A Quick History of the BBC | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a. production of iHeart Radio. >> Hey, and welcome into the podcast. I'm. Josh, and there's Chuck and Jerry's. here, too. And this is Stuff You Should. Know. >> That's right. Uh, you got a quick. announcement, huh? >> I I do, huh? >> I think so. >> Well, if you're talking about our our. new playlist that's coming out, that. one. That's right.

>> Yeah. We have a new playlist coming out, right, Chuck? >> Yeah. This holiday season, I think, coming out very soon, actually. Uh we. have the 12 days of holiday toys cuz. we've got lots of great toy episodes. over the years, and we've compiled them. together for the whole family to enjoy. >> That's right. We love those toy. episodes. I think it comes out on. December 12th, right? >> I think so. Oh, and that's what like I. mean in real time this probably or not. real time but in real podcast time this. this week I think.

>> I think so too. And uh what do you have. to do to get these episodes you may ask? Nothing. You don't have to lift a single. finger. We're going to put them in the. feed like we have been. And uh hope you. enjoy them. >> Yeah, totally. Uh and I have another. announcement for this BBC episode. >> Okay. >> Uh. >> is that how you say it? >> The be. Yeah, I've heard that, too. >> What do you say? >> That's how I was going to say it the. whole episode. >> Uh, this one even more so than a lot of.

our others that are, you know, you could. potentially do a hundred episodes on. >> Mhm. >> This this is like serious overview. territory. uh when you're talking about. something as um far-reaching and. long-standing and sort of legendary. culturally as the BBC is, uh I don't. want our our our listeners across the. pond to be like, "Guys, you're going to. give us, you know, 45 minutes on the. BBC.". >> That's exactly what we're going to do. >> And it's with love.

>> Yeah. And and big thanks to our man in. Britain, Kyle, for wrangling this huge. massive topic into something pretty. pretty good and understandable. >> Yeah. Cuz I got to say, I love the BBC. Always have. >> Yeah. >> Since I was a little kid, uh watching. Yeah. watching their content on public. television. >> Uhhuh. uh you know everything from uh. Flying Circus to Benny Hill to Faulty. Towers and then having a a British. roommate in college who would tell me. about the EastEnders and.

>> you know all the all the you know stuff. that he grew up with and it's just been. near and dear. I read the BBC news all. the time. It's just, you know, I love. it. >> I definitely watched Benny Hill a lot. when I was a kid, too. So, I guess I. didn't realize it was BBC content, but. it totally was, wasn't it? >> Yeah. You just thought it was some guy. who talked funny from Indiana, >> right? >> Who liked bare bare breasts? >> Yes, he was really into boobs, man. >> He was. >> If there was ever a person into boobs, it was Benny Hill. >> Yeah. And 12-year-old Chuck.

>> So, uh, yeah, that's cool. I guess I've. loved the BBC longer than I thought, too. So, this is, uh, it's a a hat tip, I guess. Also a big thanks to the BBC. and also deeply critical of it. >> Yeah. To this 103y old institution. >> Yeah. Just in time for it 103rd. birthday. So let's get started. You. mentioned that it's called BEB. I had. not heard that before. Um but apparently.

it's quite accurate. And the BEB you can. liken it in the US to NPR where there's. a lot of um you know accusations of it. being leftleaning bias. And then people. on the left are like, "No, it's right. bias." Um, it does its best to stay. middle ground if possible. It has to do. with um public funding, but in a much. different way. >> Um, it's a and it's a venerable. institution, but like way more venerable. than NPR or public broadcasting is here. in the United States. It is.

>> a big chunk of British culture. And in. that sense, I get the sense that even. people who are like to hell with BBC um. still feel some sort of like pride in. the BBC and its existence. >> Yeah. And you know that is all as we. have learned by design. That was no. accident. Um it is the world's largest. broadcaster. Uh it has 21,000 plus. employees and nobody knows it's the it's. the oldest national broadcaster and. nobody knows how many programs they put. out. Kyle said between 10 and 20.

million. So that's that's a lot of stuff. and that's also a big cushion. >> It really is. That's a real margin. Yeah. That's called hedging. >> Yeah. And that includes I think you know. everything radio and uh because as we'll. see their little thingies are in all the. uh figgy puddings. >> Yeah. And I mean if you live in the UK. um there's some way shape or form that. you're taking in BBC content almost. certainly uh because they dominate or. they they did at one point dominate.

radio, dominate television. um now that. they blaze the trail onto the internet. as far as news sites go. They have a. huge web presence and then in the like. across the world as well they have. what's called the world service um where. you can watch BBC news all over the. world. So it's appropriately named and. they say that they have an audience of. almost half a billion people around the. world and. >> I believe it. >> I believe it too. I know probably 250. million people who watch the BBC myself.

>> Uh the be should we go back to the. beginning? >> Yeah, let's go with the the beginning. >> All right. So, we got to go. I said it. was 103 years old. So, if you carry the. one, you subtract that. You do 1922 is. where we're going. Okay. in in our uh. British wayback machine. >> Mind the gap. >> uh which you know runs on on coal and. shephardd's pie. And October 18, 1922 is.

where we're going because that is where. the British Broadcasting Company uh was. formed before they became the. corporation as a partnership between uh. what they called the post office, which. at the time was basically their uh they. ran the telegraph service over there, and the Maronei company who said, "I got. a lot of radios I'd like to sell, but. you got a nothing to put on the the. radio.". >> Oh, we haven't heard that in a while. >> Yeah, it's been a minute. >> So, yeah. Remember in our AM radio.

episode we talked about the Maronei. company setting up companies all over. the world. >> Yeah. >> Um this is this is a good example of. that. And the British government was. like hey how about this? We will make. sure you have zero competition that is. will give you a monopoly but you got to. make some pretty good content here. We. want to hear good stuff. Right now all. we hear is. >> and we want to hear better stuff than. that. >> Yeah. >> And so the Maronei company set this up. They they established this this station.

