Great British Sewing Bee Series 4

[Henry Hall]

If anyone here can access BBC2 (there are ways dear friends), the new series of the Great British Sewing Bee starts tonight.  They are tackling the construction of a woman's four panel top and a made-to-measure skirt.

[pfaff260]

Thank you for the reminder. Would have missed it otherwise!

[Thom Bennett]

Maybe the last time it is on thanks to the tory government's clamp down on BBC productions.

[hutch--]

I take your point, most of the good BBC dramas have gone. I was a fan of Spooks among many others.

[Henry Hall]

There are still good dramas on the BBC, but you can tell they've had to run many repeats to free up money for their production elsewhere. That's not a total disaster because there was a tendency to produce something and it was ages until it saw the light of day again.I reckon the Sewing Bee is likely to survive because it fits into the lower-cost production slot like Bake-Off and the interior design programmes.

Since the general attack on the BBC started some years back, which altered the charter, they've been digging up some old gems and running them in the afternoon (so that I can't see them). Like The Pallisers, Parkinson's and Wogan's best interviews, sitcoms like Two-Up, Two-Down and Just Good Friends. I was hoping they would re-run the Onedin Line, but it seems they have some misguided plan to re-make it!

I have to say I think the general public is partially to blame for the direction of the BBC. BBC2 stopped most of its proper educational output after studies in trends and viewing habits (and a wrong-headed decision about the internet). People seem to want more entertainment and less information and the BBC has to now compete with bottom denominator broadcasters like Murdoch's SKY, and also quality output from HBO and AMC in the U.S.

[Thom Bennett]

To be honest I am not a fan of low budget programming and would love to see more inspirational documentary and drama productions but then, I am biased having worked in drama production.  The latest wheeze from the Culture sec. is to ban BBC from making such programmes which "chase ratings".  Thing is Sewing Bee, bake-off have an audience, if the Beeb don't make such programmes then who will?  I don't own a TV set but I do pay the licence fee as the BBC is important in world broadcasting, and needs to be continued and maybe with a bit of re-structuring.

[hutch--]

It seems to be a common disease with conservative governments, gutting public broadcasters to flog crap like Sky and similar. Our current government here in OZ has ruined both the ABC and the ethnic public broadcaster SBS with much the same ideology. I refuse to pay for any Foxtel trash so I pick up the odd bits and pieces with Netflix and the occasional interesting program on the ABC.

[Thom Bennett]

Same here Hutch it is disgusting. Just youtube most of the time, but I tend to have speech-radio on either BBC Radio 4 or LBC. I prefer radio as I can do other things at the same time, sewing mainly nowadays.

[Henry Hall]

Australia's ABC has been the source of many recovered classics once thought lost due to videotape wiping: several episodes of Dad's Army among them. It's obvious that the pressures of commercialisation would have caused the complete loss of those archives. Every country needs at least one commercial-free media outlet for obvious reasons.

Murdoch's son has repeatedly made his position known with various attacks calling the BBC a 'monopoly', which is mind-boggling considering the current media reach of News International/Corporation. It's clear they (and others) adopted the much simpler tactic of cosying up to governments (Blair's in particular and Cameron too)  and by planting people into prominent BBC positions to undermine it from within. They're a bunch of curs the lot of them.

[Henry Hall]

It's 1960s wear tonight. Unfortunately I have missed half an hour because I had to talk to my new Syrian neighbours (refugees, pure gentlemen too). I'll catch up with the repeat on Saturday.

They're all tackling ladies' jackets at the moment, Some interesting patterns too, with cut-on sleeves and the like. Very adventurous. Someone just bagged the lining and it was too small....oh dear.

[posaune]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn87BWflUWM

Henry, here it is.
lg
posaune

[Henry Hall]

Wow, that turned up quickly. Thanks. I'll watch the first half hour