'I'm Proud of the BBC' meme

[strange_complex]

Via altariel, and with thanks to communicator for compiling the list, here follows a meme based on the BBC programmes and other services mentioned in Mitch Benn's new song, I'm Proud of the BBC. Bold = love (or have loved) it, Plain text = neutral, Strike through = never seen / listened to.

Obviously, there's some stuff on the list that I think is a bit rub, too - like Last of the Summer Wine or Songs of Praise. But that's not the point here. The point of the song, and thus also the meme, is how much stuff produced by the BBC most of us have seen or otherwise experienced (and thus have in common whether we liked it or not), and how much of it really is chuffing good, and thus worth being proud of. I'm happy to extend that pride to programmes and services which don't appeal to me personally, but which I can see are well made and well suited to their target audience.

Newsround
Newsnight
iPlayer
Website
Toni Arthur
Brian Cant
Spooks
Adam Adamant
Postman Pat
Blackadder
Hancock
Yes Minister
Later with Jools Holland
Pride and Prejudice
Hitchhikers Guide
World Service (absolute life-line while I lived in Paris)
Stewart Lee
Mr Benn
Casualty (made baby-sitting bearable in my teens)
6 Music
Glastonbury
Horrible Histories
Dennis Potter
C-Beebies
Quatermass
Two Ronnies
The Thick of It (sorry - I know this means I fail as a human being)
Radio 3
Open University
Mark Kermode & Simon Mayo
Round the Horne
Goon Show
Blakes 7 (still only seen one ep, but it was good!)
Dick and Dom
Last Night of the Proms
Gardeners' Question Time
Last of the Summer Wine
Steptoe and Son
Clangers
The Young Ones
Edge of Darkness
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Letter from America
The Mighty Boosh
QI
Panorama
Bagpuss
I Claudius
Absolutely Fabulous
John Motson
Red Dwarf
Our Friends in the North
Culture Show
Woman's Hour
Charlie and Lola
Alan Partridge
Sherlock
News at 6 o'clock
Live Aid
Likely Lads
Michael Palin
No ads
This Life
That's Life
Life on Earth
The Good Life
Captain Pugwash
Tony Hart
Til Death do us Part
Ken Bruce
News Quiz
Keeping Up Appearances
Outnumbered
Miranda
Who Do You Think You Are?
Kirsty Wark
Jeremy Paxman
Parkinson
Wogan
Tripods
Fireman Sam
The Ascent of Man
One Foot in the Grave
Ben (Miller) and Xander (Armstrong)
Rob (Webb) and Dave (Mitchell)
Antiques Roadshow
David Attenborough
Bruce Forsyth
The League of Gentlemen
Have I Got News for You
Hairy Bikers
Being Human
In the Night Garden
You & Me (Me & You)
Monty Python
Doctor Who
Top Gear
Merlin
Ivor the Engine
Watchdog
Wimbledon
Springwatch
Formula 1
Blue Peter
Swap Shop
Five Live
Top of the Pops
Trumpton
The Archers
That Was The Week That Was
The Goodies
Songs of Praise
World at One
The Day Today
I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue
Not the Nine O'Clock News
Nationwide
Mr Men
East Enders
Bottom
Gary Lineker
Radio 1
Radio 2
Ripping Yarns
Johnny Ball
Test Match Special
Bergerac
Perfect Day
Radio Active
Howard's Way
Jeremy Hardy
Final Score
(everything on) BBC4
Only Fools (and Horses)
Sky at Night
Shooting Stars
Pete(r Cooke) and Dud(ley Moore)
Teletubbies
Life on Mars
Radcliffe and Maconie
Jackanory
A Bit of Fry and Laurie
Children in Need Appeal
Douglas Adams
John Peel

Click here if you would like view this entry in light text on a dark background.

Comments

[firefish.livejournal.com]

Great meme. I might have to do that afterwards. Loads of great programmes have come from the BBC over the years, both radio and TV. I think it's a great resource and we're lucky to have it.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Totally. I had to Google a few names to check who people were, or whether a particular programme was the one I was thinking of or not. But most of what's on this list is so iconic that it is written deep into all of us.

[inbetween-girl.livejournal.com]

I like the way he makes "Radioactive Howard's Way" sound like one programme. I'd watch it.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Hehe - so he does!

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

Also Hairy Bikers Being Human in the Night Garden.

[inbetween-girl.livejournal.com]

Ha ha, yes. :-)

[maviscruet.livejournal.com]

When he did it live he made a big point he only gets the song correct about half the time....

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

I can well believe it - like Tom Lehrer's The Elements (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGM-wSKFBpo).

[edling.livejournal.com]

I was just working my way up to having a shouty fit that TMS wasn't in there, but then it turned up, I can honestly say that I'd pay the license fee just for that (which is odd considering I don't think you need to pay the license fee for radio).
Also, what do you mean you're neutral about the Clangers and Ivor the Engine, explain yourself!

Pssh ti-cuff, pssh ti-cuff...

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

I'm actually slightly too young for The Clangers, and only really in a position not to have to cross it out entirely thanks to clips shown on retro nostalgia shows. As for Ivor the Engine, I did see a bit of that as a child, but again think I was a little too young to really engage with it, so it doesn't hold any particularly powerful emotional memories for me now.

[secretshadowss.livejournal.com]

the thick of it is a terrible programme. just say fuck about 50 times and then you've got the programme. Oh shout at yourself in the mirror using more expletives. Job done!

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

Just Toni Arthur crossed out for me on that, and very little not in bold.

If there's just one thing on that list that you have crossed out which you ought to see, it's Edge of Darkness, which is utterly brilliant. Just make sure it's the one with Bob Peck in, and not the Mel Gibson remake...

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the rec - I did Google 'Edge of Darkness' to check whether I'd seen it or not, and thought from what I saw that it sounded interesting. It seems these days it is available on DVD, so I will add it to my Lovefilm list!

[hollyione.livejournal.com]

Gardener's Question Time is ace! I love the fact that I hate gardening but never miss that programme.... at least I know what to do in theory now! A cool meme.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

'Fraid I have to disagree, there. As far as I can see, I've bolded plenty of things which started in the last 20 years - QI, Being Human, Sherlock, Horrible Histories, Life on Earth, Life on Mars, not to mention services started in the last 20 years like iPlayer and the BBC's online presence. Also, part of the value of the BBC is the repertoire of high-quality programming which it has accumulated gradually over the years. It doesn't seem very fair to criticise it for continuing to run programmes like the Six o'Clock News which happen to be good.

[matgb]

Ok, confused. You've not bolded Open University, but have bolded Life on Earth and David Attenborough...

Actually, checking the list through, I'm surprised that so few of those that made it are OU programmes, so many things you'd never think of are OU stuff.

Anyway, might post it myself later, but it needs a "can't stand" option, because I'd need to express my opinion of the Thick of It.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess that is contradictory now you point it out. I read 'Open University' as meaning just those old-style programmes in the middle of the night with men in kipper ties delivering lectures, rather than the totality of the Open University's collaborations with the BBC. The kipper tie programmes have their place - they kept me company for most of the night before I took my PhD thesis to the binders (in 2001, before there was anything else on in the middle of the night) while I stuck endless captions to endless illustrations ready for the next day. But I'm not so attached to them that I felt them worth bolding in their own right.

[tictactoepony.livejournal.com]

Yay!
It's a good song - and I got to be one of the crazy people holding the cards ;)

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Ah! Are you the one in the cloak, then?

[tictactoepony.livejournal.com]

I'm the one in the short grey jacket, white dress and brown (slightly tartan) logn baseball boots.

[strange-complex.livejournal.com]

Ah, OK. I can't really re-watch it now, as am at work, but will have another look this evening and look out for you!