# BBC repeating programs within the same week. WTF?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-repeating-programs-within-the-same-week-wtf/474573
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 26, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-repeating-programs-within-the-same-week-wtf/474573 "2008-11-26T17:26:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-repeating-programs-within-the-same-week-wtf/474573/1 "2008-11-26T17:26:15Z")
Why are they allowed to get away with this?
They show Sunday’s _Top Gear_ again this evening, in a very similar time slot. They show Friday’s _Have I got News for You_ again on Saturday and Monday. I like both these programs but this is taking the piss. Pretty much anyone has the wherewithal to record programs anyway. Is this common practice elsewhere? The Beeb is getting a bit of a battering at the moment, with behaviour like this they are really fracking asking for it.
Oh, and only other must-see BBC show (_QI_) is currently a repeat of a series from years ago, they have a series in the can but aren’t showing it yet. Cheap bastards.
PS. They may be repeating all those celebrity/dance/skate/eat-worms programs as well but I try to pretend that bollocks doesn’t exist.
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### Author:  [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2008, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-repeating-programs-within-the-same-week-wtf/474573/2 "2008-11-26T18:01:32Z")
But their shows only have 6 or 12 episodes a year. You’d have to have 60 unique series just to fill up one year’s worth of one time slot on one channel.
I’ve never been able to figure out why the series are so friggin’ short…except when something so perfect and beautiful as _The Office_ or _Peep Show_ comes along and aren’t ruined by over-doing it. At least that’s what they SAY…I think I could definitely manage to enjoy those shows 13 or 24 times a year!!
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### Author:  [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-repeating-programs-within-the-same-week-wtf/474573/3 "2008-11-26T18:20:05Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#):
>
> But their shows only have 6 or 12 episodes a year. You’d have to have 60 unique series just to fill up one year’s worth of one time slot on one channel.
>
> I’ve never been able to figure out why the series are so friggin’ short…except when something so perfect and beautiful as _The Office_ or _Peep Show_ comes along and aren’t ruined by over-doing it. At least that’s what they SAY…I think I could definitely manage to enjoy those shows 13 or 24 times a year!!
Partly to do with the way shows are written, and partly to do with the fact that actors/performers want to do other things. The guys from _Peep Show_, for instance, write and perform two sketch shows on BBC2 and Radio4, in addition to regular appearances on panel shows, commercials and increasingly films. The show writers tend to be either solo writers or partners for an entire series, so the number of episodes that can be written per year is limited too. And finally, possibly only a concern for the BBC is that they have to provide variety, originality and innovation, which you can’t really do if you’re committing to 24 episodes per year. There are also no concerns for syndication over here, overseas sales are a nice extra, but with few exceptions (_Doctor Who_, _Robin Hood_, _Merlin_) which are usually very expensive to make, shows are made with the sole purpose of being shown to a UK audience.
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### Author:  [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)
#### Post date: [November 26, 2008, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bbc-repeating-programs-within-the-same-week-wtf/474573/4 "2008-11-26T18:24:12Z")
> [@Small\_Clanger](#):
>
> Why are they allowed to get away with this?
> They show Sunday’s _Top Gear_ again this evening, in a very similar time slot. They show Friday’s _Have I got News for You_ again on Saturday and Monday. I like both these programs but this is taking the piss. Pretty much anyone has the wherewithal to record programs anyway. Is this common practice elsewhere? The Beeb is getting a bit of a battering at the moment, with behaviour like this they are really fracking asking for it.
>
> Oh, and only other must-see BBC show (_QI_) is currently a repeat of a series from years ago, they have a series in the can but aren’t showing it yet. Cheap bastards.
Quit whining. They repeat their popular shows because they’re popular, and they don’t have enough to show a brand new show in every timeslot. Far better that they repeat the same show so you can catch it if you missed the original airing than if they just showed yet another repeat of _Dad’s Army_, _Only Fools and Horses_ or _'Allo, 'Allo_.
The Saturday repeat of _Have I Got News for You_ is usually an extended, unbleeped version too. And QI is being delayed because it’s moving to BBC1, so will probably fill the _HIGNFY_ slot when that finishes.