Praise for the BBC

By Remote Control on Nov 12, 08 09:42 PM

Not a headline you're likely to ever read in the Daily Mail but I do think the BBC is due some praise this week.

It's come in for a hard time lately, and rightly so, even if a lot of the criticism came from factions within its own empire.

But its coverage of Rememberance Sunday and Armistice Day was, without doubt, superb.

The coverage of the live events from the Cenotaph was pitch perfect: not too invasive but personal enough to remind anyone watching why we should continue to care about events which happened up to 90 years ago.

BBC News at 10 also did a superb two-night feature, presented by reporter John Kay, in which he took two teenaged lads to retrace the steps of their great-grandfather who died during the First World War.

The only minor blip was the use of celebrities in a series of programmes called "My Family At War.' A bit like Who Do You Think You Are, but just for war relatives. Some of the celebrities, such as Kirsty Wark, were dignified and impressive, others, such as Rolf Harris and Matthew Kelly left a bit of a poor taste in the mouth.

Did Rolf Harris really need to liken his relatives' First World War experiences to his song "Two Little Boys", while Matthew Kelly's ecky thump professional northerner routine in Ypres was a just a little over the top.

But these are minor criticisms when compared to the superb tone overall. The BBC deserves praise - something you won't hear on this blog too often.