Home Comforts -- Number Four: The BBC

The stars of Gardeners' Question Time

Let’s face it, when it comes to television, the BBC is increasingly losing the argument as regards its worth to the licence-fee payer. There is still great programming to be found – better than most stuff you’ll find in the UK – but Lord Reith’s three-pronged founding principles of educating, informing and entertaining have long since been abandoned in favour of making cheap reality shows, blitzing ITV1 in the ratings, and running said mauling as a headline on the ‘news’ website the next morning.

The TV licence agreement is up for renewal in 2016 and, if Cameron & Co. are still in charge by then, further cuts are surely in the pipeline. And yet, this would be a great shame. Because the ‘TV licence’ is in itself something of a misnomer. Indeed, a significant chunk of the TV licence is spent on the last division of the BBC where the Reithian principles are proudly upheld: BBC Radio.

I subscribe to a podcast from BBC Radio 4 called ‘Documentary of the Week’ – hardly requires much of an explanation, but given the wealth of factual output on Radio 4, choosing the week’s ‘winner’ is surely a tall task. Over the last few weeks, I’ve enjoyed programmes covering topics as many and varied as C.S. Lewis, the Gettysburg Address, a survey on the way we use our time, and a history of the computer password. That’s right, a history of the computer password. And every last one of them has been utterly fascinating. Yet this is merely the tip of the iceberg. Tune your UK car radio to Radio 4 and, depending on the hour, you might get a comedy show, a play, an in-depth news programme (which, unlike its television counterparts, doesn’t talk to its listeners like 3-year-olds), ‘Gardeners' Question Time’ or, of course, the shipping news. On what other radio station in the world can you hope to find such variety?

Then, if you’re a sports obsessive like me, you have 5 Live, which covers most major events in the UK and abroad, with the aid of an intrepid army of commentators, whose words could paint a thousand pictures. These guys can describe the ebb and flow of a tennis rally shot-for-shot in real time and fill 90 minutes of a one-sided Formula 1 race with wit and authority. They even sometimes make cricket sound exciting.

Oh, and, as a wise man once put it, do you like good music? The Beeb has five stations covering pretty much era or genre you could shake a baton at. And that’s not to mention the high quality of programming on offer on the BBC’s network on local stations throughout the UK.

I have relatives in the US whose first move in the morning, after getting the kettle on, is to go straight to the Radio 4 website and listen to the Today programme. The poor internet here forbids me such a luxury. But such is the esteem in which the BBC is held by expats – and, indeed, armies of non-Brits. Moving abroad only reminds one all the more forcibly that there is no broadcaster in the world that comes close to matching its variety, objectivity and authority. I am very much looking forward to having Auntie back.

Saturday Post -- 19/05/12

I woke up this morning (cue harmonica!) to that strangest of sensations in our marriage: an empty bed. Fear not, readers, I'm not in trouble, it's just that Amanda has had to make a speedy (and hopefully brief) return to Santa Cruz today, and we are spending a rare day apart. She was promised pain in the weeks following her surgery, however, she called the clinic yesterday to give them the current lie of the land, and it was suggested she see the doctor as soon as she could. It's in situations like these that our distance from a major city is keenly felt. We're really hoping they will have sympathy for our geographical restrictions, address whatever issues have arisen today, and allow Amanda to get on the bus tonight and get home again. 

Amanda has more-or-less stuck to her bed-rest regime, though on Monday, she was summoned to 'action' by a director with a deadline -- that would be me. Strathaven Evangelical Church -- where I grew up and where my parents are still based -- are hosting a fundraising lunch in the coming weeks for FT's Education ministry and they asked us if we would mind making a short video for them. So, having spent some time prepping a shooting script, we set out on Monday afternoon, taking advantage of our day off to film ourselves talking to a camera and, much more interestingly, one of our Education staff at work in the classroom. 

That was the easy part. Editing took a couple of long evening sessions (quicker than I'd anticipated) and then came the moment upon which we had suspected the whole project would stand or fall: uploading it to the internet. You may be aware that net speeds here are not exactly Senna-like, and so we prepared ourselves for long, tortuous hours of trying, trying and trying again -- not helped by the network's propensity to shut itself down every so often.

Anyway, after two whole nights (no kidding!) of uploading, we got there in the end, and hopefully when the congregation at SEC have to endure our Cinemascope mugs (speak for yourself, Craig), they'll at least appreciate the effort that went in.

Despite heavy downpours all week (rain in Bolivia, like snow in the UK, has a tendency to shut everything down) it's been a productive week, with some really enjoyable teaching sessions. In the English class, Tuesday's lesson on 'Comparisons' generated a good few laughs at my expense, much to the delight of the students, with whom we've developed a tremendous working relationship this year, a real bunch of hard workers. And this week's R.E. classes touched on John 3 and 4, in which Jesus meets Nicodemus (a 'good man') and the Samarian (a 'bad woman'); the pupils took on board well the key lesson from both examples: we all need a Saviour.

News is positive, too, on the land front. After weeks of paper-chasing, we are now in the final stages of registering the land as our property, with our architect now submitting his own plans to the authorities. The way things are going, we could be looking at finally breaking ground on the house within a month. Add to the mix our continued family-planning deliberations, and 2012 is looking like a pivotal year for us.

Prayer

• For Amanda in Santa Cruz, that she would be given quick, but sensible, answers to her problems, and that she would return home soon in one piece.
• For Craig as he preaches on Psalm 3 tomorrow morning.

Praise

• For our video negotiating the choppy waters of the Bolivian internet and making it to the relevant parties in the UK.
• For a positive week in the classroom, and in our land registry.

¡Que Dios les bendiga!

Craig & Amanda