So Grange Hill is being axed. Cue lots of people, mostly in their 20s, 30s and 40s all lamenting the passing of a programme from their youth.
Naturally, none of them have watched Grange Hill for quite a long time. Which is just as well, because a childrens' TV programme which still grabs the attention of men and women over the age of 20 wouldn't be hitting its target audience.
Which makes the BBC's reason for ditching the programme all the more bizarre:
“The lives of children have changed a great deal since Grange Hill began and we owe it to our audience to reflect this.”
What? Children no longer go to school? 11-year-olds no longer fear going on to 'big school'? Young teens no longer get bullied? Older teens no longer feel under incredible pressure to do well in their GCSEs?
How exactly can a teen drama in a school possible not still fit in with the lives children live in the 21st century?
Those of a paranoid disposition will point to the fact that this decision comes just a few years after Grange Hill moved from inner-city London to inner-city Liverpool. It's not the first time the BBC has pulled the plug on a Liverpool-based drama – think Lilies last year. That was dropped because it 'only' attracted four million viewers an episode, not particularly bad for a period drama being shown in a prime-time Friday night slot normally associated with comedy.
And then earlier this year, the BBC decided that, rather than replace Neighbours with an specially-commissioned English-based soap, and one set in Liverpool was put forward, it would commission one set in Australia, which it has since sold back to an Australian broadcaster.
So what does the BBC plan to replace Grange Hill with? Certainly there is no definite promise of a new drama to replace it. All they'll guarantee is “two Newsround specials tackling divorce and knife crime.”
Could these issues not have been incorporated into plots in Grange Hill, done in depth and over several weeks?
The BBC appears guilty of taking its eye off the ball and somehow alienating a drama every child should be able to relate to – and then trying to blame society for moving on.
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