BBC won't broadcast Attenborough episode on destruction of wildlife over fear of right-wing backlash

[anothernewbbaccount]

@lorcan_nagle

They were so impartiallaw-abiding during the Troubles that they dubbed over any Sinn Fein members with a different voice when they spoke on TV

(as @MikeR said)

[euansmith]

[lorcan_nagle]

@MikeR

The BBC had no choice. In 1988, the government banned the broadcast of any Sinn Fein politicians under a provision of The Broadcasting Act 1981.

Voicing them with actors allowed them (and ITN) to broadcast interviews with Sinn Fein and remain inside the law.

@anothernewbbaccount

(as @MikeR said)

Yeah, they abided by the law, but it only targeted Republicans. Ian Paisley and other Unionists who were elected officials and had links to groups like the UDA were allowed to speak without any restriction. There was no attempt to balance this discrepancy like, say choosing to dub other people. And according to media analyses done post-peace process the BBC actually covered Sinn Fein less after the ban.

[anothernewbbaccount]

@lorcan_nagle

they abided by the law, but it only targeted Republicans.

It’s the BBC’s fault the law only targeted Republicans?

@lorcan_nagle

Ian Paisley and other Unionists who were elected officials and had links to groups like the UDA were allowed to speak without any restriction.

As they always had been. (Vile as their speech usually was.)

@lorcan_nagle

post-peace process the BBC actually covered Sinn Fein less after the ban.

The fact of being banned did perhaps make them more newsworthy for a while. (Not that I’d agree with a news editor who made that decision, but it is perhaps understandable from that perspective.)

I think you are trying to say the BBC reacted to the legal situation in a less than impartial way. That may (or may not) be so, but a better case needs to be made.

[smulder]

Is this controversial now?

“The BBC took sides in the Troubles”

… of course it did

[anon61221983]

@smulder

“The BBC took sides in the Troubles”

That’s the nature of bothsiderism in the current climate.

[GagHalfrunt]

@lorcan_nagle

There was no attempt to balance this discrepancy like, say choosing to dub other people.

They weren’t going to dub people that they didn’t have to dub in a display of impartiality. It would cost money and time that they didn’t have.

Besides, dubbing Sinn Fein leaders was an art. The broadcasters sought out actors who could mimic them as closely as possible (accent, tone of voice, rhythm, everything) and make the dubbing as inconspicuous as possible. Gerry Adams reputedly said of one of the actors who dubbed him, “He does me better than I do.”

[phuzz]

I wonder if part of the idea to move the episode to iPlayer only, was that they (probably correctly) assumed that many of the bigots who might object probably only watch broadcast TV, and rarely/never watch via the internet. It’s probably the opposite way round for anyone under 40.
So they could have their program watched by people who would appreciate it, but it would probably be missed by people who might complain.

Also, the BBC is a really big organisation, so just because the management decides on a course of action to appease the government, most of their employees might disagree. Hence the whole Lineker story is all over the BBC news, I think in part because they know it will embarrass their bosses.

Oh, and:

Richard Sharp: BBC chairman denies arranging loan for Boris Johnson

[Purplecat]

@GagHalfrunt

Besides, dubbing Sinn Fein leaders was an art. The broadcasters sought out actors who could mimic them as closely as possible (accent, tone of voice, rhythm, everything) and make the dubbing as inconspicuous as possible. Gerry Adams reputedly said of one of the actors who dubbed him, “He does me better than I do.”

And it was clear that this was the BBC of the time doing everything it could to say to the public “this is a stupid law and we don’t want to conform to it, so we’ll do so in a way that complies with the letter of the law, and makes the government look stupid”. They actually had some backbone back then (not a lot, but some).

Also, I remember them broadcasting an interview with Gerry Adams completely undubbed at one point, because he was not speaking as the leader of Sinn Fein, but as a witness to a Loyalist attack on his office, which was enough of a loophole not to have to dub him that time.

[anon97585346]

[euansmith]

Wake me up when the chickens come home to roast…

@anon73430903

Blairite is not left of centre.

I definitely agree.

@Maxx Welcome aboard, comrade!

@anon73430903

the Tories start prosecuting people for non-payment

I seem to remember that fines and prison sentences for non-payment used to fall mainly on women; as they were more likely to be home when the Detector Van came knocking. I wonder if this is still the case?

@anothernewbbaccount

There were 5 and they commissioned a 6th.

THERE ARE FOUR EPISODES!

[GilbertWham]

Yup. 6 episodes is pretty much standard for a UK TV series as well. 5 is weird.

[DukeTrout]

@phuzz

Richard Sharp: BBC chairman denies arranging loan for Boris Johnson - BBC News

Now that’s soldiering.

[anon33176345]

RSPB is already using footage* to support its campaign messages.

*using, I think, some of the missing episode.

[Kilkrazy]

I watched the first episode last night. It was really good. Fantastic shots of all kinds of wildlife from orca killer whales to dormice to damsel flies. Amazing factoids – Did you know that there are only 200 chalk streams in the whole world, and 85% of them are in the UK?

The documentary didn’t mention that they are being drained near to dry by Thames Water company.

There were several eco points mentioned; such as the rapid decline in insects and birds over the past 20-40 years. That was frightening enough that I can fully see why the powers that be don’t want episode 6 broadcast.

Anyone of my age (60yo) and above knows from personal experience the massive decline in plant and insect numbers.

[rbc67]

BBC Media Centre release - “Published: 10:00 pm, 15 August 2022
Updated: 10:00 pm, 15 August 2022”

First paragraph “Wild Isles (working title) is a major new five part natural history series from Silverback Films for BBC One and iPlayer, that aims to do for the wildlife of Britain and Ireland what the Planet series have done for the wildlife of the world.”

Sir David Attenborough to present major new series on UK wildlife for BBC One - Media Centre.

So, originally there never was a sixth episode.

[gracchus]

The same article says that the entire series was…

co-produced by The Open University, the RSPB and WWF

So if the right-wingers got so triggered by the involvement of the RSPB and WWF in the added sixth episode on human impacts* it seems odd (in the usual sense one has with their hypocrisy) that they’re not demanding that all the episodes not be shown on TV.

[* An addition that, as noted above, is in line with other Attenborough nature series.]

[PPK]

Correct - originally there wasn’t, then there was. To reiterate, the updated Countryfile website stated:

How many episodes of Wild Isles are there?

There are six episodes in total - an introductory episode about British wildlife, followed by one each focused on Britain’s four key habitat types – woodland, grassland, marine and freshwater – with a concluding episode focused on conservation efforts in Britain, called Saving Our Wild Isles.

That’s not just an ‘oops, we typed six instead of five’ - it’s an update acknowledging the expanded series. They didn’t just pull the extra text out of their arse, it would have been checked and double checked before it was provided to them by the BBC.

Then the reverse ferret - which gives the Guardian’s anonymous insiders quote added plausibility. Countryfile is a much loved source of rural stories, and closely followed by many landowners who are none too happy about the increased pressure being brought to bear regarding rewilding of their land.
See Private Eye’s The Agri Brigade column for more.