Edinburgh TV Festival 2012 'Meet the Controller' session with Richard Klein & 2013 BBC Four preview
Post categories: BBC Four
|15:41 UK time, Friday, 24 August 2012
I'm currently at Edinburgh where I'm taking part in a Meet the Controller panel session with Muriel Gray.
Looking back on 2012, we've celebrated BBC Four's tenth birthday in March with a disco night; we've taken a Scrapheap Orchestra to the Proms and left a model house to rot in Edinburgh Zoo to study decay in After Life; explored the rich cultural heritage of 20th century America with programmes including Rich Hall's Deep South and Art of America; shined a spotlight on women in history in She-Wolves, England's Early Queens, presented by Dr Helen Castor and Harlots, Housewives and Heroines: a 17th Century History for Girls, presented by Dr Lucy Worsley; and paid tribute to an eclectic range of music - from Bowie and Punk Britannia to Symphony and The Story of Musicals; all united by the channel's trademark wit, intelligence and spirit.
I'm delighted that the channel is the BBC's best-loved channel and it's continuing to grow.
Looking ahead, there's much more to come and the announcements I'm making today show the confidence and ambition of the channel.
I talked about a number of new commissions in my session including a major partnership with the Royal Institute of British Architects to a celebration of the golden age of the album from Danny Baker and seasons exploring the curious world of insects and Britain's foodie history.
Richard Klein is Controller of BBC Four
Comment number 1.
At 23:11 29th Aug 2012, mary-doll wrote:I'm delighted the station is moving onwards and upwards, but there are plenty of issues still to be addressed. Possibly not the most appropriate place to leave this comment, but I have searched and cannot find anywhere else. So - here it is.
I have been listening to a fair few radio plays recently. Have to say I find most of the child actors incredibly irritating. They tend to deliver their lines in a very unconvincing, stilted, "knowing" middle-England way that just leaves me cold and unable to engage with the play. I don't know which drama school is providing these mini prodigies, but I can only imagine that they have the market cornered, somehow. I'd rather hear adult actors fake childlike voices, no matter how rubbish, than listen to these poorly modulated offerings which completely lack any sense of child. Apart from resembling a poor school show that should never have been allowed to proceed without some encouragement to be natural. There are also far too many adult actor names popping up as regulars for any and every play. Radio 4 - that is lazy. And looks like a closed book to anyone else who might be an aspiring radio actor. And I am not an aspiring radio actor. I am "just" a regular listener who is growing steadily more and more disenfranchised and disenchanted with what I am hearing and who would welcome a change in what appears to be a decidedly overly safe, predictable and irritating listening experience.
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