Beard’s fury at BBC as arts show is axed
BBC arts presenter Dame Mary Beard has been desperately urging TV fans of her show Inside Culture to ‘complain’ to the corporation after she learned the programme is to be axed.
The topical arts series, which has been on air since 2020, has featured a range of famous faces, including Cate Blanchett and Hillary Clinton, debating an array of cultural questions.
‘I was encouraging my followers on Twitter to tell the BBC that they’d like to see Inside Culture back on our screens,’ Dame Mary tells me. ‘I’d love to see the arts thrive.’ Ms Beard, a Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge, adds: ‘When you have eras of austerity, arts and culture are always the first to go. They are seen as being surplus to requirements.’
One disgruntled fan of the show says: ‘No more arts on the BBC’s channels? There’s no point in paying the licence fee then, as there’s nothing more to watch.’
While another quipped: ‘They can put out a two-week long c**p-fest on primetime BBC2 showing people eating takeaways while one of the few intelligent programmes gets the axe? Some priority.’
A BBC spokesperson tells me: ‘We have taken the difficult decision to bring Inside Culture to a close in order to focus and invest in new arts documentaries that will deliver greater impact and scale on BBC iPlayer.
‘We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mary Beard and all of the team at BBC Studios for their passion and commitment. We are really proud of Inside Culture, in particular the vital role it played throughout the pandemic.’
The axing of the programme comes as the BBC faces a battle over its financial future after Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced in January that the licence fee will be frozen at £159 for the next two years.
In response, Director-General Tim Davie has announced moves to make the corporation a ‘digital-led’ organisation — with up to 1,000 jobs set to be scrapped. His £500million-a-year savings plan will see a slew of cuts, including the popular CBBC, which will stop being broadcast on TV by 2025.
Recently, the BBC has also lost some of its biggest stars, including Andrew Marr, Emily Maitlis and Dan Walker, to commercial outlets.