Ahead of the 50th anniversary of it's launch, Acting Controller of BBC Two Adam Barker takes a look back at half a century of the channel.
50 years ago BBC Two was established as a result of the Pilkington Report into broadcasting and was designed to offer a serious, adult alternative to BBC One and ITV. In many ways, BBC Two was the foundation stone for public service television in this country.
But not everything went to plan on the opening night in April 1964 - a massive power failure caused the station to fall off air. From relatively inauspicious beginnings though, a great British cultural institution was born.
A selection of highlights form 50 years of BBC
Over 50 years, BBC Two has made its name with a kind of landmark factual television the nation had never really seen before – from Kenneth Clarke’s Civilisation (the first series of its kind to be made in colour) and Jacob Bronowski’s The Ascent of Man.
We’ve had equally ambitious drama series including John Le Carre’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier Spy, Moll Flanders, and Derek Jacobi’s I Claudius.
Perhaps less to the taste of the Pilkington committee might have been the channel’s subsequent pioneering ventures into comedy, including Yes Minister, Not the Nine O Clock News, and The Young Ones. But few can deny their enduring contribution to our collective memory.
The success of BBC Two has partly been due to its sheer breadth. Its led the way with specialist factual programmes including Horizon, which shares a birthday with the channel this year, and every politician’s favourite programme - Newsnight.
The roster of talent which has been nurtured by BBC Two is almost beyond measure and includes some of Britain’s very favourite household names – Sir David Attenborough, Alistair Cooke, Sir Alec Guiness, Rowan Atkinson, Jeremy Clarkson, Miranda, Jeremy Paxman, Simon Schama, Sue Perkins, Mary Berry, Ricky Gervais, Mary Beard and Lorraine Pascale, the Hairy Bikers, Rick Stein, Brian Cox, Meera Syal…the list is almost endless.
In many ways, BBC TWO is the showcase for how the BBC can work with creative talent in Britain to create stimulating programmes which have launched some of the biggest careers in British television and gone on to create enduring value in the creative economy beyond. BBC Two has never been afraid to take a risk and this is a key role in stimulating creative originality.
As it starts to look to the future, BBC Two finds itself on vintage form, last year having won more BAFTAs than any other channel and, rarely for a terrestrial channel, having slightly increased its peak viewing share. It is also starting to work in more co-ordinated partnership with BBC Four, especially in the areas of arts and culture, as witnessed by this month’s joint season on 18th century culture.
For its own birthday celebrations, BBC Two will be offering a feast of entertainment and comedy programming, including a new episode of Goodness Gracious Me and a satire of the channel’s 50 years of output presented by Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. As Harry Enfield said, this programme appears to be less of a homage, and more of a homicide! Later in the year, BBC Two will be celebrating the birthday of Horizon and the highpoints of its drama, sports and factual programming.
In the months to come, BBC Two will stay true to its DNA of outstanding landmark factual programming, including major contributions to the BBC’s coverage of the World War One centenary, and a season about women through history. BBC Two will also play a lead role in the Shakespeare celebrations in 2016.
It is in this kind of commitment to the very best of drama, comedy and factual programming - together with a rigorous desire to embrace the most serious subjects and bring them to life for a popular television audience - that the real magic of BBC Two lies.
Adam Barker is Acting Controller of BBC Two.
- Find out more about special programmes and content at the Celebrating 50 Years of BBC Two website.
- You can see more about the early days of the channel in Happy Birthday BBC Two (first transmitted in 2004) available on BBC iPlayer.
- Read 13 Controllers of BBC Two on the About the BBC Blog.
- Follow @BBCTwo on twitter.
