X-Nico

unusual facts about The BBC



Business Journalist of the Year Awards

The Editors' Committee comprises Martin Dickson, Deputy Editor of the Financial Times; Robert Peston, Business Editor at the BBC; Hugo Dixon, Editor-in-Chief and Chairman of breakingviews; Jesse Lewis, Managing Editor of The Wall Street Journal Europe; and Rik Kirkland, former Managing Editor of Fortune.


see also

2009 in Scottish television

28 August – At the Edinburgh International Television Festival News Corporation Chairman James Murdoch delivers the MacTaggart Memorial Lecture in which he launches an attack on the BBC and UK media regulator Ofcom.

2BD

After being appointed managing director of the BBC in 1922, John Reith instigated a programme of expansion of the radio network in the United Kingdom, increasing the number of local stations from three to twenty in a relatively short space of time.

Andrew Timothy

He was the father of actor Christopher Timothy, whose most notable role was the vet James Herriot in the BBC TV series All Creatures Great and Small.

Bart Dickon

This nods in the direction of the original daily Dick Barton radio series on the BBC Light Programme from 1946-1951 (later in novels and a trio of low budget feature films), although the spelling of the original character, Snowey, has been changed - as has his gender from time to time.

Big Book

The Big Read, a 2003 survey carried out by the BBC, with the goal of finding the "Nation's Best-loved Book" by way of a viewer vote via the Web, SMS and telephone

Boxford, Suffolk

This drew attention from the media: the Evening Standard incorporated a photograph of the villagers in a centre-page spread in one of their November 1975 editions, and a TV crew led by the late Bernard Falk for the BBC Nationwide programme accompanied the villagers when they left for a two-week stay on 23 July 1976.

Caroline Wilkinson

Wilkinson holds a PhD in Facial Anthropology from the University of Manchester (2000) and first became known to television audiences as a result of her regular appearances in the BBC series Meet the Ancestors.

Carrie Davis

She left the BBC on Thursday 1 March 2012 after taking redundancy and stated on Twitter that she was unable to commit to the BBC Sport move to Salford, due to family reasons.

Charters and Caldicott

They proved popular with audiences and returned in the Gilliat-and-Launder films Night Train to Munich (1940, also starring Margaret Lockwood) and Millions Like Us (1943), and in the BBC radio serials Crook's Tour (1941, made into a film later that year) and Secret Mission 609 (1942).

Conway Publishing

Conway produced the books to accompany James May's Toy Stories and the Dan Snow presented 'Empire of the Seas', both aired on the BBC.

Damon Scott

Following Damon’s success he was “spotted” when the head cameraman from the BBC attended the Southern Daily Echo Star Trail semi-final and he suggested to fellow programme makers that Damon would be a perfect subject for the BBC2 real life series which profiles the lives and careers of people aged 18–25.

David Bull

David Richard Bull (born 9 May 1969) is an English doctor, author, and host and commentator on a variety of British and US television programmes, such as Sugar Dome,the BBC's Watchdog, Watchdog Healthcheck,Newsround, Living TV's Most Haunted Live!, Channel 4's Richard & Judy, Tomorrow's World, and Sky's The Breathing Life Awards.

Deerstalker

In the second season of the BBC television series Sherlock, which places Holmes and Watson (portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, respectively) in contemporary London, the deerstalker cap is a recurring gag; here, Sherlock Holmes gains the iconic look by trying to hide his face from paparazzi by wearing the deerstalker, which he personally despises.

Desmond Briscoe

Along with Daphne Oram, he worked on the BBC Radio production of Samuel Beckett’s All That Fall (Tx:13 January 1957), Giles Cooper's The Disagreeable Oyster (Tx:15 August 1957), and Frederick Bradnum's Private Dreams and Public Nightmares (Tx:7 October 1957).

