Sir Richard Eyre, the renowned theatre and film director, who has served as a BBC Governor, shares his concerns over the cuts to radio drama programming, the broader challenges facing the BBC's cultural remit, the tensions between the BBC's public service mission and commercial pressures, and role of the BBC in nurturing and sustaining the UK's cultural landscape.

"I would say the BBC is the most important cultural organisation in the world, and the Director-General of the BBC should be standing up, saying that, and putting his heart and soul and practical application into making sure that the BBC lived up to that proclamation. Well, they don’t, and they’ve pitifully ignored the arts. They've cut the arts department in television, and now, they're cutting drama on in radio."

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@BeebRoger

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www.goodeggproductions.uk

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Conservative MP, Dame Caroline Dinenage is the Chair of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee. We discuss the upcoming debates around the renewal of the BBC's charter, the crucial issues of the corporation's funding, impartiality, and role in public service broadcasting, as well as the future of the BBC World Service and the Greg Wallace revelations.

“We're entering a winter period when there's a number of pensioners who've just had their winter fuel tax removed, when energy prices are rising because the energy fuel cap has come to end, and to suddenly find that you've your licence fee’s going up as well. I just thought the timing was unfortunate.”

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Peter York is a cultural commentator, author, and former Style Editor of Harper's & Queen magazine. He is best known for co-authoring the iconic Official Sloane Ranger Handbook in the 1980s. More recently, Peter has shifted his focus to more serious topics, including co-authoring The War Against the BBC with Professor Patrick Barwise.

This week, we discuss Peter’s latest book, A Dead Cat on Your Table, which delves into the world of "culture wars," the role of media personalities, influencers, and think tanks. We also explore Elon Musk's potential $100 million donation to Nigel Farage and the Reform Party and assess the extent to which the BBC is constrained in addressing "culture war" issues due to government pressure and funding concerns.

“It's the one structural fault that dates from the 20s. The government has too much power over the BBC’s funding and too much power over the BBC in other ways too. And you look at the manipulations of the last decade, and you can absolutely see that.”

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@BeebRoger

Instagram: rogerboltonsbeebwatch

LinkedIn: Roger Bolton's Beeb Watch

email: roger@rogerboltonsbeebwatch.com

www.goodeggproductions.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.