BBC Any Questions a Childish Pantomime

BBC 4 Be Entertained or Avertained

I was pretty excited last week to hear that I managed to get two free tickets for BBC Radio 4's program Any Questions 27/8/2010.   I was sure that the radio 4 version would have more in depth discussion on important political issues than the TV version Question Time whose content I feel it largely diluted to fit the fast-paced TV format.  

Before the show was due to air in The Assembly Rooms in Newcastle a BBC representative came out to get the crowd 'warmed up'.  For his first warm up he read out a number of small political comments and asked the audience to respond in agreement or disagreement.   He read 'I am happy with the current direction of the coalition government', A load of boos echoed across the hall.   He then stated 'The North East of England is the best place to live in the country'  of course a cacophony of cheers followed immediately.

Although I can understand that the microphones and sound levels may need to have been checked before the start of the show, warming up the crowd in this manner reminded me of being in the crowd for Stars In The Eyes and A Question Of Sport when I was younger.  Should a political 'debate' show follow the same guidelines of these entertainment shows? Although there were no signs held up saying 'cheer now' or 'silence please' the BBC's pre-show prompts established a pantomime like atmosphere in the hall.  

When the show finally began I looked forward to a wide range of questions relating to serious political policy all of which the panel 'had no sight of before the show'.  As the show progressed, however, the questions became increasingly childish in nature and none of the 8 questions that were asked strayed from the popular tabloid issues of the week.  The pick of the bunch was one question selected by a lady who asked 'what politician, public figure or policy would you put in the wheelie bin?' referring to the national reports of a lady who put a cat in a wheelie bin earlier in the week.  All of the panel members answered the England Team or The FA, 7minutes of the 48minute show was then taken up by football discussion.  Then this question was followed by a man who asked if the panel had a Twitter page?  A further 5 minutes of the show was taken up having a laugh and joke about how some of the panel were too old and clumsy to use computers.   

There were some juicier questions asked such as questions on the future of the NHS, the public or private health care debate and also another question relating to the Coalitions planned cuts in all areas.  However I focus on the Twitter and Wheelie Bin questions because these questions were clearly chosen to provide some light hearted relief from the rest of the show.  Although I’m not saying that humour has no place on debate shows it really shows the state of our 24hr entertainment society that even the longest running BBC Radio 4 talk show aimed at the well-educated minds has to dumb down its content to ensure that no one is upset and that every has a jolly good time listening to it.

If it was entertainment I was looking for I would have been much better off going to the Theatre Royal to see the latest production of Aladdin.