Wish You Were Here: The BBC

Even growing up in the States, I knew about the BBC (if only vaguely). I mean, it didn't carry Buck Rogers, Battlestar Galactica or Family Ties, but I still knew about it, and knew from my Greener friends that it had stuff worth watching. There was a time - as recently as the 90s - when British television had the (perhaps deserved) reputation as being a) boring and b) limited. When I first came here in 1992, there were 4 channels. Four. Two of those were BBC channels, one was a commercial station and the other one was Welsh language. We had to book one of the only two rooms in the dorm with a television to watch coverage of the '92 elections, and even that was a struggle. It's probably safe to say that my view of the BBC was very similar to most people's back then...

It's only been since moving here in 96, though, and gettting to see first-hand what the BBC has to offer that I've come to appreciate what a national treasure the Beeb really is. I loved my experience with PBS in the States, but I always felt that PBS was the perennially under-funded red-headed stepchild of American broadcasting. It survives in the shadows of commercial broadcasting and often is seen as a resource only for the more serious adults, or the less fortunate children. Thankfully, the BBC doesn't suffer the same financial pressures that PBS does, and because of that, exists in a league of its own when it comes to commercial-free broadcasting.

For those of you who don't know about how TV works in the UK, lemmie explain. No, there is too much; lemmie sum up. In the UK, everyone needs to be covered by a valid TV Licence if they 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. A license to watch stuff in colour costs £145.50 a year, and a black and white license costs £49 a year. So everyone is meant to pay this license. The Government Bods have trucks the go around looking for people who are watching TV and trying to catch those who are doing it without having paid their license fee. It's a big deal. That money then goes to fund BBC broadcasting so that it can remain free of commercials. That's right... good programming AND no commercials! We don't have to choose one or the other! Sidenote: I was stunned last time I was home with the sheer volume of commercials on US television and with how many of them were selling some kind of prescription drug. Madness. Anyway... so yeah - we all chip in and the BBC makes stuff for TV, Radio and film that we like. That's the deal. There's a trust to make sure they act responsibly with our money, and there are literally hundreds of ways to communicate with BBC entities and let them know how they're doing.

Of course, the existence of the BBC - and the way it's funded - can be justified by its work in sports, journalism and documentary series alone. The fact that you've got arguably the planet's most objective and respected news resource (not perfectly so, but not bad) running 24/7 speaks for itself. David Attenborough alone has done more to expand the world's knowledge of natural history than all of the textbooks every printed. By the by... if you haven't seen the 'modern' stuff (The Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Life and Frozen Planet) then you need to get these in your life. They. Will. Amaze. You.

But you don't have to stop there - the BBC is committed to producing interesting content for everyone, not just nerds like me. In recent years, it's expanded from 2 TV channels (BBC1 and BBC2) and 5 radio stations (Radio1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 - OK, so naming stuff isn't the BBC's greatest strength) to encompass a truly comphrehensive portfolio of broadcasting interests - from Welsh Language and other regional broadcasting, to an entire network of TV for kids, to Asian music and urban DJs. Seriously - the Beeb does it all, and it does it all without adverts.

If you're wondering what's made me climb atop this particular soapbox, it probably has something to do with last night's episode of Frozen Planet. It was one of the first times that I've regretted not having an HD Sky+ Box, and it's made me seriously consider the upgrade. Beautiful, dramatic, educational. I mean: duelling narwhals. Need I say more?

Thank God for the BBC. Have a look here and see if there isn't SOMETHING you love. Go on: I dare ya. Monty Python? Yup. Family Guy? Yup. Formula One? Yup. Olympics, Wimbledon, World's Strongest Man? Yup yup yup. Dr.Who, Torchwood, Top Gear, The Simpsons, Robot Wars and The Secret Life of Plants. COME ON!!