uh like you said in 1922 and I guess. five years later the British government. was like this is ours now. This is a. stateowned monopoly. I don't know what. happened to the Maronei company but it. sounds like they got um hung out to dry. I guess is the nicest way I can put it. >> Yeah, I bet they did. Okay. So that was. 27 when it became the Broadcasting. Corporation. And very, you know, kind of. right out of the gate, they were like, "Here's what we're going to do. We're. not going to, it's going to be this. weird hybrid of culture and.

entertainment." Um, kind of ran through. run through the government, but. supposedly the government doesn't. intervene too much. Um, it's it's kind. of hard to to reckon how that all works. And sometimes it works really well. Sometimes there's been a lot of. controversy. Uh but what they did decide. early on is we're not going to. advertise. We're not going to tax people. outwardly at least. uh we're going to. have what's called a license fee, which. is this to us in the United States a. very strange sort of arrangement wherein.

households pay a certain amount of money. uh starting in 1923 with 10 shillings a. year uh to fund the BBC and that's like. your household license to listen to and. then later watch stuff on television and. listen on the radio. >> Like you have to have a license to watch. TV in the UK is what you're saying. >> Yeah. But they don't they don't say, "All right, now here's the code to turn. it on." Uh, I mean, I guess is it just. like a honor system?

>> That's what Kyle So, we were we had to. follow up with Kyle. We're like, "We do. not get this license thing because it's. just you Brits just take it as like. every it's just the most normal thing in. the world." It's not. Um, so it turns. out that it is see it does seem to be on. an honor system and that most people. follow that uh in part because most. people have honor, but also there's. apparently a very real threat that the. BBC will send out some government goons. to show up at your doorstep and be like,

"Hey, are you do you have a TV license?". And I guess some people think that it's. um it's incumbent upon them to open. their door and let the person in to see. that they have a TV and they they can't. produce a license. And you can get fined. $1,000. And apparently they have trucks. They say pounds. Thank you. Which is. more than $1,000. >> You should have also said the Goon. Squad. >> I should have I I Let me just retake. this whole Let's just start at the. beginning again. >> You have to put on your news boy cap and.

get out your cup of tea to really get in. the the zone. You know, >> they really my my Liptin's blackberry. tea. >> Yeah. >> But apparently they will come to your. house. So think about this, right? If. you are um not in the UK and you. subscribe to Netflix and you get Netflix. because you're using a friend's. password. >> Imagine if Netflix showed up on your. doorstep and said, "Are you getting. Netflix for free?". >> Yeah. >> And you say, "No." And they say, "Prove. it. Let me in. Let me go. Let me go. check and see if you have Netflix. because we know you you don't have your.

own account. That's essentially what. they do with that. >> Yeah. Uh I believe the the color TV. license for 2025 is 17450. Uh 22.8 million people pay this. About. 12% don't. They just sort of evade that. cost for a total of about 3.8 billion. pounds. Uh that goes to the BBC and the. government. But this license expires in. 2027 and there's a lot of heming and.

hawing going on over what's going to. happen next. >> Yeah. Over the course of its history, these 10-year charters that they get. that get renewed and reviewed, um, usually the government wants something. in return or at the very least ras them. over the coals publicly, uh, it but it. does seem from what I was reading that. this this does seem like to be a. particularly dire situation for the BBC. and their charter. >> Yeah, for sure. So, uh, there's some a lot of people who. are like, "No, let's let's get rid of. the BBC altogether, or let's let them.

compete in the free market. They can. sell ads." Um, it's an unfair, aggressive tax where the poorest people. have to pay the most percentage of their. um, income for it, whether they want to. or not, just to watch TV. Um, there's a. lot of competing ideas for what to do, and the BBC's like, "How about this? Let's just not change anything and. increase the license fee a little bit.". And they're getting crickets back right. now. >> Yeah, they're getting crickets. So, uh, time will tell. Uh, in 2027, we'll.

report back what happened. >> Okay. Yeah. >> Yeah. A little follow-up. Uh but let's. go back to the beginning because they. had a guiding light at the beginning uh. which I was talking about which was. after the world war I uh the great war. they really said let's let's start this. thing to embody what it means to be a. Britain and uh to sort of um uh get our. common culture out there to the world. through you know uh sports obviously. would come along and and music and uh.

interviews and documentaries and plays. and things at the time. I mean, there. were three dudes early on that um were. the I guess the founders. Uh Ceil Lewis, who was a fighter pilot, former fighter. pilot. >> Man, you are nailing the British. pronunciations here. >> Yeah, he he might have gone by Cecil. I. don't know. Uh a broadcaster named. Arthur Burroughs, and their first. director general, who is the person uh. in charge of the whole thing. His name. was John, I think. Wright. >> I'm going with Rereath. >> You're going with Rereath. Uh, and the. director general is in charge, but they.

also there's also a government board of. governors that they work with or maybe. answer to, >> right? Um, and one of the things about. the BBC, one of the reasons it's so. venrated, it was a huge trailblazer. thanks to these three guys and their. vision. Um, I saw that John Rereath was. described by the New World Encyclopedia. as a man of high intelligence, great. ambition, and rigid moral views. And. just like out of the gate, they set the. standard for broadcasting, for broadcast. journalism, for what it meant to um kind.

of create a common culture. Remember in. our Saturday morning cartoon episode, we. talked about how Saturday morning. cartoons played like a BIC function. >> Yeah. >> Where it gives a common culture to a. bunch of people. That was like part of. their goal was to create a a common. British culture. And that happened right. after World War I. At the time, nobody. had anything in common. So, it was a. good thing that the BBC came along. >> Yeah. And this was in the infancy of. radio at the time and uh such that Kyle.

dug up this kind of fun thing. I guess. there was a a sign uh in some of the. recording studios and broadcasting. studios where it said you will all caps. deafen thousands. So, people didn't know what they were. doing. So, they really had to kind of. figure this whole thing out. Uh it was a. very intimidating thing, you know, early. on to sit in front of a microphone when. no one had done that kind of thing. before. Yeah. And even Arthur Burroughs. as a broadcaster um he said broadcasting. to millions was awful. >> and they were worried about getting, you.

know, quote some madman on the. microphone who could do a lot of damage. So it was a it was a pretty intimidating. thing at first when they were getting. their feet wet. >> Yeah. And so for people outside of. Britain too, the BBC was it they were. the only radio station not because um. they were they were there was no. competition. They had a monopoly for. years and years and years. They had a. monopoly on radio and then television. So just bear that in mind. So it was. really incumbent upon these guys and.

they realized their responsibility to be. the the provider of mass communication. for their entire nation and they took. that responsibility seriously and they. started the whole thing out on November. 14th, 1922. uh with the call sign 2L. Um that was. their broadcast license from the Maronei. company and uh Arthur Burroughs said. LOL. This is 2L, the London station of the. British Broadcasting Company calling. 2.

LLO calling. And that was my Arthur. Burroughs. >> It's pretty good. Uh, and keep in mind. everyone, he was very nervous on the. first day. That's why Josh sounded like. that. Um, then he went on to just sort of get. the content underway. He did a one. minute weather and news bulletin, and. this is adorable. Then he repeated it. slower so people could take notes to I. guess read back to their family. Uh and. from the get-go they they didn't call it. BBC English at the time. Uh what it was.

called was uh received pronunciation, >> but it was this sort of uh accent that. they all agreed would be the accent. They didn't like regional accents coming. on and everyone sort of doing their own. thing. um they opted for this middle. class southern English that like at the. Eaton school uh where it was just sort. of the same. >> Yeah. Apparently they've been generating. among aristocrats since like the 18th. century and at that same time there were. colonists who were setting up colonies.

in North America who had separated from. that. And so there are in some ways a. lot more similarities to how Americans. talk today to how people in. Shakespeare's time would have spoken. than the people in Great Britain today. in the UK have with the people in. Shakespeare's time. Especially hard RS. >> like Shakespeare would have been like. what is a car. >> uh or the H's uh instead of um. >> Henry Igggins, >> right? You would say Henry Higgins.

That's how Americans say it. So those. those two big differences, that's how. Brits used to speak before like I guess. about the 1800s. >> Yeah. And so they, you know, they got. the ball rolling very fast on all kinds. of content in the 1920s. Uh they had uh. something called the children's hour. Um. they started playing live concerts at. some of London's uh you know venerated. halls. Uh in 1927 they started sports. broadcasting with the FA Cup final uh. which is the the very first ever live.

commentary for any event not just. sports. >> And by the end of the 1920s by the end. of that first decade really just eight. years they had 2 million license. holders. Uh those were households so. they had a lot more than that as active. listeners. And they were a a venerated. respected institution kind of right out. of the gate. >> Yes. But before that, they ran into. their first major um headbutt with. government. And I say we take a break. and come back and talk about that.

>> About Church Hill. >> That's right. >> We'll be right back. So Chuck, uh, we talked about them. headbutting with government, and the. first time it ever happened was with the. 1926 general strike, which is when a. bunch of people go on strike from all. different kinds of professions. And they. were doing this uh in sympathy with coal.

miners. I think one uh more than a. million coal miners were having their. wages reduced. And so a bunch of different people from. different professions went on strike. And that included print workers at the. newspapers. So the newspapers. effectively shut down except for the. British Gazette, which was a. government-owned newspaper. And the. government-owned newspaper was like, "This strike sucks and everybody who. likes it sucks too." But that left the. BBC is the only form of mass. communication reporting on this stuff.

And apparently Winston Churchill was not. very happy with the idea that the BBC, a. government-owned monopoly, was um not. just being like, "This strike sucks and. anybody who likes it sucks." They were. reporting neutrally on it. >> Yeah. He was uh finance minister at the. time, but he had a lot of sway. obviously. And he was like, "Hey, I I. think we should um declare an emergency. and take over the BBC." And uh the. director general resisted. uh Rereath. did and he said, "No, we're not going to.

let that happen." Uh but they it seems. like they were strong armed into uh not. airing the other side as much. Uh one. example is when they had Prime Minister. Stanley Baldwin on at one point. Um and. this was at Reich's house they were. broadcasting out of. Um the leader of. the opposition, Ramsey McDonald, was. like, "Well, I I get to come on now, too, right?" And the government refused. that. So, um, they they remained, you. know, through the rest of the strike, uh, somewhat impartial. Um, they didn't. let McDonald on, but they did block.

