Episode 18 Points of View

Good afternoon and welcome to Points Of View.

I thought you'd like to see a little video

of some of my preparations for the programme,

some of the background, the technical equipment we use here.

No? Not interested?

Well, that'll be the same for Strictly Come Dancing, then.

They're apparently random and spontaneously filmed,

but they're clearly not because they are pre-planned.

You can tell. They're not entertaining,

they're not funny and I don't think they've got a place in the programme.

So the instruction is clear, Strictly. Less of this...

This is my surprise for you.

SHE SCREAMS

HE SCREAMS

..and more of this.

RHYTHMIC APPLAUSE TO MUSIC

And whilst we're in the mood for telling professionals

to stick to what they're best at,

there's a call for those highly experienced, professional comedians

Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse to be... Well, funny.

Gentleman down the front, in the blue pullover?

Do you think Boris Johnson would make a better Boris Johnson

than Boris Johnson?

APPLAUSE Thank you, the woman in the pink cardigan with the big teeth?

If the BBC spent more or less money on better programs

then it wouldn't be such an insult to the licence fee payer.

APPLAUSE

And, of course, if you are Twitter and Tweet,

then you can Twitter and Tweet us

here at the BBC and I, for one of course,

will not look at a word you write.

British comedy has been taking a beating recently

whilst American sitcoms and animations

are going from strength to strength.

BBC Three's purchase of the rights to show Family Guy has proved

a good investment, as it is now one of the channel's most watched shows.

And a BBC Two documentary,

Family Guys - What Sitcoms Say About America Now,

suggested that these shows have taught us more

about American politics than any other presidential campaign can do.

And it seems you agree.

Rodney Barnes is an award-winning sitcom writer and director.

You see divorces, you see food stamps, you see public assistance,

you see where that kind of works its way into the humour of,

"I can't afford that".

From far-flung election watching to nature watching closer to home.

Autumnwatch's natural history bandwagon

is on a reduced timetable this year

and furry animal fans are not happy.

We've changed the format for Autumnwatch 2012.

One of the challenges with the traditional Autumnwatch

has always been to try and capture how dynamic it is as a season

because people are used to Springwatch,

and Springwatch obviously has birds taking flight from nests

and things bursting into bloom.

Autumnwatch is a time where things are getting ready for winter,

and shutting down.

So rather than doing eight shows - one per week across two months -

we're going to be doing two events, each for four days live.

The first one Autumnwatch, the second one called Winterwatch

in January, and that will give us an opportunity for the first time

in the Watch's history to be able to follow characters over the season

and to see how their preparations for the autumn paid off in the winter.

We're very lucky the three presenters we have are incredibly engaging.

Chris, obviously his knowledge is second-to-none

and I think like Michaela, he's grown up with

a lot of the audience that we have and I think that they really enjoy

the fact that they remember them from shows like The Really Wild Show.

We're delighted to be up in Scotland for this series of Autumnwatch.

We have been to Scotland before to film some insert films

but this is the first time we've based the whole show from here.

Feels like the view that everyone

in the UK would wish was out of their window in the autumn, really.

We have some absolutely phenomenal animals up here.

Not only some Highland specialists which are fascinating to see,

but also some familiar favourites which people across the UK

will be accustomed to seeing in their garden.

Autumnwatch, which has a spin-off show, Autumnwatch Unsprung,

based on the e-mails and Facebook comments the programme gets.

But whilst birdwatchers may be prepared to tweet,

viewers of Sunday Morning Live are finding Facebooking and Skype

a step too far.

'And there's different skill sets and use of those firearms...'

OK, let's get some...

'The ability to then ramp up 100,000 plus police officers'

-'and a firearms qualification would take years.'

-OK.

'There's a debate, but not something that can happen overnight.'

-All right, thank you.

-'It's going to take a long time...'

-Thank you. Set aside how long it would take and the budget.

-Course.

So why has this Sunday staple turned into a Skype-fest?

And doesn't digital dominance exclude much of the audience?

The idea was not for us to emulate programmes like Question Time,

where there's a balance

between studio booked guests and a studio audience.

