British Billy and the BBC

  • Published
  • By British Billy
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  Sometimes, I feel I could just burst with Britishness. The British Broadcasting Corporation, or the BBC as it is best known, is stitched into the very fabric of my fur, and is an institution of which I am immensely proud.

We listen to BBC Radio 4 constantly in our household during the daytime. I adore the fact that it isn't punctuated by adverts. With a few notable exceptions, I dislike adverts interfering with my viewing or listening experience, and find the BBC a haven of tranquility from these irritants.

The BBC was the world's first national broadcasting organisation and was founded on Oct.18, 1922, as the British Broadcasting Company Ltd. It was relaunched five years later as a new non-commercial entity under its present name, established under a Royal Charter. The Charter decreed that the BBC's views must be entirely independent of any private or governmental influence. It is thereby required to be free from both political and commercial influence and answer only to its viewers and listeners.

To represent its purpose and values following the end of World War I, the Corporation adopted a coat of arms incorporating the motto "Nation shall speak peace unto Nation".

The tradition of the King's or Queen's Christmas Message began in 1932 with a radio broadcast by King George V on the BBC Empire Service. Today, the message is read by Queen Elizabeth II and broadcast on television, radio, and the Internet via various providers. The Christmas message is a central part of Christmas Day for many U.K. citizens worldwide.

BBC radio had a pivotal role during World War II as the TV service, launched in the 1930s, closed during this period. Winston Churchill made his famous inspirational speeches over the BBC airwaves, and BBC news became a lifeline for countless listeners in the U.K. and around the world, as the source of objective and independent journalism. Princess Elizabeth, today Queen Elizabeth II, made her first broadcast at the age of 14 on BBC radio in 1940 and sent her best wishes to the children who had been evacuated from Britain to America, Canada and elsewhere. As a young princess, she played an important role both during the difficult days of World War II and in the years following, when the nation struggled to recover from the devastation of war.

The Queen's coronation in 1953 heralded the rise of television, when 20 million BBC viewers watched as the young queen was crowned.

Blue Peter, a children's TV programme which still runs to this very day was first aired on Oct. 16, 1958. In these days of multimedia and multi-channel television, so much is available for younger viewers, but, in TV's early days, Blue Peter formed part of almost every British youngster's childhood experience.

Also in the 1950s, the BBC Radio Midlands Home Service broadcast five pilot episodes of a new, experimental drama series: The Archers, an everyday story of country folk. It was hoped that farmers would listen for the stories, and along the way pick up messages that would help them feed a Britain still subject to food rationing. The Archers lost its original, educational purpose in 1972, but it still prides itself on the quality of its research and its reflection of real rural life. With more than 16,000 episodes, today it's the world's longest running radio soap and, as a bonus, the jaunty theme tune is the perfect rhythm for cardiac massage. I'm sure a friendly local will sing it to you if you ask nicely.

Dr. Who, the BBC's iconic science-fiction series, began in 1963, heralded by its haunting theme tune which, in an updated version, still accompanies the Time Lord in his 2010 incarnation. A whole new generation has become fascinated by the extraordinary adventures of the Doctor. I am a huge fan of Dr. Who, particularly after the advent of the Cat People, who are felines in the future that have evolved into humanoids. Somehow "the Beeb"* make it work.

The BBC has shown itself able to adapt and evolve, pioneering comedy and popular entertainment, revealing some of our cultural heritage to us in the form of costume drama, documentary, history and science programming; it informs, educates and entertains; it tells us about the human heart and the cosmos, the wide globe and the narrow street; it responds to new technologies and still manages to retain some sense of being at the nation's heart and hearth. But for how long?

In the 1990s, the BBC entered the digital age, developing a range of digital broadcasting and internet services, and adapting to the era of 24-hour news, responding increasingly to the audiences' need to have programme content anytime, anyplace, anywhere. The BBC website has grown exponentially, receiving an average of 3.6 billion hits per month.

Today, the BBC boasts 12 television channels, 11 radio channels, including the BBC World Service and Language Service, regional services, BBC Online and the BBC iPlayer, as well as its own orchestra. Its programmes are sold worldwide, which has become vital to its economic survival.

As well as exporting products, another way the BBC funds its programmes and services is through the licence fee.

The television licence fee is regarded by some as an anachronism, and renders others apoplectic with indignation. The choice nowadays is enormous and many subscribe to satellite and cable services, or otherwise simply use the internet to inform, educate and entertain them. Many believe that the subsidy of the BBC by the licence-fee payers is unfair. It is interesting to note that the majority of countries in the world have some form of public licence fee, and, cost-wise, the BBC fee is not the most expensive; that title would go to Iceland.

Change is inevitable. We have evolved extraordinarily over the years; such is the British way. The BBC has certainly influenced greatly much of what makes Britain as it is today, but whether that remains into the future, we shall have to see.


* "The Beeb", is an affectionate nickname for the BBC, originally dubbed by Peter Sellers in "The Goon Show" in the 1950s. "Auntie Beeb" is also sometimes used.