Churchill basically from being on the. BBC until he resigned in 1938. So, they. were like, you're never coming on here. >> No, that's quite a coup actually because. Churchill like to talk and give. speeches. So, um, throughout the the 40s or the. beginning of the 40s through World War. II, they managed to hang on, uh, and. keep reporting as best as possible. The. radio definitely did. Um, it became a. government propaganda, um, outlet. Uh,

some of the, uh, European powers that. had been overrun by the Nazis and had. made their way to the UK used the BBC to. broadcast to their their people back. home. um or I think the Polish army in. exile or Polish government in exile sent. coded messages to Polish resistance. forces. Um it like it's it still kept. going. Apparently their studio was. bombed in 1940 and it took out a lot of. the top few floors, but luckily they. were broadcasting out of the basement.

still and I guess the guy who was. reading the news at the time um dusted. the the script off and kept reading. you. you heard kind of a boom in the. background. Uh but the news radio. basically didn't miss a beat. >> Yeah. They kept going uh because they. had that charge to do so. Uh the in the. 1930s is when TV came along. So uh at. the beginning there was a Scotsman named. John uh Loi Baird. Uh this was a 1926. where he had this um really archaic at.

you know I guess it was pretty advanced. for the time but archaic now a. mechanical system where they had. rotating discs um scanning and. displaying images and so they said all. right that's good enough for now it's. 1932 no one will know that this isn't. very good. >> I can't imagine. >> so they they put out a a very. experimental 30line service to. demonstrate that uh it didn't look so. great but uh it didn't take very long. before they had Maronei came along again. and said that he had a better system. along with EMI. And in 1936, they had.

the first highdeaf television service uh. launched from Alexandria Palace in North. London. And at the time, high def meant. 240 lines of resolution or more. >> Yeah. Which is nuts because TV high def. today has something like 250. >> Yeah. >> At least. >> At least. Um, so the BBC TV, so BBC. radio continued broadcasting throughout. the war, but BBC television shut down.

because apparently there was a lot of. concern that the um, signal could be. used to lock on as a target and bomb. Alexandria Palace where they were. broadcasting from. >> So they're like, well, we don't want to. risk that. We'll just stop broadcasting. And they did for seven years from 1939. to 1946. >> Yeah. Right after they got this new. thing in in their households. Yeah, >> they were like, "All right, for seven. years." Can you imagine being a child? >> No. >> I mean, there wasn't the most kids. content at the time, but still, anything.

on a TV screen, I imagine, was hard to. lose after you tasted it. >> I know. And it was around for three. years, so that was enough time to get. people pretty strung out on TV, >> right? Yeah. >> You know? >> Huh. >> So, remember, these guys are figuring. this stuff out as they go along. Like, the BBC were trailblazers in just about. everything they ever dip their toe into. Um, and one of the ways that they did. figure stuff out was basically being. dropped into the middle of it. >> And one a really good example of that uh. came in the 50s in 1953 when Queen.

Elizabeth um I the sequel um when her. when she was coronated um basically the. BBC was like this is one of the biggest. things we've ever covered if not the. biggest thing we've ever covered so far. So we're going to are we're just going. to throw everything we can at it. So. they started developing new technology. They figured out new ways of. broadcasting. They figured out like uh. rolling news coverage from you know. station to station and it was quite. successful from what I understand too.

Plus also a lot of people bought TV sets. as as a result. >> Yeah. So they could see that thing. >> Yeah. So they could see what Queen. Elizabeth looked like finally. >> Yeah. They told us on the radio we could. see what she looked like on TV. So we. went out and bought one. >> Right. She's got pretty nice hair. She's. wearing a tiara. >> I think those are white gloves or else. she's quite pale. I can't see from here. >> Is that a corgi? >> So, you mentioned the monopoly. Uh, that. monopoly was eventually broken in 1955.

when ITV uh independent television was. launched, >> the oldest commercial network in. Britain. >> And then eventually in 1982, Channel 4. would come along. >> Yeah. Uh, and you know, all of a sudden. programming started to get somewhat. interesting in like the 1950s because. you started to get a lot more um, you know, it wasn't just let's let's do. the the coronation or this concert from. uh, Royal Albert Hall or something like. that. They started to to get into comedy. and sort of true entertainment. Um, for.

better or for worse, uh, one example of. for worse was a show called the Black. and White Minstrel Show, dude. uh in. 1957. They had 16 million viewers for. that show. Uh and it ran from 1957. to 1978, a super super super racist minstrel. show. Uh we will say from 1962, uh. starting in 1962, the the chief. accountant of the BBC was like this is a.

disgrace and like really racist. Um, and. so it took another 16 years for BBC 1 to. say, "Yeah, maybe you're right.". >> Yeah. That chief accountant's name was. Barry Thorne, and he was quite. viciferous about getting this thing off. the air. And one of um his memos that he. sent, he got a reply um from one of the. higherups that said, "For heaven's sake, shut up. They just buried their heads in. the sand. They would not accept that. this was an offensive, racist show." And.

I read like even in 1957 this was. offensive and racist, let alone 1978. >> And if you go and watch it, it is. jaw-droppingly racist. Like. >> yeah, >> they're just not good. >> It isn't. It's like Lawrence Welk. terrible. That's essentially it was. imagine Lawrence Welk where every man is. in blackface for no reason whatsoever. There's no context to it. >> They're just in blackface doing all. these different things and doing all. these different song performances. It's.

It's insane. Like, you should definitely. go check it out. Like, if it if it if. you're not just like completely. staggered by it, I will be surprised. >> Yeah. Or maybe, you know, check in with. yourself. >> That's a good uh litmus test. Watching. the black and white menstrual show and. seeing what you think of it. >> Yeah, that should be the the test moving. forward. I think. >> it's so nuts, dude. Just hook people up. to a machine. >> Yeah. >> Uh it's 1960s now. We're really flying. through the decades. Uh BBC 2 has come.

along in 1964 and Color TV with a U uh. comes along in 1967. And this is when some some of the. legendary shows uh over there of all. time came about in the '60s. Uh not the. least of which from 1963 was uh the. sci-fi series Doctor Who. >> Who? >> Exactly. A show that I've never watched. me, >> but I know people love it. >> Oh, yeah. I mean, it's been a cult. classic for man, coming up on 75 years.

>> Yeah. >> 70 years, 60 something. That's a long. time for a cult classic to be around, you know. >> Yeah. >> Think about it. Freaks and Geeks was one. season. >> Yeah, good point. >> There was also one that I'd like to see. I hadn't uh heard of it yet, but. apparently was enormous, and I can. understand why. It was Kenneth Clark's. Civilization from 199. This apparently was like the first. prestige series that they ever came out. with. And it was basically like Kenneth. Clark going over the dark ages up to the.