Our intention was to use technology to the maximum, so...

we've always made a virtue of using Skype.

Having said that, we're aware that there are some concerns

over the balance between audience-based guests

and people who contribute from Skype over the internet.

We will address that issue.

It is something we're working towards at the minute.

In the cut and thrust of a debate programme like this

with a lot of views being exchanged, getting the balance right

isn't an exact science.

So, you may find - and, in fact, some viewers have pointed out -

that on occasion, our presenter, Samira Ahmed,

will interject and cut across the studio guests.

Just because we look at other means

through phone, e-mail and the internet,

doesn't mean we're ignoring people

who don't engage in those platforms but use TV.

TV fundamentally is still where we're at.

And we feel that we do offer people the opportunity to engage in debate

through that format.

A possible claim, then, that Sunday morning live

is discriminating against its older, net-less audience,

a view echoed by John Phaff, who believes Top Gear

is also setting its sights on the younger generation.

I'm a 66-year-old veterinary surgeon

and a self-confessed lifelong petrol head.

Having watched Top Gear since the first episode,

I find myself becoming less and less interested in the programme.

This seems to be a general opinion amongst friends of a similar age.

The producers appear to be catering for a much younger age group,

as is reflected in the studio audience.

The stunts get more and more contrived week after week,

with the outcomes being highly predictable.

Star In A Car and the actual road tests are enjoyable,

but on the whole, I'm afraid that Top Gear

is losing an increasing proportion of their older viewers.

I'd love to see more motoring magazine-like features

and a slight change in format to cater for a broader age group.

Here we go!

HE SCREAMS

DRAMATIC MUSIC

And I think I'd rather spend that sort of money on a Caribbean holiday.

CALYPSO MUSIC

To find out, I went to Barbados.

The fact is, we don't make a conscious effort

to attract any particular age.

What we do is make the show we want to make

and whoever wants to watch it can watch it.

But we've never once had a meeting where we've gone,

"How do we get younger viewers," or, "How do we get kids," or anything.

We just don't do that. We just make the show we want to make.

The other point is, as you can imagine,

the BBC's got a lot of people who do lots of research

about what percentage of age groups watch each show they make.

And in our case, the percentage of elderly people,

or older people, who watch the show hasn't changed.

It hasn't changed for the last five years.

It may not have solid, straightforward reviews of cars,

but, you know, there is a lot of airspace for that kind of show.

Someone else can make it - it just won't be us.

Top Gear facing claims that it is too "yoof".

Young Apprentice, on the other hand, is back on screen

and proud to be flaunting the failings of fresh-faced teenagers.

Where was his failure then?

I don't doubt his bravery at all,

but I believe some people are not made for the business industry.

He's taken over £1,000, I think it is, flogging his stuff.

1,140, actually.

1,140 - any advance on that?

If you look at my CV, I am doing numerous things...

-But I do numerous things, as well.

-I am excelling at...

Everyone that got to this position has done numerous things.

Many viewers were frozen to their seats in awe this week

at the stunning photography on Operation Iceberg.

Wow, look at that!

'A wall of ice is splitting from the glacier.'

More sights and less reaction required then.

Now, let us end our show as we began it, with a spot of dancing.

EastEnder Sid Owen may have been eliminated from Strictly,

but it looks like fellow Square dweller Max Branning

is waiting in the wings to take over with a tap-dance special.

I've never heard him described like that before.

SCRAPING ON GROUND

SCRAPING CONTINUES

Now, in true news bulletin style,

a quick check in with the weather forecast now.

But as David McIlwaine spotted, Hurricane Sandy

seems to have blown Jacksonville Florida

several hundred miles north to Charleston, South Carolina,

on the BBC weather map.

If they can't get that right, can we rely on the predictions of local, isolated showers back home?

Good point. To make yours, you can write to us...

You are also more than welcome to e-mail.

Here is the address for you...

Or jump on the message board.

Wear a crash helmet - it gets very lively!

And also, you can phone us, of course.

The number is charged as a local-rate call from a landline.

Here it is for you...

Goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd