# Is the BBC(entertainment stuff) as inbred as it seems? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751 "2009-06-23T19:27:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/1 "2009-06-23T19:27:58Z")
Far from an expert on it, But I watch a fair amount of BBC created stuff on BBC America, and You Tube. And it seems wierd, like there are only like 40 people who ever make it on Camera. i.e Top Gear brings in Guys like Gordon Ramsey to drive. Gordon Ramsey has had Clarkson and May on his show. They all show up together on panel showslike Q.I. hosted by someone else who makes the rounds, with a rotation of about 10 comedians filling in the rest of the casts for all of the shows. Is there some fierce loyalty that once you get on the network, you can just show up at any BBC show and walk out on camera? … ahhh Crap, I meant Cafe :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/2 "2009-06-23T20:39:54Z")
Yeah, my wife and I joke about how there are only about 12 British actors, and they all have to work on each others’ shows. One explanation I’ve heard has to do with the short series they do (which is, in turn, due to the fact that there are usually only a couple of writers for each show). If you’re the star of a show, you’re only going to film maybe 6 or 12 episodes at a time. This leaves a lot of down time, which you fill by being a guest on other shows. For the same reason, there’s a lot of dead air time that needs to be filled. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/3 "2009-06-23T20:54:06Z")
Also remember that the US has about five times the population of the UK, so even if all else were equal (which it’s not, of course), you’d expect only a fifth as many prominent British actors as American ones. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/4 "2009-06-23T21:53:29Z")
Gordon Ramsay’s shows originally appear are on Channel 4 and ITV. I know they’re shown on BBC America, but over here he’s more associated with those networks. But I think basically **Chronos** has it. Smaller market, smaller pool of celebs. That said, I watch a few US shows such as Jon Stewart and occasionally things like Letterman and Craig Ferguson, and you get the same people on them quite a lot. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/5 "2009-06-24T15:01:43Z")
These people are being paid huge salaries - up in the millions (recently a lot of BBC top names were called in and told they were getting a 40% pay cut). Therefore they have to be leveraged to get value in a TV culture based on short series runs (with the bonus that unlike 24 episode a series US imports you can be sure sitting down to watch episode 1 you’ll be able to watch an entire series. It won’t just stop with no explanation or with an obviously shoe-horned one) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/6 "2009-06-24T16:30:15Z")
Keep in mind that BBC America doesn’t offer nearly the same range of programming that the various BBC channels do in the UK- and one of the criteria for choosing programming for BBCA is bound to be name recognition. Americans know Jeremy Clarkson and Gordon Ramsay. Americans do not know who, say, Anthea Turner is (is she even on TV any more?) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/7 "2009-06-25T17:46:57Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Yeah, my wife and I joke about how there are only about 12 British actors, and they all have to work on each others’ shows. My God, I had no idea I was married to Smeghead, my husband and I say the exact same thing! We love to watch Dr Who, Spaced and The Office and try to be the first to recognize the repeat actors from other shows and movies. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/8 "2009-06-25T20:55:05Z")
For an American equivalent, try the Food Network. Bobby Flay, the cake guy, and Ted Allen must appear in 75% of the shows in a given week. In the summer, add Alton Brown, although he’s largely a solo act except for Iron Chef America. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/9 "2009-06-26T09:32:15Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Americans do not know who, say, Anthea Turner is (is she even on TV any more?) Not much. She and her equally odious husband slid uninvited into Simon Cowell’s box at Royal Ascot last week and started munching his canapés. Please exploit that statement for any _double entendres_ that may come to mind. Suffice it to say that Cowell was furious. I refuse to further enlighten Americans on the subject of Anthea Turner because I have too much respect for them. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/10 "2009-06-29T05:43:22Z")
Two or three years ago I was told that England is about the size of the **coastal area** of Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi that was so heavily damaged by Katrina. That area can produce phenominal writers and musicians, but not one Robert Hardy or Ralph Richardson. Or Judi Dench. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/11 "2009-06-29T09:46:19Z")
Well yeah, but we’re _far_ more densely populated. By area the UK would be only the 12th largest state, but we’d be far and away the most populous (by a margin of some 25 million). Hell, London on its own would be about the 12th or 13th most populous state. ---
**Author:** ![Elvis\_Chimney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/50afbb/32.png) [@Elvis\_Chimney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elvis_Chimney)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/12 "2009-06-29T13:13:24Z")
When I read the thread title I thought that you meant incestuous instead of inbred, but when I read the body and saw that you were talking about Top Gear I realised you were probably right on both counts. I used to find the same thing with Australian soap operas in the 90s (the UK imported a lot of them and my mum was addicted to them all) to the point where it seemed that the same pool of 10 actors would be shared between The Sullivans / Sons & Daughters / Neighbours / Home & Away / Prisoner Cell Bock H / The Flying Doctors / A Country Practice and god only knows what else. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/13 "2009-06-29T14:02:46Z")
**Mod:** It doesn’t . . . taste . . . gamey. Moved from the Game Room to the Café society. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/14 "2009-06-29T16:16:15Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Americans know Jeremy Clarkson and Gordon Ramsay. Americans do not know who, say, Anthea Turner is (is she even on TV any more?) I like Graham Norton’s show. But at the beginning, he’ll make a joke about an actress identified only by a picture on the big screen behind him. The in-studio audience clearly gets the joke but often it sails over my head. And I’ve had to look up some of his guests on Wikipedia to understand who they are. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/15 "2009-06-29T16:19:35Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I like Graham Norton’s show. But at the beginning, he’ll make a joke about an actress identified only by a picture on the big screen behind him. The in-studio audience clearly gets the joke but often it sails over my head. And I’ve had to look up some of his guests on Wikipedia to understand who they are. Imagine how foreigners felt when Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian first started getting media notice… “wait, so she does what, exactly?” ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/16 "2009-06-29T16:23:18Z")
I gotta figure the BBC isn’t any more inbred than Britain itself. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/17 "2009-06-29T17:18:40Z")
A friend and I have made a hobby out of this, once we began to notice the same people showing up again and again in the historical dramas and murder mysteries we enjoy. Whenever we watch British TV shows together, we always play the following game: 1. Name that obscure British actor. 2. Identify 3 other things you’ve seen him/her in. This is how we became fans of people no one has ever heard of. ---
**Author:** ![Dublin11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Dublin11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dublin11)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/18 "2009-06-29T19:13:01Z")
Does BBC America show all the British soaps? If not then there is a rather large body of British actors and actresses who are unknown to viewers of that channel. The soaps are the biggest crowd pullers in the UK; Coronation St draws something like 7million viewers three/four times a week, so does Eastenders and Emmerdale gets slightly less, but it has five half hourly episodes a week. I have no idea what Hollyoaks gets, but I know it’s on five times a week and everyone in it is far too pretty. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/19 "2009-06-29T19:45:40Z")
No, it doesn’t show any of them. I think _Footballer’s Wives_, maybe? Here’s the current list of [programming](http://www.bbcamerica.com/shows_az.jsp), but it lies. 99% of the time they’re either showing _Primeval_, How Clean Is Your House or something of a similar name, something with Gordon Ramsey and flambeed omelettes, or a one-off documentary special called _My Fake Tits Paid For Themselves In Free Drinks And I’m A Man_ or somesuch. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751/20 "2009-06-29T20:02:15Z")
They were showing something called Mistresses for a while, and earlier another thing called Mile High. I think the problem with airing the traditional soaps like Eastenders (or the American ones like Guiding Light) is that they have been going on so long it’s difficult just to jump in. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-bbc-entertainment-stuff-as-inbred-as-it-seems/500751.md?page=2)