20th century and talking about the. philosophy of different eras and um what. was going on and how things developed. and how people got along and interacted. It sounds really amazing. >> Yeah, for sure. I want to see that too. Uh maybe we should get an eye player. We'll get to what that is later. >> Okay. Or sign up for eye player. I don't think. it's an object, right? >> Uh, no, it's not. >> Uh, satire came along in 1962 with David. Frost. Uh, that was the week that was.

>> Mhm. >> I can only think that John Oliver's Last. Week Tonight with John Oliver is a just. the title itself might be a slight nod. >> to That was the week that was. >> I mean, he's always struck me as pretty. British, so I'm sure he's aware of that. show. >> Uh, and that was, of course, the great. David Frost. Yeah. >> Yeah. the one who got Nixon to basically. admit that he was a crook. >> Yeah, that's the dude. >> There's another That was in 1977 on CBS. I'm sure BBC was quite jealous. >> Oh, Frost Nixon. Yeah.

>> Um or else they didn't care because it. was Nixon and he's American. >> That's right. But we also got. Montipython's Flying Circus and Benny. Hill in the late 60s. >> That's right. Uh, and then also the. Foresight Saga, which I hadn't heard of, but apparently it has quite a bit of. similarity to Downtown Abbey, and. they're about to reboot it for the third. time. So, I guess Downtown Abbey fans. can move over to the Foresight Saga. >> I think that's already out, actually. >> Oh my god. >> The new one. >> Is it really? >> Yeah. I mean, it's been around since '. 67. I think there's a new six-part.

series that's also uh that's also out. If not now, then maybe coming in the. holidays because it's definitely this. year. >> Okay, cool. >> Yeah. >> Are you into Downtown Abbey? I don't. remember. >> I love Downtown Abbey. I watched it at. all. >> Good. >> Yeah, it's it's not taxing on the brain. or anything. It's just it's exactly what. it should be, which is that. >> just real easy to watch upstairs. downstairs uh soapy drama. >> Nice. >> Yeah, I like it. >> Okay. Uh, and then also what came along.

in the 60s in 1964 was the music show. Top of the Pops. We've talked about that. a few times. Um, you know, remember. Queen made their um, Bohemian Rapsity. video to get out of having to lip-sync. on Top of the Pops. >> Yeah. I mean, legendary show uh, hosted. by um, noted awful person Jimmy Sabil, who we're going to talk about later. >> Yeah, for sure. Imagine if we just. didn't mention him, >> right? Uh so uh we um you said we were blazing. through the decades. We're about to.

blaze so fast we're going to combine the. 70s and 80s together because a couple of. really big things happened in well. starting in the late 70s and early 80s. Um the first thing was 1979 when Life on. Earth premiered and that is David. Atenburgh's first really big massive um. wildlife documentary series. It took. three years to make. Um, they went to. over a hundred locations. It had a 1. million pound price tag and I was like,

"Wow, that's got to be a lot." That's. only5 million pounds today. So, imagine. getting this groundbreaking series for a. a mere 5 million pounds. That's quite a. deal. But this this thing just. completely changed wildlife. documentaries. Every every wildlife. documentary you see traces itself in its. style back to life on Earth. >> Yeah, 100%. Um, you know, we can't go. over all these shows and I know people. are going to be like, uh, what about One. Foot in the Grave and on the and my.

favorite show, uh, but we should mention. my favorites, uh, one of which was. Faulty Towers. That was another that, u. post college when I was living in New. Jersey with my British friend, uh, from. college, he introduced me to Faulty. Towers, >> um, and the Black Adder and they were. just a couple of the best shows ever. I. mean, it was comedy that I hadn't seen. before and just really, really great. stuff. >> Yeah. I for some reason I got introduced. to Faulty Towers before I ever watched. um Flying Circus, too. So, I was like,

"Oh, that's the guy from Faulty Towers.". >> Oh, really? >> Mhm. >> Oh, that's funny. >> Uh and you mentioned the uh Goon Squad. I remember we talked about them when we. did an episode on I guess MontiPython. Did we ever do an episode on Monty. Python? Because they came up. >> We did. >> Okay. I think that was one of our LA. Podfest. >> It was totally. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So, they were deeply influenced by. the Goon the Goon Show. >> Yeah. >> I said Goon Squad, didn't I?

>> Yeah. I think I said Goon Squad earlier, so I think I probably influenced that. >> Thank you. Thanks for jumping on that. grenade for me. >> But it's the Goon Show, and it was one. of the first absurdest comedies that. really influenced um shows to come like. Monty Python. But it was just on the. radio which makes it even more creative. if you ask me. >> Yeah. Amazing. Uh Spike Milligan created. it and uh it's probably most notable. these days for uh where Peter Cers got. his start. >> Mh. >> Uh he was in the first couple of series. what we call seasons. Uh along with.

Harry Seome and I believe Michael. Bentine took over Peter Sellers. Uh, and. like I said, there's so many shows to. mention, but we can't not mention. EastEnders because uh, my former. roommate Justin talked about it a lot. He was from East London, and it was it's. one of the biggest shows in the history. of the BBC. >> It's basically like the British version. of Friends. >> Yeah. Uh, I don't know. I'm not going to. comment on that.

>> But that that was the TV show and still. is. East Enders is still on, correct? >> Uh, I don't know. Is it? I'm pretty sure. it is. >> It wouldn't surprise me. It started in. 1985 and was a really big hit out of the. gate and it's, you know, it's melodrama. Um Kyle points out that it's it hits all. the sort of stereotypical like soap. opera archetypes. Um but they've also. through the years, like I think most. good shows, um gotten some some uh. applause for tackling things like uh. like some of the realities of of the.

