homes via satellite. Eventually it developed into a multichannel platform, with sport being the main selling point. Then, the analogue television system was closed down and digital television came in. As a result, the number of channels increased considerably. The BBC had BBC1 and 2, then BBC 3 was introduced, aimed at a youth audience and BBC 4, for more cultured programming. ITV had its main channel, imaginatively called ITV 1 and then 2, 3, 4 etc, all of which were very much the same as each other, although I think there must have been some sort of difference. Then there was UKTV, a sort of hybrid channel, partly owned by the BBC's commercial arm and Thames Television. It has since been fully owned by the BBC. It shows a good deal of original programming, but mostly its reruns of BBC shows and quite a few from independent production companies. UKTV (now, imaginatively called simply 'U'.) has a portfolio of channels, Gold, Dave, Eden etc.
Then, in the early 2000s, along came streaming, with BBCi Player, Netflix, Disney+ and a host of other services, enabling the viewer to watch television programmes whenever they wanted, without having to wait for the next episode in most cases, as all episodes of some shows were uploaded, so, if you wanted to, you could 'binge' watch an entire season one after the other.
As things are at the time of writing, it looks as if traditional 'linear' television has had its day.
Saturday evenings in the 1960s were really great, from what I recall. There was Grandstand during the afternoon, which then got replaced by a children's show of some sort. Basil Brush or Jim'll Fix it. Then Doctor Who. Later in the evening there would be some sort of entertainment show, starring Cilla Black, Val Doonican or Lulu. A huge hit would be 'The Two Ronnies' starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. These were termed 'light entertainment' and made up quite a large portion of the schedule on not only BBC1, but ITV and Channel 4.
On a Sunday, at teatime, there was always a classic novel adaptation. Charles Dickens was a favourite. 'Great Expectations' being a novel which was adapted several times. The BBC did 'Play of The Month' on Sunday evenings, and you could expect very well mounted and acted productions of plays by Shaw, J.M. Barrie, Wilde, Chekov and Ibsen.
ITV had 'Game For A Laugh', '3,2,1', 'Blind Date, 'Upstairs, Downstair', and a whole range of successful programmes.
Generally, the television we had, with only three channels and, possibly four, when Channel Four came along, was relatively good. That was it. You couldn't record until the first cassette recorders came along, There were two systems, Betamax and VHS. These came in around 1975. So, with such a machine you could 'time shift' a programme, so you could watch it later or even keep it. We now have, since broadband Internet has become so prevalent, streaming of programmes is now possible. 'Catch-up' in the sense, that if you missed an episode of your favourite show, you could use streaming to watch it.
So, what do we have today? More channels than ever before. Digital has meant we can have more or less countless channels. Freeview, which seems to be the main service in Britain for television, keeps on adding new channels to its platform. If you sign up to any of the streaming services, such as Disney+ or Netflix, you can watch programming which is exclusive to those services.
I know I have waffled a bit here. Sorry about that. What I am endeavouring to say is, our television in this country used to be far better than it is now. We seemed to have a much wider choice, even with only 3 or 4 channels. Someone said, I think it might have been Margaret Thatcher, that with privatisation of utilities (and possibly with television) choice would be better. It doesn't look like it now. Television has lost any sense of imagination. Each day is identical to the next. Programmes are 'stripped' across the schedules, with the same programmes on each day at the same time. There are endless programmes on the same subject, such as gardening, antiques, homes for sale. Game shows proliferate, with some days one after another and at the same time across channels (Pointless is on BBC1, with The Chase on ITV at the same time. We get endless 'who dunnits', police procedurals, some of which are what I would term 'soft', some with a comic edge, such as 'Father Brown.' Beautifully written, acted and directed, but a bit predictable. Perhaps that's what a lot of people want.
The fact is, with only four channels, there was more money to spend on programmes. The BBC had the licence fee and the commercial channels had advertising revenue. With the possibility that the licence could be abandoned all together (it has never been fully discussed, how it could be funded after the current charter runs out. Possibly a subscription service? Paid for out of taxation? Seems unlikely.) Now, in the present financial state of the country, fewer and fewer people are paying the licence fee and preferring to only rely on the streaming services. Also, the 18-30 age group rarely watch any BBC channels, and if they do watch BBC material, it is through catch-up, such as iPlayer.
The rate of technical progress in the media industry, driven by the internet, as well as other factors, have changed the broadcasting landscape dramatically over the last couple of decades. The BBC hasn't kept up with these changes entirely successfully. Yes, they have websites, iPlayer and use digital recording equipment, but the idea of what is called broadcast television, that is, a schedule of television programmes which are broadcast via transmitter and shown one after the other. Or, if you like, traditional television. As I was growing up, this what I was used to. Once a programme was broadcast, that was it. You might get a repeat broadcast at a later date, but this was very rare, Even today, such programmes as 'Dad's Army' and 'Fawlty Towers' gets repeated on the main television channels. But now, with streaming, you can watch programmes whenever and however you like. There are free services, such as BBC iPlayer, funded by the television licence. and others which are free and have advertising and sponsorship, such as the unimaginatively named 'U', formerly known as UKTV, as well as Channel 5 and Channel 4, although 4 has a paid subscription service without advertising.
The BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and 5 can hardly compete with the streaming platforms, as regards budgets. A show such as 'The Crown' had a massive budget, somewhere in the region of £100 million. For that they could afford lavish sets, locations all around the country and the world, a first-class cast of actors. The traditional channels would never be able to afford that sort of budget for a series, even though it ran for six seasons.
ITV and the other terrestrial channels are loosing advertising revenue, partly due to advertising budgets being cut, but also because advertisers prefer to spend elsewhere, such as social media.
So, in conclusion, how is the landscape going to change? Is the BBC going to have to loose the television license? How will it be funded in the future? Are we going to loose the big budget dramas which were so brilliant in the past? It used to be a highlight of the autumn schedules to have a classic adaptation at one time, but perhaps they've run out of Jane Austen novels to adapt.
As regards the television licence, which is currently £174.50, which actually pays for radio as well, not just the main stations, such as Radio1,2,3 and 4, but many digital stations as well as local radio stations. But as regards television, we do seem to get less from far more, so I'm not sure about being value for money.
