Mark Thompson photographed with memo revealing Andy Coulson's 'concern' that BBC gives context to cuts coverageThe BBC has been forced to defend its impartiality after Mark Thompson, the director general, was photographed yesterday going into a meeting in Downing Street to discuss a season of TV and radio programmes about the government's spending cuts.Thompson was photographed carrying an internal email from Helen Boaden, the BBC News director, saying that she had had lunch with Andy Coulson, the coalition government's director of communications, at which he had expressed concern "that we give context to our Spending Review Season".Boaden's email went on to provide Thompson with briefing notes on the season – which begins next week across BBC TV, radio and online services – for his...

Director Richard Clark has (accidentally?) revealed that Doctor Who actor and frequent scriptwriter Mark Gatiss will be penning an episode for next year, though it would seem that no one bothered to notice. He Tweeted the information in early August, but has anyone actually heard this? He discusses Gatiss ("Unquiet Dead", "Idiot's Lantern", "Victory of the Daleks", co-creator of Sherlock), Neil Gaiman, and boring BBC production meetings.In the thick of Dr Who. New drafts coming along. Mark Gatiss story wonderful.He also Tweeted (Twittered? Twottered? Twittened?) such gems as . . .Neil's script read wonderfully. We're on our way.And . . .Production meeting done. Brain mush. Food, storyboard, sleep. Big day of rehearsals with Matt.Richard Clark previously directed "The Lazarus Experiment",...

Original Home Page – And another very early post from this blog Current Latest Page All Contents of Site – Index Sign the Ban Blair-Baiting petition here Comment at end 31st August 2010 ARE YOU SITTING COMFORTABLY? THEN HE’LL BEGIN Only 15 minutes to wait, kiddies. According to the dedicated website here – http://www.tonyblairjourney.co.uk/Exclusive_extracts_released – it shouldn’t be long before the press are at it hammer and tongs. The papers and the broadcasters have already leaked a little. One, on Gordon Brown, and two on Mr Blair’s appearance in January at the Iraq Inquiry. On Gordon Brown it is said by one of the leaking papers that Tony Blair has accused Mr Brown of “trying to blackmail me.” Even without the present soul of the...

During the same speech in which he recently defended the UK television license fee, BBC director-general Mark Thompson, speaking to the Edinburgh International Television Festival audience, mentioned that the corporation plans to launch an international commercial version of the BBC iPlayer within one year. The iPlayer, if you don't already know, is an Internet service that allows users to stream BBC television and radio from the previous seven days, effectively catching up on everything they've missed. This new international version, however, would most likely have a fee associated, though not a licence fee, of course.The plans, which are subject to approval by the BBC Trust, will hopefully allow viewers around the world to watch BBC programmes, including Doctor Who, Torchwood and The...

Original Home Page – And another very early post from this blog Current Latest Page All Contents of Site – Index Sign the Ban Blair-Baiting petition here Comment at end 29th August 2010 John Rentoul appeared by webcam on Susanna Reid‘s Sunday Morning Live this morning, debating Tony Blair. [Watch it here, once they upload it.] You can also comment at the BBC’s website here, as I have done. [Starts here - "Was Tony Blair a force for good?", if you'd rather skip cats and faith schools.] After they discussed REALLY important things like the furore over the woman, Mary Bale, who put her cat, Lola in a bin, and the ensuing calls for her death on Facebook as well as millions of hits on YouTube (watch here.) The BIG question was – “Are we too obsessed with...

Last night I posted yet another overly long piece, this one in reaction to and summary for BBC director-general Mark Thompson's speech about the television tax and what it means for the future of British television. Of course, news sources across the country have been vigorously responding to this controversial news, some more reasonable than others; Beehive City has summarized just about all of the important ones, calling the debate itself "hopelessly polarised". This is directly copy-and-pasted (the greatest tool in journalism), so please excuse any spelling errors.Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are those of the Beehive City author and do not necessarily represent Life, Doctor Who, and Combom, its staff, its contributors, or its pantomime horses.BBC to cut pay for top presenters...

There's a good piece in the Daily Mail today with great photos of the current cast of The Road to Coronation Street (formerly Coronation Street: A Star Is Born and formerly Florizel Street before that) along side the original characters and I must say, they certainly do have the look! In the Mail, some of the well known history behind Coronation Street's journey to the screen is repeated along...

Original Home Page – And another very early post from this blog Current Latest Page All Contents of Site – Index Sign the Ban Blair-Baiting petition here Comment at end 29th August 2010 Abdel Bari Atwan: “That’s the problem in the west here. You always blame the victims.” Laugh? I could have cried The reason for my laughter and tears? Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor-in-chief of al-Quds al-Arabi [more about Mr Atwan and his paper here, below] This remark, THIS, is on BBC TV in self-flagellation Britain where anyone who DARES to question anything … ANYTHING to do with Islam is shunned as a pariah and pushed outside the building to fume away on their little ownsome [for instance Geert Wilders;  and the English Defence League.] Yesterday at lunchtime, before I climbed back on...

"For the BBC I believe this will be a moment of realism and a recognition of the scale of the challenge facing licence fee payers and the country as a whole."This top story has torn through all news venues across the UK, awakening doubts as to the role the BBC ought to play in British television. Next year the broadcasting superpower of the world will re-negotiate the yearly television license fee that all Brits with television sets (are supposed to) pay in order to (legally) watch or record televised transmissions. This is currently £145.50 for color TV and £49 for black and white. But really, who watches black and white? This tax raised £3.45 billion in 2009-2010, the income of which is made to fund the television, radio, and online services provided by the BBC; however, this...

As the world music DJ gets ready to return to the BBC, he talks to Vanessa Thorpe about culture, war zones – and John Peel'In my view, if you do something, it's worth doing it in a very big way; whether you are talking about travel, listening to Bob Dylan, or romance." For Andy Kershaw this is still as close to a guide for good living as it gets. And the credo has served him fairly well, though it did prove unreliable three years ago when he applied it both to drinking and to a widely reported domestic and emotional meltdown.Now recovered, on the wagon, and on the brink of returning to BBC radio with a series of world music documentaries, Kershaw is determinedly sticking with his passionate approach to life. Innately curious and with an encyclopaedic memory for facts and figures, he...

Series 5 of Doctor Who saw its broadcast time pushed back far beyond what was normally expected of the Russell T Davies Era, and the series has suffered a severe drop in ratings as a result, though most of this has been made up for in the BBC iPlayer and Internet downloads. Nevertheless, BBC One Controller Jay Hunt has commented on the possibility of readjusting the show's schedule as well as the show's success in general."We're talking about what form Doctor Who will take. I think the interesting thing with having Steven [Moffat] running that show now is it will be very much a creative decision. He will decide what he thinks is right for the show. . . . It's one of the most terrifying things about being a BBC One controller — to be in charge of a regeneration and to cast the new Doctor...

Minister says BBC 'has to live on the same planet' as official austerity drive and won't rule out licence fee reductionThe culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has warned the BBC that it faces making deeper cuts and refused to rule out a reduction the licence fee.Hunt, speaking in an interview at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, likened the BBC's situation to that facing government departments, which he said are being forced to make cuts upward of 25%. "The BBC has to live on the same planet as everyone else," he said.He was then asked if he considered the BBC to be a government department. "I wouldn't describe it as a government department. It is an arm's length body, a public body," he replied.Hunt reiterated his desire to see the corporation subjected to...