East End of London through history. >> Yeah. like uh HIV, unemployment, just. stuff that you don't always see on the. TV. It was kind of groundbreaking in. that sense. >> Um for sure. >> Don't call it a soap opera though, Chuck. >> If you want to go soap operas, you got. to get back to the radio and just find. the Archers, which is the world's. longest running soap opera. They have. over 20,000 episodes, so almost as many. as we do. >> Wow. >> And it's set out in um rural England. Uh, apparently it's great or it has been.

from time to time. So, I've never heard. of it and never heard it, but I may pick. up a Archer's Habit. I'm not sure. >> Tune in. >> Yeah. >> Or you could just watch Archer instead. on FX because it's great. >> It's basically the same thing. >> Uh, the radio was still going on. You. know, I know we're talking a lot about. TV, but you mentioned the Archers. um. the quality of radios, you know, if you. listen to our AM radio episode, um. everything just on it kind of started. getting better technologically in the.

60s and 70s. >> Um they were more ubiquitous, so it. reached more ears. Um but uh and you. know, this touches on a lot of our. episodes because if you listen to our. pirate radio episode, um you'll know. that pirate radio was a legitimate. threat to uh the BBC radio. Um Radio. Carolina and Radio London. It wasn't. just, you know, like a few hundred. people listening. Like they were playing. popular music and sort of dominating. that scene in the mid to late 60s and. the BBC was like, "We got to do better.".

>> Yeah. And the reason why there were. pirate radio stations is again because. it was illegal to run a radio station. because BBC had the monopoly on it. Um, so they were like, "Well, like like you. said, we need to keep up." So they. launched Radio One in 1967. and like apparently it's the most. listened to radio station in the entire. world. um for no small reason in part to Pete. Tong in his essential selection show. that ran in the 90s. Did you ever listen. to that? >> Uh I know the name, but I don't I don't. know if I ever listen to that.

>> It was like DJ sets that he hosted. They. were really good. It was a good show. >> Yeah. Well, they um eventually would end. that monopoly 5 years later in 1972 on. the radio uh when they passed. legislation that commercial radio could. be a thing. And that's when the LBC, the. London Broadcasting Company, >> uh, was the first one to hit the. legitimate airwaves is not pirate radio. >> And apparently it was, you know, things. moved along okay through the 70s and. 80s, but it was really the 1990s where.

local independent radio like Super took. off over there. >> Yeah. I think by that time, by 1995, the. BBC had a smaller audience than some of. its competitors for the very first time. >> Yeah. >> But the BBC plotted along. I don't feel. bad for them as we'll see. Uh they know. how to pick themselves up and dust. themselves off and say what's next for. the BBC. I say we take a break and we come back. and find out what's next. Chuck, >> let's do it.

All right, we're back and we promised. what's next for the BBC. And what was. next was Margaret Thatcher saying, "I. hate you BBC.". >> Yeah. >> Uh she was elected in 1979. Um had a a. strong uh I guess aversion to the BBC. and their privileged status right out of. the gate. She wanted she was all about. the free market. She was like, "No, this. should be in the free market with.

everyone else." Mhm. >> Um the the editorial editorializing. should align with the national interest. of basically what I think is a national. interest. >> That's right. >> And there were a number of things that. happened in the 1980s that um I guess. you could call them either missteps or. just honest broadcasting that did not. like. >> No. Especially the covering the. Faulland's war or um the troubles in. Northern Ireland. They weren't just like. screw Northern Ireland, screw the IRA, or screw the Argentinians. Like they,

like you said, reported fairly and in. some cases were accused of treachery. Apparently, um Peter Snow on News Night. uh called the troops the British when. they were invading the Faullands rather. than our troops. And he was accused of. treachery. Um, and they once interviewed. a IRA member for a um, I think a. Panorama episode. Yeah, Panorama. It's. kind of like Frontline from what I can. tell. It's like a hard-hitting.

investigative documentary show. >> Okay. >> And you just couldn't do that. You. couldn't talk to the IRA. You couldn't. give them any kind of airtime. You. couldn't air their viewpoints. And they. tried to in the mid 80s with that. Panorama um episode, but I I guess it. never saw the light of day because of. the government. >> Yeah. And that the whole situation would. eventually lead to the ouster of the. director general at the time, uh. Alistair Mil. And you know, he was. everything I read about him said he was. he was doing a pretty good job, but it.

was, you know, Thatcher was uh in power. She wanted him out. And in 1987 he was. basically um kind of strongarmmed out. and Thatcher's you know uh choice person. Marmaduke Hussie was installed and uh. you know just to be more government. friendly. >> Yeah. Apparently I was reading about. Marmaduke Hussie. He was described in. his obituary as cleverer than he looked. but almost certainly not as clever as he. thought. And uh he had he said that when.

he was appointed to the BBC, he was so. unfamiliar with it that he and his wife. had to look up the address in the phone. book to see where he should be going. So. he was not like an obvious choice and he. was clearly the choice that that was. like this guy's going to listen to. everything I want thought. >> Yeah. Well, and uh I read some about. what Milan thought of um like kind of. the board after that and the the. management after that and he was like. it's just it's a bunch of amateurs. people that don't know what they doing. like beyond the fact that um they're.

just cronies for Thatcher like they're. not good at this job. >> Yeah. Yeah. Apparently he Hussie was. known to this point for having almost. run the Daily Mail into the ground and. then almost run the the Telegraph into. the ground too. So, he was definitely. not an obvious choice, like I said. >> Yeah. Uh, fast forward a lot actually, uh, if you want to go all the way up to. Tony Blair in the 21st century. Um, one. of their big first, uh, sort of.

controversies of that era was the Iraq. dossier. Uh, in May 2003, there was a. defense correspondent named Andrew. Gilligan who got on Radio 4 and alleged. that the Iraq WMD dossier uh had been. quote sexed up. Uh, something that. everyone understands as being the truth. now. >> Mhm. and um Blair's press chief. Alistister Campbell uh went on the. counter and a big feud uh sort of. erupted between the BBC and the. government and director general there uh.

