The BBC

But PF likes TWO BROKE GIRLS! It may not be aiming, but he is open to it!

BBC3 was less terrible than it sold itself as, in some ways. I ended up catching ten minutes of Reggie Yates' Extreme South Africa, which sounds like the worst thing imaginable, but it seemed like a pretty thoughtful look at poverty, violence and racism. The tabloid documentaries that they did also seem several cuts above Channel 5 and arguably 4 based on my limited exposure. The topics and framing of their factual shows probably put a lot of viewers off giving them a chance and the failure to go full Gypsy Wedding / Extreme Couponing might have cost them from the other side.

Was Pulling on bbc3? It made it look awful when actually it was brilliant.

A lot of the uproar seems less about BBC Three as it is and more about some magical BBC Three that commentators would like to exist.

BBC Three comedy for instance is consistently terrible, the only bright spots in my memory being People Just Do Nothing (comprising one episode) and Ja'ime - Private School Girl (bought from Australia). The "development hell" that turns promising series into shit is legendary there; producers know their vision will be unrecognisable once it comes out the other end. Which is why they approach Sky these days instead. As for "oh noes, there isn't any other BBC channel commissioning comedy", well, they will do once BBC Three goes!

There is a case for a more Newsbeat-y channel but BBC One basically is that already, surely!

Like, the Reggie Yates SA doc really SHOULD be on BBC One. And Family Guy should NOT. Win-win?

But which BBC channel will show a doc where a teenage girl has a visible wee in the middle of a music festival field?

Parliament?

This is the first time in the BBC's history that we are proposing to close a television channel. I can’t rule out it being the last change to our programmes or services. It will save the BBC over £50 million a year. £30 million of that will go into drama on BBC One. And it also means we will extend Children's programmes by an hour a night and provide a BBC One +1 channel. I must stress - all of this is what we are proposing to the BBC Trust. They will have the final say.

Tracer Hand, do you work for the BBC?

Not going to answer on the grounds it may incriminate me

Pinefox, that was a quote, by the way! Not my own writing!

does this mean I can expect to notice a pronounced upswing in bbc one drama

I guess?

As a parent I'm a bit concerned that kids will now start demanding to watch TV until 8pm instead of the much more sensible 7pm. I always thought the cut-off was due to bedtimes rather than a lack of funds.

i wdn't hold my breath

This is the first time in the BBC's history that we are proposing to close a television channel. I can’t rule out it being the last change to our programmes or services.

this reads a little bit like "oh we hadn't noticed any dramatic changes in the production and reception of TV in the last 5 years"

Surely they should've put some of that money into making comedy?

or something funny at least

why start now?

Why Not?

Like, the Reggie Yates SA doc really SHOULD be on BBC One.

This is the point really, if the programmes are good enough they can go on BBC1 or BBC2, perhaps they could find some room by maybe dropping one of their 5000 antiques shows / property shows / cooking shows / progammes about benefits scroungers or whatever. BBC4 meanwhile is a repository for exactly the sort of programmes that used to be shown on BBC2 but have since been replaced by 5000 antiques shows / property shows /cooking shows / progammes about benefits scroungers or whatever.

As a political comedy show that dares to challenge authority, my TV show, The Revolution Will Be Televised, would never have been successful without BBC 3 giving me a platform. Now the BBC are looking to shut the channel down. We can’t let this happen to the only channel that nurtures challenging, cutting edge British comedy.

BBC 3 is the birthplace of comedy careers like Jack Whitehall, Russell Howard, David Walliams and Matt Lucas. It is the platform for voices that aren’t being heard, that go against the grain and don’t fit in with the status quo. That’s why Jono started his petition to save BBC3, because as a fan he knows that platforms like this are sacred. And that’s why me and other comedians like Jack Whitehall, Rick Edwards and Russell Kane have signed.

^ best argument for abolition of BBC3 lol amirite

matt lucas started out on bbc2 right?

pls to abolish bbc2 also

4 channels and they couldn't even find room for Limmy. Fuck 'em imo

I like some the trashy documentary series on BBC3. Whenever I watch "Sun Sex & Suspicious Parents" it just puts me in the mood for a night out.

I am still bewildered by "Snog Marry Avoid" though - why are we all pretending that it's a robot, a talking robot, giving a makeover?

dog borstal

Think lucas started on paramount comedy channel rip gawd bless ya

lucas drummer for vic reeves

would imagine that russell howard's talent would have brought him right to the top no matter the route taken tbf

DOG BORSTAL

But we're talking about a demographic that will, by and large, happily shift online with the channel anyway.

75% of 16- to 24-year-olds' TV viewing is still of live broadcast, though.

dog borstal was fucking awesome

xp

75% of not much is not much, though

the name 'dog borstal' just used to tickle me. would always use it as an excuse for not being somewhere - 'gotta go, dog borstal's on in 15 minutes'...

house of tiny tearaways I remember being good. that, mighty boosh, being human and pramface are probably the only things I ever watched on bbc3

BBC Three comedy for instance is consistently terrible, the only bright spots in my memory being People Just Do Nothing (comprising one episode) and Ja'ime - Private School Girl (bought from Australia).

Comedy obviously most specific thing ever taste-wise (I can't stand those ultra-broad Chris Lilley shows, say, which seem weirdly racist to me), but I feel like there are enough innovative spots in the long list of shows they commissioned to make 'consistently terrible' not true: Nighty Night, High Spirits, 15 Storeys High, Mighty Boosh, Snuff Box, Pulling...

75% of 16- to 24-year-olds' TV viewing is still of live broadcast, though

How has that number changed over the last five years though? Even over the last year? You'd expect that number to be a lot smaller in two or three years' time alone.

had forgotten 15 storeys high. was a long time ago...

Ideal might be the best thing BBC3 have ever shown.

was that the line at the top of the "close it down" report?

Pulling is my favourite ever BBC3 show but they didn't give it much of a push or a third series (I also loved Snuff Box and that was buried six feet deep in the schedule) so I wonder whether the best stuff will actually do better in a digital environment where shows can earn their followings outside of a channel identity that older viewers find offputting. That's the pint-half-full argument anyway.

The three half full pints and a package of crisps argument

a channel identity that older viewers find offputting.

Yeah, this. To the extent that when people have brought up good shows broadcast on BBC3 in its defence, I realised I'd forgotten that they were on that channel at all, so successful has the BBC3's marketing of itself as the home of crass dumbed-down rubbish been.

the BBC3

lol

a channel identity that older viewers find offputting.

Yeah, well i doubt most 16- to 24-year-olds find Radio 4's identity terribly welcoming either.

I am not really a Radio 4 person but I admire it and appreciate its existence and sometimes think, maybe I should listen to this constantly.

I also don't find radio 4#s identity terribly welcoming. Radio David Fucking Cameron.

Pramface was BBC 3, wasn't it? That was ok.

series 3 is on at the moment.

Yeah, well i doubt most 16- to 24-year-olds find Radio 4's identity terribly welcoming either.

True. So what? I'm sure the same scenario would apply there - there are certain Radio 4 shows that would find a broader audience if they were on a digital platform.