Smoke Gets In Your Square Eyes

I see those publicity-seeking Top Gear chaps have whipped up a bit more controversy by smoking pipes during last Sunday's programme. I say 'whipped up' because I suspect they knew exactly what they were doing, being an old hand at the TV game myself.

You see, the smoking ban in England covers workplaces and enclosed public spaces, but, unlike Scotland, excludes theatre stages and film and TV sets. So by lighting up their briars during the programme, they would have known that it would get the anti-smoking brigade, er, hot under the collar, but were safe in the knowledge that they couldn't be hauled off to spend time at Her Majesty's pleasure (where one can also, of course, puff as much as one likes).

A clear cut case of the BBC faking a controversy, if you ask me!

Fake BBC controversy on real BBC website

Licence Fee To Print Money

What extraordinary news from my old chums at the BBC today! No, no, not about Alan Johnston being released, although good luck to the poor devil. No, I mean about the DG, Mark Thompson, milking more than three-quarters of a million sovs from the licence fee payers last year. And in the same annual report, he's saying that the Corporation requires slimming down, and more producer types need to feel the weight of his size 12s up their hairy jacksies.

Good on yer Mark! By the way, you couldn't pop a few extra bob in the meter down at our local transmitter, could you? This Freeview mullarkey only seems to work round here when the wind's in the right direction.