EcoHealth Alliance

EcoHealth Alliance was founded in 1971 by British naturalist, author and television personality Gerald Durrell, who is perhaps best known for his many entertaining books based on his life’s work with animals, as well as a dozen series on the BBC.

Fred Basset

During mid 1976 a short-lived 5 minute television cartoon of Fred Basset was shown on the BBC, made by Bill Melendez Productions, voiced by actor Lionel Jeffries that was available on VHS.

Gynaephora groenlandica

The sequence became part of the BBC's sequel to Planet Earth called Frozen Planet, broadcast on BBC One in Autumn 2011 (with the US broadcast following on Discovery Channel in spring 2012).

Hannah Moffat

When the BBC split the region into two when Moffat was honing her journalism and reporting skills in London and the South East so she re-joined Look North in 2005 to present the bulletins during BBC Breakfast from Hull.

Harry Dodson

Harry James Dodson (11 September 1919 – 25 July 2005) was an English gardener who became a celebrity as a result of the BBC television documentary series The Victorian Kitchen Garden, which featured his professional expertise and his reminiscences.

Hugh Green

Hugh Greene (1910–1987), British journalist and director-general of the BBC, 1960–1969

Human trafficking in Eritrea

In late 2013, the BBC reported the results of a study by activist Ms. Meron Estefanos and Dutch educators from Tilburg University.

Il Popolo del Blues

Il Popolo del Blues is an Italian radio program founded in 1995, created and led by the Italian journalist Ernesto De Pascale (RAI, Jam, La Nazione, Rolling Stone Italia, Record Collector, Popolare Network), named by the BBC “the Italian John Peel”.

Jason Latimer's Perfect Picture

As performed on the BBC One’s TV special “The Magicians, Episode 3,” Latimer levitated former Pussy Cat Dolls and Got to Dance Host’s Kimberly Wyatt then the entire scene rotates, stage, girl in the air, rotate 360 degrees to give the visual effect of Bullet Time on stage.

Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine

In 2005 the BBC used a report published by the journal as the basis of a story claiming that the pseudoscientific practice of homeopathy was effective for some patients.

Kate Atkinson

All four Jackson Brodie novels have been adapted by other writers for the BBC under the series title Case Histories, featuring Jason Isaacs as Brodie.

Khalil Gibran International Academy

The BBC reports that some attendees have joined to reconnect with their families' culture and homeland; others, with no Arab or Muslim background, because they believe learning the language will give them a valuable skill.

Lauderdale Mansions South

More recent former residents of Lauderdale Mansions South have included Kathryn Flett, Observer TV critic and star of the BBC’s ‘Grumpy Old Women’ series, and Mary McCartney, celebrity photographer and daughter of Paul and Linda McCartney.

Longest Night

"The Longest Night", a 1986 episode of the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses

Luke Booth

Booth, and his uncle Christopher Eves, successfully participated in the BBC television show, Dragons' Den and received investment to launch their packaging solutions for the FMCG, Retail & Leisure markets.

Lydia Leonard

On television she had an ongoing role in 1950s-set detective series Jericho starring Robert Lindsay, and appeared in True True Lie (2006) and The Long Walk to Finchley (2008), along with a cameo in Rome (2006, "The Stolen Eagle"), and as a nurse in the BBC's Casualty 1909.

Mason Neely

He is a member of sacred music collective Bifrost Arts and has served as a composer, arranger and musical director for the BBC, RTÉ and S4C networks and scored advertisements for Best Buy, Cisco Systems, Domino's Pizza and Crispin, Porter and Bogusky, as well as the award winning 2007 feature Low and Behold.

Media coverage of the Gulf War

In Britain, the BBC devoted the FM portion of its national speech radio station BBC Radio 4 to a 18h rolling news format creating Radio 4 News FM.

