It's a retreat into the tortoise shell of London luvvie middle class pretension

BBC News Online user Andrew Utterson

Highlights on the opening night included an arts drama-documentary entitled Surrealissimo, starring Ewan Bremner, Stephen Fry and Katrin Cartlidge.

A BBC Four spokeswoman said the viewing figures were about the same level as those of BBC Knowledge.

She said: "We hope that in the next few months, with some fantastic programmes lined up, that we will encourage people to take up digital."

Mixed reception

The opening night attracted a mixed reception.

Writing in The Times, Erica Wagner said the schedule made her feel "condescended and excluded."

Some BBC News Online viewers were also critical.

"I hope it gets better because it could not get any worse," wrote J Thornton, while Andrew Utterson branded it "a retreat into the tortoise shell of London luvvie middle class pretension".

But others praised it, including Prue Biddle from the UK who "loved" it and Michael Nolan who was "impressed" with what he saw.

BBC Four will highlight foreign films including A One and A Two

The channel is the third new free-to-air digital channel from the BBC, after the children's stations CBeebies and CBBC.

Before the launch BBC Four controller Roly Keating described his channel as a "classic, mixed-genre public service channel with a twist".

The twist, he said, is that it puts arts and culture at the centre of the schedule.

'Compelling'

"Each evening you might drop in to enjoy the best in contemporary documentary, music, theatre or international cinema," he said.

"It will bring you performances that you've read about and wanted to see, and create compelling productions of its own."

Over the weeks to come, BBC Four will broadcast for the first time Ian Curteis's The Falklands Play, which was abandoned by the BBC in the mid-80s.

There will also be a series on the Brit Art movement featuring many of the scene's biggest names.