deckard

Lack of British films on TV .

Evening all!.... Back in the mists of time I had a go at the Beeb regarding the lack of British film being shown by themselves.(The reply from them is shown below). Annnyyywaaaayyyy, do you think that the situation has improved at all since then, or maybe it's worse(heaven forbid!)Would love to hear what you think...thanks, ta ta for now, Decks.

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Thank you for your recent e-mail to the BBC Complaints website. Please
accept my apologies for the extremely long delay in replying. We know our
correspondents appreciate a quick response and I regret that you've had to
wait so long on this occasion.

I'm sorry to hear of your concern that the BBC does not broadcast enough
British films. Please be assured that the BBC's acquisitions department
buys a wide variety of films to show across our four TV channels, ranging
from world cinema on BBC Four to the very best British films alongside
blockbuster movies on BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Three. Our core business is
to use licence fee money wisely to provide a range of films and programmes
for a vast and varied audience.

The BBC has a continuing, substantial and serious commitment to the British
Film Industry, but we recognise there is more to do. The number of recent
British films (made within the last 8 years) broadcast by channels 1 to 5
soared by 83.1% last year according to the UK Film Council stated in its
2004 Statistical Bulletin, which was released on March 11, 2005. In
particular, the number of recent British films shown on BBC Two in 2004
more than tripled (+220%). BBC Two is also the channel that shows the
highest proportion of recent British films (9.6%).

The BBC invests about £10m a year in original film production and recent
BBC Film hits have included My Summer of Love , Stage Beauty and The
Mother , the latter two being part of our Christmas season on BBC Two.
Other recent critical successes for the BBC include In this World , Iris
and Dirty Pretty Things , and recent acquisitions include Bend it Like
Beckham and Calendar Girls .

The BBC acknowledges it should examine whether it is doing enough to
support the British film industry and we recently told a select committee
in the House of Commons that it was time to rebalance the schedule in
favour of UK films instead of US imports. I understand the UK Film Council
have welcomed the statement by the BBC, albeit adding that it was "long
overdue".

Asked about the BBC's commitment to the British film industry, Director
General Mark Thompson said: "British film and the development and support
of the British film industry by broadcasters is very important." We accept
that in the past there has been little access to the airwaves for British
films. For example, four years ago there was only a handful - five, six or
seven - British films shown on peak time on BBC One, but this year we are
trying to increase the number to 70. One of the questions we need to look
at inside the BBC is whether £10 million is enough a year to support the
British film industry or whether we should provide a bigger role.

The Director General also sounded a note of warning, saying that low
quality British movies should not make it onto the TV screens
automatically. He said: "A lot does depend on the kind of films that we
make. Films that fail at the box office are not successful with TV
audiences, but I think the rebalancing towards British films as opposed to
low-quality American films makes sense." A key part of this is trying to
work with the film industry and the Film Council to make sure that the
supply of films is going to work with the audiences.

I hope I have been able to clarify the BBC's position and put your mind at
rest that we will certainly be addressing this matter in the future. Thank
you for taking the trouble to contact us with your views and I apologise
again for the delay in replying.

Lee Rogers
Divisional Advisor
BBC Information

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"and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock"

rskershaw

BBC4 has recently shown a few Brit films to do with its current Pop music theme. The Slade film was a rare period piece and 'Help' looked and sounded great.

DB7

We had the Summer of British Film last year and its documentaries accompanying but obviously this was always going to be a treat before a return to bread and water. It would be interesting to compare ratings/cost of an old b/w film in comparison to an antiques show or the one parading houses for sale.

The latest fashion seems to be what the poster above touches on, there's a Pop Britannia series on BBC4 so they wheel out some films, or a few Norman Wisdom films to tie in with his documentary.

Dave Rattigan

I've noticed in general the terrestrial networks seem to be showing more old films again. For years they seemed to disappear from the daytime schedules, but they appear to be making a comeback.

julian_craster

If old B/W British films were offered really cheaply to the broadcasters they might screen more.....

There is so much post-1970 film material that is cheaply available (esp from the USA) that is modern-looking and in colour, that is tempting to go for this. and the amount available increases year by year.

I suspect some UK rights holders have been asking far too much for their old films, and have priced themselves out of the market

Harbottle

On the five terrestrial channels I would say it is worse! C4 seems to show endless runs of 1950's American films thee days