Mollie's Song

CD 2 included the b-side only track "Call Me", and both CD1 and CD2 included as a b-side the traditional lullaby Hush Little Baby, which was recorded for an episode of the BBC TV programme Challenge Anneka, aired September 23, 1992, in which Anneka Rice organized the release of an album (titled Tommy's Tape), whose royalties would be donated to Tommy's Campaign, for research into premature births at the Children's Intensive Care Unit in St Thomas' Hospital in London.

Peter Andrew Jones

He has also produced images for film publicity, creating the movie posters for The Sword and The Sorceror and Alligator, contributed during the early 1980s to television shows including BBC comedy The Two Ronnies Show and the BBC's '80s sci-fi adaptation of The Tripods, and has produced cover illustrations for video game publishers such as US Gold, Psygnosis and Virgin Interactive.

Realms of the Haunting

Notably, David Learner, who portrayed Belial, is better known for his role as Marvin the paranoid android from the BBC series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and also as Pickle in the cult children's TV program Knightmare.

Robert Banks Stewart

Stewart wrote two highly regarded serials for the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who: Terror of the Zygons (1975) (which was set in his native Scotland and drew on the Loch Ness Monster legend) and The Seeds of Doom (1976) (which was influenced by The Day of the Triffids).

Robert Hughes, Baron Hughes of Woodside

Under his chairmanship the Anti-Apartheid Movement campaigned against the Thatcher government’s refusal to impose sanctions against South Africa in the 1980s and organised the 1988 ‘Free Mandela’ concert at Wembley Stadium which was televised by the BBC and broadcast around the world.

Suzanne Virdee

She returned to Central News West as a reporter, presenter & producer before joining the BBC's Midlands Today programme in April 2001, presenting late night bulletins before becoming a main presenter a year later, alongside Nick Owen.

The Billion Dollar Bubble

The Billion Dollar Bubble is a 1976 film made for the BBC series Horizon and directed by Brian Gibson about the story of the two billion dollar insurance embezzlement scheme involving Equity Funding Corporation of America.

The Daily Service

When the Religion and Ethics department of the BBC moved to Manchester, its new base became Emmanuel Church, Didsbury.

The Foxes

On 16 March 2009 the single 'Bill Hicks' (based on famous comedian) was released on CD, vinyl and digital download, which reached number 6 on the official UK Indie charts according to the BBC website.

The Yorkshire Musical Saw Player

As well as taking part in the "BBC music live" festival he has also played in a skip outside Belfast City Hall for a "Catalyst Arts" Festival, in a folk festival at Broadstairs and as part of the International Gilbert and Sullivan festival in Buxton.

There Goes the Groom

"There Goes The Groom" is a 1997 Christmas special of the BBC sitcom Last of the Summer Wine first shown on 28 December 1997.

This is Jinsy

Although the pilot episode was made for the BBC, the full series of eight episodes was picked up by Sky Atlantic.

Time's Champion

The BBC, who hold the copyright in Doctor Who and had rejected Hinton's original proposal in 2004, were not involved.

Trish Williamson

The daughter of journalist Harold Williamson, who notably worked on the BBC current affairs and documentary series Man Alive in the 1960s, Williamson was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, and studied at Durham University.

Vjerujem u ljubav

Given the difference in age between the two singers, the effect appeared somewhat incongruous on camera, with the BBC commentary remarking on this fact at the end of the performance.

WUKY

Owned by the University of Kentucky, it is an Adult Album Alternative (Indie Rock) station that airs over 100 hours of music a week, in addition to programming from NPR, Public Radio International, the BBC, and American Public Media.

Xpression FM

Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, is one of many famous alumni of URE and Xpression, a list that also includes the BBC's Jon Kay, James Pearce, Grainne Landowski, Matthew Sydney and motorsport presenter Ted Kravitz.

Zenith Productions

New Zenith programmes in this period included Two Thousand Acres of Sky (2001) and 55 Degrees North (2004) for the BBC, and children's programmes The Ghost Hunter (2000) for BBC and the animated King Arthur's Disasters (2005) for ITV.