"I used to work for the Beeb many, many years ago (1960s), and I think there is a huge difference between their position in broadcasting then and now."

You could certainly sing that if you had an air to it. Remember all those wonderful documentaries from the '70s and '80s? Civilisation, America, Life on Earth. Class productions presented by people who knew what they were talking about. Now, to stand a chance of getting on air, documentaries have to be fronted by a "celebrity". Never mind whether the celebrity knows or cares anything about the subject matter, as Griff Rhys Jones clearly did when he presented that excellent documentary on Thomas Hardy recently. Or as Alan Yentob clearly didn't when he presented that frightful mishmash last Sunday.

And it's not just documentaries. Remember I Claudius? Remember The Six Wives of Henry V111 and many more of similar ilk? Big Brother, I spit on you.