Greg Dyke was um well I guess he was. sacked as well. Well, he resigned but. kind of another strong arm. >> Yeah, that was a huge huge deal. And one. of the most um shocking things that came. out of all of this is that um Andrew. Gilligan's source on this matter was a. guy named David Kelly who was a UN. weapons expert. So he really knew what. he was talking about, but he had been an. anonymous whistleblower up to this. point. It leaked out somehow that he was. the source. >> for this huge government controversy.

that basically said the UK faked all of. the stuff that helped America invade. Iraq. And David Kelly was found dead uh. apparently by suicide in the woods by. his house. >> Yeah. >> It's very sad, too. Apparently, there's. um a certain amount of people who are. like, I don't think he took his life. >> Yeah. As soon as I read that, I was. like, I know. I mean, there was an. investigation apparently uh and the. government was cleared of wrongdoing, but you know.

>> Yeah. But I mean, that'd be pretty. vindictive if you think about it. Like I. can really buy the government killing. this guy to silence him before he can. share this information, but to do it in. retribution seems even wow. >> Yeah, for sure. Uh the late 90s come. along and the digital revolution is upon. us and uh director general at that time, John Bert, uh started BBC online. Uh he. had visited the states and kind of. realized that that was the future and uh. it really took off. Uh they had at the.

time just sort of an um a peacemeal. network of web pages and in 1997 they. really kicked it off in earnest with BBC. online with the general election and a. rolling news website for the first time. uh was established after the death of. Princess Diana. So it was hotly. trafficked obviously. >> Yeah. Uh apparently 19 million people. watched her funeral, the largest ever. broadcast. um for them. Uh and one of the things. that came out of this um and again this. was really forwardinking. We're talking.

1997 and they're like, we're gonna put a. substantial amount of money in creating. our web presence. One of the things that. came out of it was that I player you. were mentioning which Yeah. which was. launched in 2007. >> And initially it was like did you miss. >> uh East Enders this week? Well, come. watch it on i Player. And this was not a. thing at the time. Like this was a. really groundbreaking thing for the BBC. to come up with. >> Yeah. Um there was a lot of lobbying by.

rivals like commercial rivals. So they. had a lot of constraints at first um. that you know hey you can watch East. Cinders it was just for seven days at. first right. >> um but it was free. >> Uh Kyle said it was very easy to use. I. can't not I cannot attest to that but. Kyle said it was. >> And by 2012 I player was voted the UK's. best brand. Uh and that was when they. had the London Olympics going on. And. that's a great time to have something. like i Player so you can catch the. Olympics if you're not watching it live. >> Yeah. >> Uh but then uh Netflix would come along.

in 2012 overseas and they were free from. those regulations and they could mine. all the top shows they wanted that they. could you know cut deals with and uh all. of a sudden I think the BBC had a. restriction on their best shows for like. seven years. >> So Netflix really put a hurting on uh i. Player for a while. >> Yeah. I guess their audience share in. the UK went from 40% to 15% once Netflix. showed up and I saw that Adolescence was.

the most watched show in the UK I. believe in history. It's pretty good. Um. and I guess the BBC's like we can't we. can't compete with this. Like our eye. player even the Netflix um chief. executive said I player really blazed. the trail for video on demand. Yeah. Um, but they're like, "We can't we can't. keep up with this." And I it doesn't. really matter because everybody loves i. Player. Um, and I guess you would not. necessarily choose between Netflix and I.

player. Um, maybe some do. I'm not quite. sure what the competition problem is. >> Yeah, I'm with you. >> Because it's not like BBC's like, "Give. me some money for i Player." Like, that's included in your license that you. pay every year. Maybe they just don't. like to look bad. Well, I mean, you. don't want a dying product on your. company, you know. >> Yeah, I don't think it is dying, but. yeah, Netflix took a huge bite out of. it. >> Yeah, for sure. Uh, but BBC is still. around. BBC 1 still reaches millions of. people on just on the telly. Uh, Radio 4.

reaches about 10 million people weekly. Um, the the sort of knock against or the. crack against BBC, I guess. Uh, crack in. the American sense, not the Irish sense. Um, I guess you would say the knock over. there is that it's like for, you know, >> for the senior set, like you know, there. are people that watch the BBC are in. their 60s and uh, you know, it's sort of. not not the the way forward. It was our. past. >> Yeah, that's right, Chuck.

>> We play bureau music or something. >> So, well, I don't know yet. That. actually remains to be seen. I don't I. can't imagine that the BBC is going to. just be done away with. But it is quite. possible that they're going to face some. some real um changes because in the. 2010s the BBC it was just misstep and. scandal and problem after problem. >> Um apparently they uh worked on a 100. million pound digital media initiative.

where they were going to come up with a. great archive that's going to be super. searchable and um it just went nowhere. Uh, so they just wasted, you know, I. think 97 million pounds on it and Brits. were outraged, which shows you, you. know, that sense of ownership that the. average British person has for the BBC. Whereas like if you found out, you know, Nickelodeon spent a hund00 million on a. failed initiative, even though you're. paying through your cable subscription. in part for Nickelodeon, you wouldn't it. would it would matter not. It's like.

