Everyone\u2019s moaning about political bias at the BBC. They have done for years. And they\u2019ll continue to. The right\u2019s accusations that the BBC is anti-Trump and anti-Israeli are mirrored\u00a0by the left\u2019s accusations that the BBC is pro-Israel\u00a0and reluctant to criticise Brexit. This indicates the difficulty of the broadcaster\u2019s role, and suggests it\u2019s probably doing something right.<\/p>\n
The bigger issue with the BBC is that it is dumbing down its output, a process that it\u2019s half confessed to with its vow to make \u2018lighter\u2019 content\u00a0for \u2018C2DE\u2019 audiences, whatever they are. If you want an example of this condescension, look no further than the BBC\u2019s latest blockbuster series, Civilisations: Rise and Fall, which began on Monday night with the Sack of Rome.<\/p>\n
In its worst parts, it seemed more like a Channel 5 effort, for\u00a0post-pub viewers on a Friday night. There was needless CGI, sepia rinses and five talking heads a-minute making vapid sound bites.\u00a0BBC arts chief Suzy Klein had the chutzpah to compare it to\u00a0Kenneth Clark\u2019s 1968 TV magnum opus,\u00a0Civilisation.<\/p>\n
She acknowledges \u2013 and who wouldn\u2019t \u2013 that Clark\u2019s\u00a0Civilisation\u00a0\u2018became a defining piece of television, opening up a world of art and culture to audiences at home\u2019. She says the new series,\u00a0Civilisations: Rise and Fall, \u2018is the next iteration\u2019.<\/p>\n
There was actually a second \u2018iteration\u2019. In 2018, ubiquitous TV intellectuals Dame Mary Beard, David Olusoga and Simon Schama examined the role that art has played in shaping civilisations around the world. It received criticism from some quarters for lacking a coherent narrative. But at least the programme makers couldn\u2019t be accused of dumbing down. They can this time. It seems the BBC can\u2019t trust us to concentrate\u00a0on something as monumentally interesting as the fall of the Roman Empire for more than three minutes without the help of cheap gimmicks.<\/p>\n
The talking heads, in particular, were numerous, annoying and relentless. Historian Kristina Sessa, with arms waving, was clearly keen for as much airtime as possible, despite not having that much to say. She even tells us the same thing in successive sentences. Apparently, Honorius, the callow emperor who presided over the city\u2019s fall, \u2018is not from Rome. He is not even born in Rome.\u2019 So that\u2019s clear.<\/p>\n
Actually, at least that made sense. Her initial contribution was designed to set the scene in 410AD as Visigoths stormed the Eternal City. \u2018Imagine thousands of men pouring into your city and rushing into your home,\u2019 she trilled. I can\u2019t. I live in a 60 square metre flat in Kennington.<\/p>\n
There were countless interludes with ham actors, supposed to illustrate political intrigues in the imperial palace. The impression was less\u00a0I Claudius\u00a0and more\u00a0Carry on Cleo.<\/p>\n
The second episode looks at the fall of the Ptolemais in Ancient Egypt. We don\u2019t have commentary from\u00a0Cleo\u2019s Amanda Barrie, although we might as well have. Instead, we\u2019re treated to the expert analysis of Alastair Campbell.\u00a0\u00a0Yes, Tony Blair\u2019s old spin doctor. No, he hasn\u2019t spent recent years retraining as an Egyptologist. He is on hand to belabour the point that ancient empires, including that of the\u00a0Ptolemais, suffered from the same sort of social political crises that we do.<\/p>\n
The series continues another depressing trend, highlighted recently by the recent documentary series\u00a0Human: the emergence of the poseur-presenter.\u00a0Human\u00a0was difficult to watch for more than a few minutes without wanting to throw your dinner at the pouting face of presenter and\u00a0paleoanthropologist\u00a0Ella Al-Shamahi, as she flicked back coiffured curls and made am-dram gesticulations. The BBC\u00a0seemed to think we were too shallow and feeble-minded to watch a documentary on something as fascinating as the history of the human race, without an attractive, camera-loving guide to maintain our attention.<\/p>\n
\nCivilisations\u00a0has its very own poseur<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Having a young, female presenter of Arab descent shows inclusive hiring. If TV representers from minorities are talented \u2013 the brilliant\u00a0Ade Adepitan comes to mind\u00a0\u2013 then sign them up, I say. But communication skills should be the top priority.<\/p>\n
There were other defects in\u00a0Human\u2019s\u00a0story-telling; particularly a lack of clear graphics or timelines to reinforce the deluge of claims and information \u2013 an odd failing given the BBC\u2019s desire to make its high-profile documentaries accessible and intelligible to a wide audience.<\/p>\n
Instead, we had endless blurry, low-res images of black extras from central casting posing as prehistoric family units, trudging across murky landscapes.<\/p>\n
Civilisations\u00a0has its very own poseur, Luke Kemp, from the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk. We are treated to his front and side profiles, as he smiles beneficently at the camera in a green velvet jacket, white shirt and pendant.\u00a0He looks and sounds like a life coach. Which isn\u2019t to suggest Kemp is a charlatan. But it does add the impression that the BBC think that ordinary people have the attention span of gnats. We don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
There is so much interesting stuff in\u00a0Civilisations: Rise and Fall\u00a0\u2013 from Rome, Egypt, Mexico and Japan. We want to hear it, without the gimmicks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everyone\u2019s moaning about political bias at the BBC. They have done for years. And they\u2019ll continue to. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":593370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-593369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115611846776521775","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}