HOW has Auntie’s been performing this week in documentary terms? Does the old girl still have relevance and entertainment value - or is she a little too blue rinse and ageing fast? Do the accusations of the BBC being anachronistically pinko still apply?
Two prominent programmes featured opportunity to consider. First up, Inside The Bank of England, (BB2, Tuesday ) promised an inside view on the workings of the Bank, the cameras following key figures around for six months as they prepare a Brexit report.
In terms of drama this looked promising; the Bank, under Governor Mark Carney is charged with saving us from the incompetent, indolent bankers who helped take us into the hell hole that is austerity, and his team’s introduction of bank stress tests.
But what we didn’t get was any real reaction from the banks he’d demanded do their homework. What we didn’t get was an inkling of the adversarial relationship between Carney and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. What we didn’t get was any real debates on political neutrality. Instead, we were thrown trite little segments about how many gold bars are stored and their value. We had excerpts featuring what the Bank does when someone walks in with a wheelbarrow full of 1930s five pound notes.
The result was Auntie’s six month stint with Carney and co looked to be a waste of license payers’ hard earned. The old girl needs new teeth fitted fast.
Or does she? Then came the investigation into the Labour Party and alleged anti-Semitism (Panorama, BBC1, Wednesday). And the drama was evident from the first interview John Ware carried out. As well as reviewing Jeremy Corybyn’s historic (bad) attitude to Israel/Jewishness it revealed Labour’s National Complaint’s Committee was being hamstrung in its work by the executive.
Panorama also discovered there was backlog of 1,000 anti-Semitism allegations this spring, with only 15 people having been expelled.
The whistleblowers assembled were loud and clear in their message; the Labour Party executive was gaslighting Jewish people.
The Labour Party however is now accusing the BBC of political bias, which is rather ironic given Panorama has long been accused of a left-leaning agenda.
This was gripping, fascinating and provocative television which prompted and implied the bigger debate; does Jeremy Corbyn’s apparent disdain for Israel and Zionism – the movement which set up the state – confirm anti-Semitism?
And if this is the case, what of the future for the Labour Party?
Auntie, on this evidence, isn’t gumsy at all.
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