Episode 2 Points of View

Good afternoon and a very warm welcome to Points Of View,

THE place to air your views on the BBC.

And if ever there was a week of differing views, well, this is it,

so hold on tight because this is going to be a contentious ride.

It's just been announced

that Baroness Thatcher has died this morning.

On Monday, as news broke of the death of the former

Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher,

schedulers were forced

to reshuffle programmes to allow for extended news coverage.

The one o'clock news on BBC One was extended by an extra 30 minutes,

nearly becoming the two o'clock news.

This is an extended BBC One News.

And as the day went on, programmes were moved to later start times

or off the schedules altogether to make way for the new story.

'And in light of today's news,

'we've some changes to our Monday afternoon schedule on BBC One.'

The BBC confirmed that, because of the news,

there were several amendments to the schedule.

A special news programme moved BBC One daytime viewing out of kilter.

Later, two shows, Panorama and another one, The Prisoners,

were sidelined to make way for the obituary programme,

Margaret Thatcher: Prime Minister.

ANDREW MARR: Margaret Thatcher was Britain's only woman Prime Minister.

It has been decided that Panorama and the documentary,

The Prisoners, will now air tomorrow night.

But it wasn't just the amount of time given to Baroness Thatcher.

She was considered by many divisive in life,

but how she's been remembered in death has split opinion, too.

The final word on this goes to John Turner from Hamilton.

He reckons he knows what the Iron Lady herself would've thought of it all.

And while too much airtime dedicated to Baroness Thatcher

has been driving some mad,

others are simply mad at bad driving on their screens.

BBC Three's Barely Legal Drivers reveals what teenagers get up to

when left alone behind the wheel.

And some of it is definitely illegal.

Tommy, if you go 100, you're going to get a tenner.

Just do it, just do it.

100? Ryan, you owe Tommy a tenner.

The programme ends with a judgement as to whether

the teenager will be sent for advanced driving instruction

or has earned the right to a new car paid for by the BBC.

We've come to the decision that we're going to give you

the money for another car.

So, no more phones...

You're making me upset now.

A lot of anger on this one.

We put your questions to the BBC's Commissioning Editor

for documentaries, Charlotte Moore.

The whole premise of Barely Legal Drivers is not to set

a bad example or to suggest that dangerous driving

is fine in any way, or to reward bad driving.

Dangerous driving or bad habits are never shown

without being commented on.

Former traffic cop Judith Roberts is on hand throughout

to offer practical advice, and it's her ultimate decision,

not the parents' or the production company,

as to whether the young person receives a car

or advanced driving lessons.

Because the series set out to encourage road safety

and to make young people better drivers,

this absolutely justifies the use of the programme budget

to pay for the advanced driving lessons,

or indeed the money towards a new car.

PRESENTER: Distracted by the argument, Bradley carelessly cruises

through not just one but two sets of red traffic lights.

There were very strict protocols around

health and safety throughout the series

for both the crew and the contributors.

Unfortunately, on this one occasion,

the crew made a bad judgement call and made the decision

to follow the contributor and therefore jump red lights

at the same time.

The crew who made the film are very apologetic for this,

and clearly we do not condone this at all.

And an update on this from BBC Three -

they have now re-edited the episode,

removing the scene from any future repeat broadcast.

So, we'll park driving there.

Food and cookery shows should be a safer area for discussion,

but their dominance in the schedules has led to many calls

for the BBC to turn the oven off.

# Food, glorious food... #

'A little bit of what you fancy does you good.

'But it reaches a point where you have a little bit more,

'and then a little bit more, and then a lot more,

'way over the top and makes you feel sick.

'I love food,'

but I don't want to watch 32.5 hours a week of food programmes.

Bakers, there's one hour till I can sink my teeth into your buns.

An hour and a half left.

Sweetness, acidity, fruity.

Spiced mango naan bread.

That's something I really want to get stuck into.

Going to start with some spicy roast chicken.

First I just go at them with a rolling pin.

-Wow.