BBC director general Mark Thompson says Sky is becoming 'dominant force' in British TV – but isn't investing enoughMark Thompson, the BBC director general, launched a scathing attack on Rupert Murdoch's media empire tonight, warning that BSkyB is too powerful and threatens to "dwarf" the BBC and its competitors.Delivering the annual MacTaggart lecture at the Mediaguardian Edinburgh television festival, Thompson rounded on Sky's chairman, James Murdoch, who used the same speech last year to attack the corporation."A year ago, James Murdoch fretted aloud about the lamentable dominance of the BBC," he said. "He was able to do that only by leaving Sky out of the equation."Thompson said Sky was "well on its way to being the most dominant force in broadcast media in this country".He said...

Though there have been rumors that the 1996 Television Movie starring Paul McGann would not be released in the US and elsewhere beyond the UK because of Universal Television's rights, Dan Hall, Commissioning Editor of the 2|entertain Doctor Who range, recently revealed in an interview with Hoo on Who that the TVM will be released on DVD in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. *Deep breath* Long sentence. As the Doctor Who News Page summarizes:The TV Movie stars Paul McGann in his one television appearance as as the Eighth Doctor. It was made as a co-production between Universal Television, BBC Television, BBC Worldwide, and the Fox Network and as a result the DVD rights outside the UK were not, until now, available to 2|entertain. Following discussions between 2|entertain and...

The EyeExperts.co.uk saga has been a long and weary one, but finally our Bitterwallet reader has managed to get a result. If you recall, EyeExperts are one of the many guises of the Keswani Brothers (who are also involved in marketing, advertising and pornography, at least according to the Indian Police). It seems several readers have had problems with their service in the past, and in this particular instance, our reader was left waiting over ten weeks before receiving a satisfactory response from EyeExperts, after they refused to refund their order and made continuous excuses about lost orders and missing frames: I am happy to update you on EyeExperts; on Friday they arranged for a call back from the boss who said he would refund my money. I requested both my money and expenses, he...

Dear BBC Radio 4, please note that when I’m listening in via an application on my iPhone and hear a presenter inform the world that “later we’ll be discussing whether graduates are... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]...

Spokesman praises corporation's output, but says it needs a specialist correspondent to act as 'trusted guide'The Church of England has called on the BBC to appoint a religion editor to act as a "trusted guide" for people with faith as well as those without.The Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch, Bishop of Manchester and the Church of England's senior spokesman on communications, said it made no sense to have editors for arts, science and business but not for religion.It backed a call made by Roger Bolton, the presenter of BBC Radio 4's Feedback programme, for BBC News to appoint a religion editor earlier this year.McCulloch made the comments in the Church of England's response to the BBC Trust's review on BBC Radio 3, Radio 4 and digital station Radio 7, which is to be rebranded as Radio 4 Extra.The...

The folks at In Birmingham have picked up on Andy Burnham MP‘s comments about social mobility and the issues around unpaid internships. Andy Burnham used the BBC to make his point, saying: ‘There are young people working within the BBC for long periods without pay’, he said.  ‘This is not fair to them, but more importantly it excludes many others who simply don’t have the means to support themselves’ While someone from In Birmingham has applied the same to this city’s cultural industries, using un/low paid opportunities at Punch Records and VIVID as examples. Here’s the article – Exploitation in the Cultural Sector: unpaid internships in Birmingham’s cultural industries. Go comment if you’ve got an opinion either way. © chrisunitt for...

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Original Home Page – And another very early post from this blog Current Latest Page All Contents of Site – Index Sign the Ban Blair-Baiting petition here Comment at end 22nd August 2010 PATHOLOGIST: DAVID KELLY’S DEATH A “TEXTBOOK SUICIDE” Nicholas Hunt, the pathologist who performed the autopsy on David Kelly’s body told The Sunday Times: “I felt very, very sorry for David Kelly and the way he had been treated by the Government… I had every reason to look for something untoward and would dearly love to have found something.” The post before last I said I’d be publishing a Pat Condell video, and I will. Eventually. Things keep getting in the way. Little everyday things like a so-called journalist expecting a former prime minister to...

