Episode 15 Points of View

Good afternoon, and welcome to the programme

that hands air time over to you, the viewer,

to have your say on what you have been watching on the BBC.

This week, we start with criticism of EastEnders.

We have been contacted by a lot of people

who are angry about the way a current story dealing with a kidney

transplant is being handled, and here is some of what they had to say.

The recent storyline has made me angry.

Having myself donated a kidney to my husband 18 months ago,

I am appalled by the way EastEnders are handling this storyline.

I think the storyline could have been much more informative,

positive and encouraging.

It's completely misled anyone who is in the dark about this subject.

Visit a specialist and bam! She hit me with it.

Your kidneys are shot. I need transplant.

I'm Joe. I am a 24-year-old viewer of EastEnders.

I have had kidney problems for many years

and earlier this year I had to have a failed kidney removed,

which was, quite frankly, one of the most emotional

and frightening situations I've ever had to face.

This is a major operation and it has risks.

What about later on in life and you become ill and you need the kidney?

Throughout the storyline, Dexter has various conversations

with other characters on organ donation

and it's generally portrayed as a highly negative thing to do.

Many potential recipients express guilt at putting their

loved ones through the trauma of major surgery.

The transplant storyline

will not have helped them overcome this emotion.

I've been tested and it might just be a can help.

Dexter was told he was a match for his dad.

Two weeks later he was undergoing an operation. No wonder he freaked out.

He's going to need a transplant.

Urgently.

As a living donor myself, the build-up to donating takes

a number of months, several health checks, mental health assessment.

Dexter's seemed to take two to three weeks.

His lungs are filling with fluid and his kidneys are failing.

The doctors want to move the operation. They want it to be sooner.

Dexter's dad would have been rushed into hospital

and given emergency dialysis, not told he was going to die.

Also, Dexter would not have been expected

to give a kidney straightaway.

What really annoyed me was after his operation had gone

fantastically well, he was up and talking to this mum,

she turned away for a minute and I was horrified to see that he

had passed out with a blood-stained hospital gown.

Dexter!

Help! Dexter! Dexter! What's happening? Dexter!

His blood pressure is very low.

I sincerely hope that,

coming from someone that may need a kidney themselves in the future,

that whoever the donor is, isn't an EastEnders viewer.

Thank you to all who so eloquently put the case for clearer

representation of the kidney transplant story in EastEnders.

So we asked for an equally eloquent response from the bosses

on the soap and they gave us this statement.

By the way, the people at Albert Square do have a blog

where expert advisers give greater detail on this whole issue,

so if you want to see it, the addresses on the screen now

and we will put it on our own programme page as well.

Now, stand-by to be amazed and I do mean amazed.

Amazing ingredients. Amazing with roast lamb. Amazing Caesar dressing.

Amazing curry sauce. Amazing crispy crackling. Amazing pork belly.

Amazing local fish. Amazing sticky toffee pudding. Amazing.

It's amazing. It's amazing. They look amazing. It smells amazing.

It smells amazing. It smells amazing. Listen, what an amazing place.

Amazing.

Terence, we need to correct you there because last Monday

we heard Chef Kerridge use his favourite word not 15 but 17 times in total.

But we've also been counting up the comments on this series

and it seems most of you are pretty impressed by what's been on the menu.

Next up, Watchdog and judging by some of the comments you've made

to us, the consumer show should steer clear of politics.

The appearance by the Labour leader to discuss his party's plan

to cap energy bills if they get elected drew a lot of flak.

The Labour leader is here now. Welcome to watchdog. Great to be here.

As a rule, I enjoyed watchdog.

I am, however, finding Anne Robinson increasingly annoying.

In the current episode,

she demonstrated hypocrisy beyond belief.

When she was interviewing the gentleman about airlines,

she continually interrupted him

and rarely let him give a complete answer.

In the same programme when Ed Miliband was on,

my goodness what a different story. She was politeness personified.

The BBC is meant to provide an unbiased service

and I really am looking forward to the day when one of your guests

simply unclips the mic and tells the interviewer where to go.

So should our consumer shows be absent of all politics?

Was Anne Robinson too soft on the Labour leader?

We asked the Watchdog team.

From modern politics on consumer shows to period costumes in modern drama.

It's been a confusing week.

Next up we have the daytime series, Doctors.

Lizzie.

As part of the BBC's Jane Austen season

to mark the 200th anniversary of 'Pride and Prejudice',

doctors and patients donned corsets and cravats this week.

It's not the first time the daytime series

has strayed into the fantastic, but it would seem the visit

to Austenland was a step too far for some of you.

Moving on, and it wasn't the costume changes

but the set changes which prompted one viewer to get in touch.

Citizen Khan's world has undergone some major renovations for series two

and it seems they thought the audience wouldn't notice.

Big mistake. Have a look at this.

First up, the office in the mosque. This was it in series one.

Note the three windows and the two arch bookcases.

Now, this is the same office in series two.

One of the windows has gone and what has happened to those bookcases?

And it's not just the office.

Here is the Khan family living room in series one.

Pay special attention to the door and the big dresser in the background.

They have moved in series two.

And don't even get us started on the kitchen.

Thank you L Thomas for bringing all this to our attention.

Clearly, it requires an explanation and who better than

Sparkhill's number one community leader to explain.

I'm going to just dial his number now. It's ringing.

Mr Khan? As-salam alaykum, Jeremy.

It's a great honour to be with you. I'm a big fan.

I love you on Newsnight and I notice you are growing a beard like me.

Becoming Muslim, eh? Well, yes, OK. About the house.

The doors and windows seemed to have moved. What's going on?

Are you from the council? I got all planning permissions, thank you.

No, we're not Birmingham City Council.

Did you think no-one would notice?

Look, Jeremy, maybe if the BBC put my show on all year round,

the lovely BBC One viewers would have seen how Mrs Khan

made me do all those home improvements.

It cost me a bloomin' fortune!

Well, thank you for the show, Mr Khan, community leader.

And thanks for being on Points of View. Goodbye.

Peaky Blinders, the epic drama set in the lawless streets

of 1919 Birmingham came to an end this week.

Get your weapons out, boys, and load them up.

After a shaky start with - do you remember? - criticisms over the local accent,

it seems this one has won over many loyal fans.

Well, Tony, no decision has been made as yet about a second series

but as soon as we do hear, we will let you know.

As one drama finished, a new one started.

BBC One's Truckers follows the lives of a group of lorry drivers

in the Midlands, but it would seem for some,

it was all too unbelievable.

So Truckers does not get your praise this week,

which seems to have gone instead, appropriately, to Songs of Praise.

Last week we aired your criticisms of the programme's switch

from its regular format to host the Gospel Choir Of The Year.

The 2013 Songs of Praise Gospel Choir Of The Year is...

The Town Hall Gospel Choir, Birmingham.

This week, we have been inundated by people on the other

side of the fence, delighted with the choir competition.

Proving, as if we needed to, that there is always more than one point of view here.

Songs of Praise returns as normal straight after this show

and that is about all from us this week.

But please continue to keep telling us your thoughts on what you are watching

and, of course, you can do so in a whole plethora of ways.

By post.

By phone, and the number is charged

as a local rate call from any landline.

Or you can join the message boarders. Always lively.

There is good old-fashioned e-mail.

And don't forget, we're on Twitter too.

Many thanks if you contacted us this week. Keep them coming.

Until next week, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.