Kate Chisholm

The BBC bows to celebrity

The licence fee is both a blessing and a curse for the BBC. The clue is in that nickname — Aunty — both affectionate and slightly patronising. Aunty implies that the corporation is a friendly family affair, middle-of-the-road and just a teeny bit desperate to stay in favour, like grown-ups attempting the dance moves of the next generation. The Beeb may have an unfair advantage over its commercial rivals because of the fee but its reliance on taxpayers’ funding also makes it dependent on the goodwill of whichever political party is in government. That means it has to be seen to be a vote-earner, or rather not a vote-loser, if it wants to retain its fee-supporting status. It must cater for all tastes, and keep up (and in) with the popular mood.

Why else would Russell Brand have been invited back into the fold of luvvies with a guest appearance on that flagship Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs? It shows a lack of confidence, a determination to please, to prove to the great British public that the BBC, and especially Radio 4, is in touch and not elitist or too highbrow. Brand may have sinned (by making those lewd phone calls to Andrew Sachs while on air on Radio 2) but that was ages ago (in 2008) and in any case he’s too great a talent to let go — or so the argument must have gone when Brand’s name was put forward as a possible castaway. Never mind that two senior members of the BBC’s staff lost their jobs in the ensuing furore. Never mind that Brand (and his mate-in-crime Jonathan Ross) dishonoured not just Sachs and his granddaughter but also the BBC and all its listeners. Brand cannot be let go; he’s too much part of the celebrity scene, always trending on Twitter, his demonic grin never off the front pages of the tabloids.

It’s a habit that the Beeb has got into, hanging on to a talent that’s gone to seed.

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