Original Home Page – And another very early post from this blog Current Latest Page All Contents of Site – Index Sign the Ban Blair-Baiting petition here Comment at end 21st August 2010 Congratulations, for once, to the BBC. The videos below of Panorama’s “What happened on the Flotilla to Gaza” have been uploaded to the YouTube channel of Douglas Murray, who describes himself as BritishNeoCon So that’s lost me one reader. Come BACK, Peter! You’re supposed to be of the right too! These are videos of a recent Panorama programme. As far as I can tell they have not been doctored or edited by Murray. All the BBC’s own work. Must be worth an open-minded look. 1/2 – Panorama – What happened on the Flotilla to Gaza 2/2 – Panorama...

Both Karen Gillan and Matt Smith appeared on The One Show this morning, as we reported yesterday. Some of the highlights included Chris Evans, ex-husband of Billie "Bills" Piper, calling Karen "50% of the most explosive TV couple Doctor Who's ever seen", a vat of batter, and Evans dressing up as some sort of deranged gourd. Yet the most pressing question asked was how the two actors went about on the risqué kissing scene from "Flesh and Stone".Smith, who soon after said that "it was tough", was the first to reply. "We just said, 'Let's go for it.'" Gillan added, "Yeah . . . I just planted one on him. No, it was fine. We just sort of joked our way through it."Alex Jones, the host, further questioned Gillan as to whether or not she enjoyed it. "Not initially, no, coz it was pretty weird."...

I see that Ray Gosling is to be charged with wasting police time. This relates to an interview that the journalist gave some time ago, in which he claimed to have killed an ex-lover of his who was in pain with terminal AIDS. At the time plod arrested him on suspicion of murder, but have since changed their mind about the reliability of Gosling’s claims. I don’t dispute that if Gosling’s claim was somewhat less than truthful, and that he had been attempting to spark debate, make a point, oreven (such cynicism….) revive a flagging career, then he chosea damn-fool way to go about it, adn probably has wasted plod’s time and public money; but…. ….is there anyone better than the police themselves at wasting their own time? …remember this?...

TV presenter told BBC programme he killed his partner, who was dying of AidsA BBC presenter who claimed on a television programme to have killed his dying partner is due to be charged with wasting police time today, according to reports.Ray Gosling told the East Midlands Inside Out programme in February that he had smothered his lover, who was dying of Aids in hospital. Gosling said that his partner had been in "terrible pain" when a doctor told him there was nothing more that could be done. He said that he asked the doctor to leave them alone and then "I picked up the pillow and smothered him until he was dead".Gosling, 71, was arrested on suspicion of murder 36 hours after the programme aired. He is due to answer police bail in Nottingham this afternoon, when according to the Times...

Original Home Page – And another very early post from this blog Current Latest Page All Contents of Site – Index Sign the Ban Blair-Baiting petition here Comment at end 19th August 2010 ANDREW MARR TO INTERVIEW BLAIR ON 1st SEPTEMBER Order The Journey here. 40% off list price. It is clear what irritates much of the British press about Tony Blair;  his inconsiderate habit of breathing. But that temporary setback aside, more disconcerting for troof seekers is Blair’s really irritating tendency to ignore the media. Like all bullies and liars, the press hate to be ignored. And they’re running out of descriptive words, now that he’s no longer supplying them with triggers. Since the long-established press intelligentsia and literrati position of using any news on Mr...

The Doctor has saved entire races, planets, and even the occasional universe, but at last the Time Lord has done what no other hero has ever accomplished. He saved The One Show. Broadcast on BBC One to an average audience of five million, the popular morning programme has never before faced such a crisis.". . . Desperate producers had NO ONE booked to appear on the revamped BBC1 show tomorrow night [Friday]. They were frantically ringing agents and PRs and getting knockbacks at every turn. Talent chiefs were stunned to discover the show had failed to secure a booking so late in the day."[Television agents] were quite surprised they were asking so late in the day if [they] had anyone who could appear on the show. Getting people at short notice in summer is tricky, so it was pretty odd for...

