# British Dopers: "I saw you on BBC4." Joke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 16, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137 "2012-05-16T20:58:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/21 "2012-05-17T17:07:43Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > Slight Hijack: > > Does programing ever get transferred to BBC1 from the others, as it gains in popularity? Yes. In fact I think part of BBC3’s raison d’etre is as an incubator for new shows for BBC1 and 2. A lot of shows seems to start out on BBC Radio first, are adapted for tv on BBC3, then if they prove a hit they wind up on 1 or 2. Little Britain is the main example that comes to mind right now but I’ve not doubt there are others. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/22 "2012-05-17T17:11:09Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > Slight Hijack: > > Does programing ever get transferred to BBC1 from the others, as it gains in popularity? Yup, this is fairly common. Torchwood went BBC3 -\> BBC2 -\> BBC1 over the course of the UK three seasons, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/23 "2012-05-17T18:31:38Z")
So which channel would **When The Whistle Blows** from **Extras** have been on? (Come to think of it, ISTR a joke about that in one episode). ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/24 "2012-05-17T18:53:00Z")
> [@Slade](#): > > One of the guys at my school used to call it “the culture and porn channel”. This reminds me of the early, glorious, days of Channel 4. It was set up under a government charter that it offer alternative programming to the then three other channels. For a good few years after that, oh boy, it did, gleefully. Perhaps the highlight was the “red triangle” warnings they used to give onscreen for content of a nature likely to offend. Aye, right. A godsend for my generation. Nowadays Channel 4 has lost its way a lot, but it still has the best early evening news show I think. ---
**Author:** ![MickNickMaggies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/59ef9b/32.png) [@MickNickMaggies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MickNickMaggies)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/25 "2012-05-17T18:58:51Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I must admit, I’ve never really grasped the difference between BBC1 and BBC2 in terms of “identity”; they’re both very mainstream. Perhaps it’s just that I started watching them in the mid-90s.I knew I wasn’t the target audience for BBC3 the day I learned that _The Wrong Door_ was being cancelled and _Coming of Age_ (which made me nauseous to watch) was renewed. That crushed me. I still do ‘Njarnia’ every time we have to make a trip to Ikea… ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/26 "2012-05-17T22:20:08Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > So which channel would **When The Whistle Blows** from **Extras** have been on? (Come to think of it, ISTR a joke about that in one episode). Nowadays it would probably start on BBC3, years ago BBC2. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/27 "2012-05-17T23:36:00Z")
> [@Slade](#): > > Back in the 1970s, BBC 2 was where the highbrow stuff that’s now consigned to BBC 4 got shown, and its viewers were considered sophisticated enough to be offered a bit of tasteful nudity now and again. One of the guys at my school used to call it “the culture and porn channel”. > > This division was based on the same logic that dictated the educated classes could be relied upon to read erotic literature responsibly, but that the lower orders would be irredeemably corrupted by it. That’s the way PBS was over here in the '70’s and '80’s. Mostly because it was broadcasting highbrow BBC productions as part of Masterpiece Theatre. There was also a popular Nova episode about human reproduction. It all gets blurred nowadays. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/28 "2012-05-18T00:33:36Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > So which channel would **When The Whistle Blows** from **Extras** have been on? ITV. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/29 "2012-05-18T01:36:30Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > (Come to think of it, ISTR a joke about that in one episode). Of all people, the _Doctor Who_ writers make a joke like that at one point. One character says they should be in a detective show called “Sparrow and Nightingale,” but the other replies that the title is “too ITV” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/30 "2012-05-18T02:07:03Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > the occasional risk of seeing Russell Howard. Occasional? Try **EVERY BLOODY NIGHT**!:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/31 "2012-05-18T10:24:49Z")
_Family Guy_, of all shows, did a BBC4 joke about its highbrow status, suggesting that it showed dramas like this: [Condensation](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4875804498445482796#). That is only slightly unfair; BBC4 doesn’t show that sort of thing but it was certainly typical of a particular style of BBC drama in years gone by. Thankfully the Beeb has largely removed the stick rammed up its ass and even the highbrow stuff is (mostly) not as tediously pretentious as it used to be (although it may feature Professor Brian Cox sub[/sub] which is almost as bad). ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/32 "2012-05-18T10:33:08Z")
double post ---
**Author:** ![Cumbrian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cumbrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cumbrian)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/33 "2012-05-18T11:03:46Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Thankfully the Beeb has largely removed the stick rammed up its ass and even the highbrow stuff is (mostly) not as tediously pretentious as it used to be (although it may feature Professor Brian Cox sub[/sub] which is almost as bad). I think the major issue that the BBC has with respect to its science, nature and documentary output is finding presenters. The slightly stuffy image of some of their older programming is somewhat unfair, I think; give me David Attenborough doing a voiceover with gravitas any day of the week over Julia Bradbury and Richard Hammond’s over the top enthusiasm and witticisms, even though they are ever so approachable. The obvious route is to get actors to do voiceover scripts and let the images do the work for them - but that’s not the style anymore is it? They seem to have reversed the maxim “Show, don’t tell”. It’s not just the Beeb though - I’m not bashing, as the other channels are worse in many respects - but finding someone to strike the right balance in this area is going to be bloody challenging. Unless they just get Rory Bremner to “do Attenborough” or Olivier from The World At War on voiceover for the next 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/34 "2012-05-18T11:37:28Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Yes. In fact I think part of BBC3’s raison d’etre is as an incubator for new shows for BBC1 and 2. A lot of shows seems to start out on BBC Radio first, are adapted for tv on BBC3, then if they prove a hit they wind up on 1 or 2. Little Britain is the main example that comes to mind right now but I’ve not doubt there are others. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy started on the radio. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2012, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137/35 "2012-05-18T11:37:56Z")
BBC4 is also the location for the original Scando-gloom police drama “Wallander”. A real gem, you have to say “Tak!” to them for that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-dopers-i-saw-you-on-bbc4-joke/622137.md?page=1)