bbc

1959: A Panorama Guide / 15.04.09

This programme has been hanging around on BBC Four for a while, but I think it’s only available on iPlayer now until 22 April, and is well worth your time if you’re at all interested in social history. Although it’s partly a celebration of the Panorama team of the time, it also has fascinating reports on the issues of the day, such as the idealistic experiment of new towns such as Harlow in Essex, race relations, youth culture and the political fallout of Britain’s decline of Empire.

If In Doubt, Bias Up Your Copy / 13.01.09

From the BBC News site today:

“A US teenager killed his mother and wounded his father in revenge after they took away his violent computer game, a judge has ruled.”

The game in question? Nope, not GTA, not Manhunt 2, not even the chain-saw-mungus Gears of War. Nope we’re talking about Halo 3. Seriously…

AGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH / 01.12.08

Oh, for FUCK’S sake.

Torchwood star John Barrowman has apologised for exposing his genitals during a live BBC Radio 1 broadcast.
“I was joining in the light-hearted and fun banter of the show and went too far,” he said. “I was wrong to do this and it will never happen again.”
The BBC has also apologised for the incident on Sunday’s Switch show, which prompted one listener to complain.

One listener. ONE listener. One less than originally complained about the infamous Ross/Brand phone call. Would someone at the Beeb PLEASE get a backbone? Go on; tell a licence payer to fuck off. You’ll feel better, honestly. A world where John Barrowman can’t get his nuts out, is not a world I want to live in.

8 comments

Hooray for old BBC sites that are still online! / 16.10.08

For instance, how about the site for On The Record, which finished at the end of 2002? You can even still watch the last episode - amazing how easy it is to forget how bad online video was back then…

Someone must be able to beat December 2002 for the oldest abandoned BBC site still online, though. Any takers? Old BBC News pages don’t count, you cheating bastards.

4 comments

Weird BBC Policy / 08.03.08

Right, firstly, I can't actually link directly to this, because in the BBC website's infinite wisdom, it changes the Feedback page depending on the site based on the referer - so if I directly link to it, it'll go to the normal Feedback page rather than the Doctor Who one. Absolutely abysmal website design.

So, you'll have to go here, and then then click on FAQs at the bottom.

BBC Poos (News) / 14.11.07

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7093358.stm

"Customers will not be able to download the comics either, which can only be viewed in a web browser window."

Leaving aside the rather awkward use of the term "web browser window" - IF YOU CAN SEE THE COMIC IN YOUR BROWSER, YOU'VE ALREADY DOWNLOADED IT. I mean, is it really that hard to get this kind of thing right? Saving != Downloading. Come on BBC, sort it out.