UK Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg (pictured above) yesterday marked 100 days of the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government with an attempt to shift the political agenda beyond the negative issue of public spending cuts and onto more positive territory such as tackling social mobility.  Mr Clegg said the government was “about much more than cuts” and pledged to deliver a “fairer, more open, more mobile society”. Nice try, Nick. But whether social mobility will be possible soon when most of the trains and buses aren’t running due to the public spending cuts and nobody can afford the fares anyway is a moot question. What planet are these people on ? But I suppose little rich boys like Mr Clegg have never deigned to use public...

Thanks to Alwynash for sharing the information he personally received from the BBC.On Saturday 28th August Doctor Who fans north of the border (no, US fans, not Canada) will be able to meet Doctor Who star Karen Gillan as she visits Hamleys flagship store in Glasgow, St Enoch Shopping Centre for her first in-store signing event.Karen, who plays companion Amy Pond, will be signing copies of her action figure from 12 noon to 2pm at Hamleys flagship store in Glasgow. From 9am fans will be able to collect a wrist band from the store to ensure their place in the queue. Talking about the visit, Karen said: "I’m so excited to be travelling up to Scotland to introduce fans to my new Amy Pond action figure, I can’t wait to meet everyone." Doctor Who Star Karen Gillan visits Glasgow for her...

The British coalition government’s already increasingly beleagured, surly and haggard-looking Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (pictured above) said yesterday that the Treasury was making “good progress” on identifying forthcoming public spending cuts, describing the process as a “collective effort”. But he said no government department’s budget had been agreed yet. And he staunchly defended the coalition government’s planned spending cuts, claiming that “income distribution was not the only measure of fairness” and that the cuts would “help create a more progressive society”. George is actually right on both counts – income distribution has NEVER been a measure of fairness and the cuts are going to...

After its original presenters defect to ITV, Jason Manford and Alex Jones pick up the mantle of hosting the popular showThey might prove the hardest TV double act to follow since Ant and Dec. The easy chemistry of co-hosts Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley drew millions of viewers to The One Show, with its bizarre but cheery mix of showbiz chat, soft news and slimming advice for overweight pets. On Monday evening, new hosts Jason Manford and Alex Jones will take their places on the sofa.Both presenters admitted to nerves but insisted it would be business as usual. "It's more us getting used to the show rather than us changing it," said Jones. "It's going to be tough because they were great on screen and engaged me as a viewer. I think we'll be different, a bit more brotherly and...

It seems the BBC bobble heads who present the vacuous insipid Breakfast shows that pertains to present news are in revolt about being sent to Purdah in Manchester. Two of em’ are saying they’ll quit, and one of them will take early retirement. They quite rightly point out that the BBC bosses won’t be joining them as they go into anaphylactic shock if they’re forced to move further than 10 miles from Harvey Nicks so why the hell should they move? Now whilst it is common knowledge that Manchester is a fetid shithole with all the charismatic appeal of the inside of an empty crisp packet, I am nevertheless impressed that people that thick have been able to work this out.Maybe its because there aren’t any Waitrose up there where they can get their Organic Peace Crisps that tipped...

The folks at Engadget have posted rumoured details of the next-gen Apple TV. Among the unsubstantiated rumours that the entire article is composed of, is the declaration that Apple is to rename the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]...

Automated journalism – factual reports put together by data collating algorithms scouting the web –  certainly has its uses, most keenly in data-heavy areas such as finance and sport. (Reuters already use something similar for stock reports.) As these systems evolve, the question for potential commercial users will be one of copyright – where to draw the line between collating a consensus of opinion and just ripping off other people's words?Well, here’s an idea – why not let public service news providers use them? If a PSB such as the BBC has a not-for-profit status, could it be allowed a broader range of materials to provide a partially automated reporting system based on consensus from wire and other sources?It would have no personality, of course – but then that would...