-Oop!

Incredibly intensely flavoured.

Oh, that's so delicious.

Three to five hours per day is at present allocated

to food programmes of one sort or another.

Not forgetting his crucial sorrel leaf garnish.

It's cooking, cooking, cooking.

Obviously, tastes do vary, and I understand

that some people do like cookery programmes.

But what we need is more variety with the programmes.

Basically, they're all about cooking and preparing food.

There's nothing like relaxing at the end of the day,

putting your feet up and watch a bit of television.

But food, food, food.

It's over the top.

The good news for all of those who have complained about

the great food feast is that this week the hours dedicated

to cookery have reduced.

We've only been able to count 22 hours from last Sunday to today.

Maybe the BBC is putting itself on that diet

you so badly think it needs.

On the menu next, small portions.

Now, that is the increasing trend of splitting stories

and returning to them later in the same programme,

designed to keep us interested, but leaving us

feeling less than satisfied...

OK, I'll stop with the food analogies now, I promise.

I'll show you.

Chronicle, please.

That's 80p, please, buddy. Thank you very much.

Can I give you that half later?

-Morning, Richard.

-Morning.

-Pint of the usual, please.

-There you go. I'll give you the other half later on.

-OK.

When I come in the pub and ask for a pint, I expect a whole pint,

not three quarters of a pint.

When I go and buy a newspaper,

I expect all the extra supplements to be inside it.

And when I sit down and watch a TV programme like Countryfile,

I expect to see the whole story, not part of it.

Later on, I'll be learning more about the Northumbrian dialect.

Later on, I'll be finding out

if there are any lessons we can learn from here.

And it's not just Countryfile.

It's become more and more, and it's, I think, with several programmes.

The Hotel Aldeia is an accident waiting to happen.

Later, we discover more danger in the deep.

It's happening more and more. But Countryfile is definitely the worst.

I think they should change the programme

so we see one item at a time finished and then start the next item.

Countryfile, at its best, is all about telling stories,

and when you're telling a story,

you don't necessarily want to get to the pay off too quickly.

Countryfile's very lucky with the richness of the content that it has.

We have the beauty of the locations,

we have the insight into the farming year that we have

with Adam's farm,

and we have the rather harder-nosed journalistic investigations.

So the trick, really,

is to interweave all these elements into a satisfying mix

that will give you a coherent story across the 60 minutes.

And that's what we try to do.

Rather than half stories,

some feel that Doctor Who's been delivering half-hearted stories.

Well, come on, then...

Eat up!

Are you full?

The second episode of the current run,

entitled The Rings of Akhenaten,

didn't quite hit the spot.

Let's hope the TARDIS is back on course next week.

Graham Norton's return is certainly heading in the right direction,

with an A-list line-up including Tom Cruise and Gerard Butler,

the new series has earned itself an A+.

And praise, too, for another returning series.

In a week where news coverage has filled our mailbags,

Have I Got News For You has been welcomed with open arms.

The One Show is a series that never goes away, and for that reason

we all get terribly familiar with its presenters.

But is one of them a little overfamiliar

when she talks about the part of the country she comes from?

Take a look at this.

-Dydd Gwyl Dewi hapus i chi i gyd!

-Yeah!

Do you have a favourite British accent? Say Welsh!

I have to say the Welsh.

Good luck to everybody with their teams in the Six Nations.

Especially Wales.

No-one's been more successful in doing so than the Welsh.

Why is Wales going to smash England tomorrow?

It is a brilliant Welsh accent.

-Coming from you, that is a great compliment. You're Welsh, aren't you?

-Well, yes.

-I'm staying put in Wales.

-Ah, the best place to be.

Poor old Alex Jones.

Now, if there's anything you're watching that you want

to have your say on, please let us know.

By post - new address, remember...

By phone - the number is charged

as a local rate call from any land line...

Or join the many chatters on the message boards...

Or by e-mail, of course...

Next week we'll look at the bottom of the screen,

at the subtitling. Goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd