Thursday, April 2, 2015

B is for BBC

One of the things I miss about living in England was the television programming.  It was one of the ways that my husband and I were able to get some pop-cultural knowledge about the country we were calling  home for a while without looking like weirdos and asking the locals.

A bit of a shock was the TV Tax or TV License, which is mandatory for all residents (including us) to pay.  As the official TV License website describes it:

You need to be covered by a valid TV Licence if you watch or record TV as it's being broadcast. This includes the use of devices such as a computer, laptop, mobile phone or DVD/video recorder.
It costs £145.50 for colour and £49.00 for a black and white TV Licence.

And you can be fined if you don't have the license in force.  You pay it once a year, and the cost goes toward the BBC's online, radio, and television services. Yep...all of it. 

We knew some people who indignantly didn't think it was necessary...after all, what did the BBC do for them?  

Well, I'll tell you why we didn't mind paying the TV License fee.

Not only did the BBC seem to have (relatively) unbiased news reporting--far more facts than sensationalized stories--but we learned quickly that if something from America made the news over in the UK, it was probably actual news. Think Ferguson, or the Sandy Hook school shootings, not the petty, in-between drivel most of the US news networks cram into their reporting. 

The BBC also has fun radio stations (often unimaginatively called BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, etc.), with great content worth listening to.

But we particularly enjoyed the BBC's television. Not only did the BBC have coverage of the Olympic games in 2012 that made NBC's coverage look like a bunch of monkeys were doing it (sorry, Bob Costas), but their regular programming is unique.  The BBC is responsible for the phenomenon Sherlock, and for Top Gear, and for the fantastic panel show QI (stands for "Quite Interesting"), hosted by the extremely British Stephen Fry. 

This is why I was happy to pay the TV Licensing fee--it was completely worth it to have quality programming that wasn't being churned out of the lame-idea mill.  And if I see another CSI or NCIS spin-off, I just might punch someone in the nuts. 

Thankfully, BBC America seems to broadcast at least some of their programming, so Americans aren't completely deprived.

Do you have a favorite BBC show?

Tune in (see what I did there?) tomorrow for C! It's one of my favorite UK cities...

xoxo Sarah





20 comments:

  1. I've only gotten to enjoy BBC stateside, but really enjoy a lot of the shows and miniseries they put out.

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    1. Aren't they awesome? That's exactly how we enjoy it now. :-)

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  2. 1. Merlin. Even though, as a student of the Arthurian Legends for the past half century, some of its facets set my teeth on edge, I loved the fact that it was a show that my (then) tweenage daughter & I could enjoy together without my having to prescreen it.

    2. Atlantis. Because who doesn't love Alan Tudyk?? And the actor who plays Jason (brain pause; please forgive me, I'm on vacation at the moment and this WiFi connection is wonky at best :) is nice eye candy.

    3. Musketeers. I missed all of season 1, so I need to catch up, but I got enough of the drift from the recap dialogue. I love the Aramis actor (again, apologies for the brain pause), whom I fell in love with as Lancelot in BBC's Merlin -- and I was =really= peeved that he didn't have a larger role in that series. So, BBC is forgiven for using him here in a big (and, ironically, much closer to the traditional Arthurian stories about a warrior and his queen) way. :D

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    1. AH! More for me to check out! I've heard great things about Merlin, but I haven't heard of the others, and I LOVE Alan Tudyk! :-D

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  3. Thank you for visiting my blog. :) I can't offer much on your topic today as we have never had a TV, so I don't watch. Hopefully other days will give me more to talk about. :) Happy A to Z!

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    1. That's absolutely fine! I watch far less than I used to...gotta make time for the writing. Hope you enjoy my other posts!

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  4. I have a TON of favorite BBC shows, and thankfully, so does Hulu Plus! Before Hulu, I was forced to buy DVDs from Amazon UK.

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    1. I might have to check that out to get my fix in! :-D

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  5. Merlin was my favorite BBC show. I don't get much time right now to watch any shows...Good luck on the A to Z Challenge!

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    1. Thank you! I've heard good things about Merlin. I'll have to check it out!

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  6. Aghhh! TV licence! hmmm... we usually only put the TV on at the weekends for a couple of hours and not often BBC but ITV. However, we still need the licence which then works out about £3 every time we turn it on! Gosh... seeing it in black & white I think we need to get rid of it! :P Life Diet Health (A-Z 678 atow)

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    1. ITV was a favorite of ours as well! Makes me wish they broadcast more ITV shows in the states, too. *sadface*

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  7. Thanks to Netflix, we get to watch Top Gear and Sherlock, two of our favorite shows. But there are so many others we've been wanting to catch. Great post!

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    1. Netflix is awesome for that! Enjoy the other shows if you have time. :-)

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  8. Glad to see a plug for the BBC - still the best by far. We have reached the age where we get our licence for free.
    But I still get incensed that you have to pay to watch events like the Ryder Cup where the commercial channels now outbid the BBC for TV rights.

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    1. Aw. That's not good! They do similar things over here in the states with TV packaging deals. Makes me mad, too.

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  9. BBC is my favourite channel especially for international news. I would not say its totally unbiased but I guess we now have the choice of looking up other sources for more info if needed. However we can watch only BBC World News in India and dont have to pay the 'tax' - possibly its included in the charges for the cable TV services. Favourite shows? Many.. Click, Hard Talk, Horizons...

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    1. It is pretty awesome! I'll have to check some of those out. :-)

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  10. I must admit, I am grateful we have the BBC - I love QI, and I love Would I Lie to You?, too. :) They're also responsible for a lot of period/historical dramas - it was the BBC who showed The Tudors over here, as well as the recent adaptation of Wolf Hall.

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    1. I'd completely forgotten about Would I Lie to You! Thanks for reminding me!

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