Silva Screen, the same music company that published the previous three soundtracks, has announced the track listing for Doctor Who: Series 4 — The Specials. The two-disc set will be released 20th September. Please don't complain about the length of this post; it is the complete selection of tracks, and if you can't be bothered to read it . . . well, that's what scrolling is for.Disc 1"Vale"— The Next Doctor"A Victorian Christmas""Not the Doctor""A Bit of a Drag""In the Sea of Memory""Hidden in the Closet""The Wonder of Balloons""A Forceful Intelligence""The Greats of Past Time""The March of the Cybermen""Goodbyes"— Planet of the Dead"A Disturbance in the Night""The Cat Burglar""Alone in the Desert""A Special Sort of Bus""Stirring in the Sands""Lithuania"— The Waters of Mars"Letter...

At the recent Being Human panel at Comic-Con, Russell Tovey, who most recently played Alonzo Frame in a scene of The End of Time, Part Two, stated that he has "no idea [about appearing in Torchwood]. Genuinely no idea."There's been lots of rumors. I did that scene, and I never really thought anything of it. . . . To be honest, I've never really watched Torchwood. But since [that scene] I've been bombarded with messages asking 'Are you gonna be Jack's lover?' I genuinely don't know."This probably means that Tovey's character will only be mentioned at most; but of course if he has been contacted by the BBC, he would never tell us anyway. But that's because today's source is Digital Spy, which also broke the startling news that Torchwood: The New World will have a sense of humor. Nice one,...

Nigel Farage has been interviewed by the BBC on what the future holds for him. Surprisingly for the EU-funded Brussels Broadcasting Corporation, it hasn't been a stitch-up.  In fact, the BBC seem to have developed a grudging respect for our former leader. Read the BBC article What now for UKIP's Nigel...

Yesterday I found myself trying to defend the price of the TV licence but after finding out that part of this revenue goes to staff that can’t remember where their BBC issue tech is I’m not so sure I want to keep on paying. It turns out that workers at the Beeb have managed to misplace £241,019 worth of gadgets between April 2008 and March 2010 according to a freedom of information act request. Computer security firm Absolute Software, who put in the request for these details, said staff needed to be more careful. That’s putting it rather mildly aint it? 146 laptops, 17 BlackBerrys and 65 mobile phones are AWOL from Auntie Beeb with Dave Everitt from Absolute Software stating that: “It is shocking that any organisation could lose so much...

Freedom of information request reveals gadgets equivalent to 1,656 licence fees were reported lost or stolen over two yearsBBC laptops and mobiles worth more than £240,000 have been lost or stolen over the past two years, a Freedom of Information Act request by computer security firm Absolute Software has revealed.Between April 2008 and March this year, 146 laptops, 65 mobile phones and 17 BlackBerry devices were reported as lost or stolen by corporation staff – the equivalent of 1,656 TV licence fees.The missing laptops were valued at £219,000, the mobile phones at £12,913 and the BlackBerrys at £9,106. Nineteen items worth £23,450 were recovered in this time, leaving the bill at £217,569.The FoI request– part of Absolute Software's drive to highlight of laptop security –...

Much enjoyed, and yes the modern setting does work and gives a new slant to the characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I especially liked the climax with Moriarty at the end, although the character was not how I imagined him to be. As with Rev, please BBC another...

Sources at the Television Critics' Association Press Release have reported that Series 4 of Torchwood will carry an overarching title. Much like Series 3 had "Children of Earth", Series 4 is Torchwood: The New World. The Hollywood Reporter quotes Head Writer and Showrunner Russell T Davies as well as Julie Gardner.The new story will follow a CIA agent (Rex) and analyst (Ester) who tackle an alien-related global issue. Torchwood, having been destroyed and disbanded, is "like a legend now ... it's like something that's ceased to exist and is now spoken of only in whispers." Soon, Rex and Ester are on the run and are seeking out the help of Captain Jack and Gwen. The two teams coming together is a big part of the story -- are they friends or enemies? There's a lot of sparks and...