Nickelodeon do whatever you want with. the money. But Brits feel like that. about the BBC. That's the impression I. have from that response. >> Yeah. Well, yeah, it's tied It's. Nickelodeon is not tied to the. government. I think that's one of the. big differences. >> Okay. Sure. >> Uh in 2017, uh the Conservative. government said, "Hey, we need to start. publishing these salaries.". >> Uh and they revealed a gender a pretty. substantial gender pay gap. Uh and. people were also not happy that. departing executives got big payoffs.

And I was like, "What's big?" Yeah. uh. deputy uh deputy director general Mark. Bifford got a 949,000. pound payment in 2011 and uh David. Zazloff said, "Hold my pint, guys.". >> That's right. >> He made 52 million bucks last year. >> Yeah. >> And they said, "No, no, no, no. You. can't make that much money." And so. they're cutting it back to like 30. something million this year. >> That That's funny. There's like that's. too much money. Sorry, you don't get.

that much. And he's like, "Okay, how. much do I get? 30 something. >> Yeah, I guess I can make do. Um, there. was then like all sorts of terrible sex. scandals, too. Um, Jimmy Seville kicked. it all off when he died in 2011 and it. the a floodgate opened where people just. started coming forward being like, "He. sexually abused me in the 60s. He. sexually abused me in the 70s, ' 80s, 90s, 2000s." Um, he apparently had. possibly hundreds of victims. uh a lot. of them children, some of them under uh.

like age 16, a pretty substantial. number. >> And it turned out that a lot of people. in the BBC were well aware of this and. essentially spent their time covering. this up. >> uh because Jimmy Seville was just so. revered and such a VIP that he was. treated with that much difference. And. like your career would end if you went. head-to-head with him or even thought. about it out loud. >> Yeah. That's how much power he had as. the host of Top of the Pops. Very sad.

>> Yeah. Imagine like Dick Clark doing. that. You can't You can't do it. >> In 2023, just a couple years ago, Hugh. Edwards, who was the lead presenter BBC. News at 10 for 20 years, uh since 2003, he pleaded guilty guilty to sex offenses. as well. and Master Chef host Greg. Wallace uh this year was sacked after. dozens of sexual misconduct allegations. were upheld. So yeah, they had a long. run of uh bad headlines uh leading all.

the way up into like very very recently. with the Trump administration, right? >> Yeah. Uh there's a current scandal going. on where Panorama, again, their. investigative documentary series, they. just released an episode. I think it's. the most recent one as of today um on. Trump and the technocrats and in it they. spliced together his speech that he gave. on January 6 which makes it look like he. directly called for violence and that I.

guess BBC was like we regret this error. and Trump's response was that he was. going to sue for no less than$1 billion. dollars. >> Yeah, >> that's the the first part of it. The. second part is that at the same time, this is like these are just body blows. coming one after the other. >> Yeah. >> An internal memo was leaked that that. was basically said I think outright that. the BBC is too leftwing biased and gave. examples of it. That memo got leaked and.

it's like okay, not only do the. conservatives think that the it's. left-wing biased, you think that it's. leftwing bias, BBC, or that you're. leftwing bias. So this is what's going. on as they're negotiating the charter. that renews in 2027. >> Yeah. So the the stage is set for a you. know a pretty big battle is brewing on. what that charter is going or what that. uh yeah license fee is going to look. like. >> and if it's even you know like we. mentioned people are calling it a. regressive tax. Uh I believe that the. BBC used to cover or the government used.

to cover it for people over 70. Now the. BBC is responsible for that. Um, but. yeah, I it's gonna be real interesting. to see how it all plays out. >> Yeah, I fear for the BBC a little bit. >> I love you, BBC. Get your act together. is what I say. >> Sure, why not? Uh, you got anything else. about the BBC or the Bib or the Bibb? >> I got nothing else. >> Okay. Uh, I don't either, which means. everybody, it's time for listener mail.

Uh, we got lots of good Pop-Tart. response. One of our more beloved. episodes of late. Mhm. >> Uh, and a lot of people said, "Eat them. frozen." And here's one. Hey guys, longtime listener from Santa Rosa, California. You guys have been the. soundtrack to so many moments of my life. and have it brought so much joy and. moments and times to tell fun facts. So, thank you. The recent Pop-Tart episode, I was waiting to see if you would. mention the ultimate all caps way to. enjoy Pop-Tarts, and that is Frozen. However, uh you did mention it and Chuck.

shuddered with what seemed to be terror. at the thought. I don't remember doing. that, but I guess I did. >> Okay. >> Uh strongly urge you to both try it. It's the Pop-Tart you know and love, but. in frozen treat form. Do your taste buds. a favor and go pop a couple in the. freezer, then pop them in your mouths. And that is from Matt F. And Matt, you'll be glad to know uh because the. urging of another listener who said, "Cut those crust off first." I went and. got a couple of those brown sugar. cinnamons. I cut the crust off, put them. back in the package, and I threw them in. the freezer, and I'll enjoy them at some. point this week.

>> Oh, you haven't enjoyed them yet? >> No, no, no. I just put them in this. afternoon, and so I'm going to before we. recorded and uh I'm not a afternoon. Pop-Tarter. >> Okay. You're a morning guy or evening? >> Oh, late night, my friend. >> Okay. So, you need to report back. Okay. >> Yeah. This means I can't butter them, but I'm I'm willing to to forego that. >> Yeah, you could use cold ps of butter. That would be good. Or do you know what. I could do is melt some butter and just. dip that frozen in there bite by bite. >> Oh yeah, it's kind of like a reverse um.

fried Snickers. >> Yeah, I'll report back. >> Okay, >> we'll see. >> Okay, and who was that from? >> That was from Matt F. >> Thanks a lot, Matt F. That was a great. email. And we'll let you know what Chuck. thinks. And in the meantime, if you want. to be like Matt F and send us a great. email, you can send it off to. stuffpodcast@iheartradio.com. Stuff You Should Know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart. Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple.

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