OH AUNTIE... WHAT A TURN OFF!
BBC Scotland’s new offering is just repeats and ‘reality’ shows
‘Project has got a limited appeal’ ‘Offer a series of repeats’
THE BBC was yesterday accused of filling its new flagship Scottish channel with dumbed-down reality TV shows and repeats.
Corporation bosses offered a teaser of forthcoming content – including a show fronted by a YouTube ‘star’, a car-based quiz presented by a professional wrestler – and hundreds of hours of programming which has already been broadcast.
Some shows will be familiar to regular BBC viewers, including Glasgow-based soap River City, which will be premiered on the channel – called BBC Scotland – before being aired in its regular Tuesday slot on BBC One.
Fans of Scot Squad – the popular police satire – will also be able to see the new series on the channel next year before it is screened on BBC One, and the same may apply for the next series of the hit sitcom Still Game.
Half of the output when the channel launches in February will be repeats, including programmes dating back to the 1970s – but BBC chiefs ruled out ‘dusting off Scotch and Wry’, the classic comedy sketch series starring Rikki Fulton and Gregor Fisher.
The channel has a £32million budget and will be on air 365 days a year, from noon to midnight, with core content screened after 7pm. Before then, the channel will show BBC Two alongside BBC Scotland content – such as coverage of First Minister’s Questions.
The hour-long 9pm news slot will be filmed at BBC Scotland’s HQ at Pacific Quay, Glasgow, and anchored by former ITV journalist Martin Geissler and Rebecca Curran, a senior broadcast journalist based in Aberdeen.
Former BBC journalist Professor Tim Luckhurst said that while the BBC had decided against producing a ‘Scottish Six’ news programme, it was ploughing millions into a channel that may fail to satisfy either the corporation’s supporters – or its critics.
He said: ‘I fear they will end up with a halfway house that will please no one.
‘We all know digital and terrestrial television is facing long-term loss of audience to competitors that are extraordinarily popular, including Netflix.
‘The BBC is now investing new money in a project which has got – by its nature – a limited appeal.
‘At the same time as this channel is being launched, costing millions, the BBC is economising across all of its outlets and schedules.
‘Repeats are a feature of all terrestrial television now and they can be acceptable, but only if they’re very high quality – for example, a Harry Potter film.’
The channel’s bosses say they have the ‘freedom to experiment’ and the ‘freedom to fail’ with programme ideas, which will also be available on iPlayer. They hope it will lure a greater number of viewers aged 18 to 34, who tend to watch after 11pm.
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: ‘Given the sums being spent, it’s to be hoped the new channel will give Scottishbased producers the chance to showcase their talent rather than offer a series of repeats.’
The channel, which will be available on Freeview, is billed as ‘multi-genre’ and will feature a ‘mix of documentary strands, factual entertainment programming, comedy, drama and sport’.
A four-part drama series has been commissioned, but no further detail was released yesterday – except that it will not be another soap in the style of River City.
Meet Jamie Genevieve is a documentary featuring a YouTube ‘celebrity’ who used to work on a make-up counter but is now described by the BBC as a ‘modern Scottish icon’.
Viewers will ‘discover how an ordinary young woman from Tillicoultry went from worrying if she could pay her mortgage to flying in private jets’.
Another programme, Test Drive, is presented by professional wrestler Graeme Stevely, betterknown by his ring name Grado, who also appears in Scot Squad.
The game show will see three teams of two go on a road trip to a mystery destination, as a satnav asks questions that will determine the length of their journey.
The People’s News will present news and topical events ‘seen through the eyes of people from across Scotland who “dial in” to our screens each week’.
Darren McGarvey, a rapper and award-winning author also known as Loki, will be ‘taking an alternative tour of Scotland, meeting people and visiting communities that are seldom seen or heard’.
Last Breath, a feature documentary, recounts the true story of a North Sea diver stranded on the seabed after his ship’s navigation system fails, leaving him with only five minutes worth of oxygen.
The channel’s manager Tony Nellany said archives would also be mined for content, but added: ‘We won’t be dusting off Scotch and Wry.’
Steve Carson, head of multiplatform commissioning, said the ‘twin pillars’ of the channel would be ‘talking and laughing’.
BBC chiefs have said it will lead to 140 jobs being created in Scotland over three years, with a £4million digital design and engineering hub set up at BBC Scotland’s Glasgow base.
But concerns have been raised that the number of staff needed for the channel will ‘distort’ Scotland’s media industry.
The BBC unveiled plans for the channel in February last year. At the time, John McLellan, director of the Scottish Newspaper Society, said: ‘It’s a very disappointing outcome which ignores the legitimate concerns of commercial news providers and, despite months of investigation and consultation, amounts to just accepting the BBC’s assurances that its plans do not encroach on private operations.’
The BBC dominates viewing in Scotland, with a 32 per cent audience share.