Beeb's Best (bbc.co.uk/radio4)

Member Name: MALU

Product:	bbc.co.uk/radio4
Date:	14/09/09 (119 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: very many

Disadvantages: only few

According to Stephen Fry BBC Radio 4 is the best reason for living in Great Britain. Fate put me on the European mainland; here a radio doesn't pick up BBC channels, at least not during the day and at night only with a lot of crackling and never BBC 4 anyway. Emigration hasn't been an option any more, however, since I discovered the internet site and that I could listen to BBC Radio 4 on my computer.

The site is mainly white (background) with different shades of light blue (writing). It's clearly laid out and pleasant to look at. On the homepage a big photo highlights a special programme, it used to change every day but lately has repeatedly stayed for several days for unknown (to me) reasons. Underneath smaller photos of presenters and titles point out other topical or popular programmes. Beside this is a list 'Topical Subjects & People', another way of finding a programme.

On the top bar of the site are the words 'On Radio 4 Now'; if I want to know what's on, I can click on 'View full schedule' showing the programmes for the whole day. I've rarely listened to a live programme, I'm more interested in recorded programmes which I listen to in the evening in no chronological order. Normally a programme stays on the site for one week.

On the right of the big photo twelve genres are listed alphabetically, namely Arts, Comedy, Discussions, Documentaries, Drama, History, Money, News, Politics, Readings, Religion, Science. If you already know what you want to listen to and aren't keen on the latest broadcast, you can click on a letter of the alphabet underneath which lists the programmes by title.

The genres I listen most to are: Art, Comedy, Discussions, Drama, occasionally to rarely: Documentaries, Religion. So I click on Comedy and see a range of (on the day of writing) thirteen different programmes, each with a photo of a presenter or an emblem typical for the programme, the title and one sentence on the content, never longer than one line.

I click on one of those and, unfortunately, have chosen one of the programmes which are announced but not running any more or not yet. This can happen three to four times (out of thirteen), and it annoys me, why isn't this already announced on the title page of Comedy? Why do I have to click through thirteen announcements to find out what I can listen to on a certain day? It happens more often than not that the following time I'm on the site this 'game' is repeated because I've forgotten the information.

When I've found what I'm looking for, I click on the symbol of a loudspeaker and/or the words 'Listen now' beside which the duration of the programme is shown. Then a small window opens and I hear something, mostly the last sentences of the programme before or the end of the jingle from 'The Archers'. This should be the case after a second or two at most, if I don't hear anything, I click on the line at the bottom 'Lower bandwidth version' or 'Use normal version' depending on with which I started. What that means is beyond me, and I don't even want to find out about the technicalities. I'm happy if whatever it is works. When it does, the quality is always good, it couldn't be better if I lived in GB and switched on the radio there.

I can't speak for the other BBC channels because I don't know them, but I can vouch that Radio 4 fulfils the motto of the BBC perfectly, namely to offer "information, education, entertainment". About 10 million British listeners switch on Radio 4 every week who, according to a critic, see it as 'the standard bearer of the cultural heritage of the island'. They're said to be mostly white, middle-class and educated. Moderator Evan Davies thinks the channel should always have a bit more of intellectual ambition than its listeners. It obviously does, the average listener simply can't be able to give all the sources of quotations as they're presented in 'Quote - Unquote' or find all the answers in the 'Round Britain Quiz'. Such programmes show that the listeners prefer slight frustration to full satisfaction when they compare themselves to the people on the panel.

I like discussions more than one person talking or reading about a subject, they're easier to follow and never boring. 'Saturday Live', 'Midweek', the 'Book Club', 'Front Row', 'Loose Ends', 'Saturday Review', 'Any Questions?' et al are enjoyable and stimulating programmes. Of course, as a foreigner I also listen attentively to the way people are using their mother tongue, the accents, the pronunciation and the choice of words. What has always puzzled me is that people with obvious speech deficits can be presenters. I'm talking about stuttering. If a guest stutters, it must be endured for the time being, of course, but I'm surprised how many do. I have the suspicion that this is considered posh as many stutterers have a posh accent.

The genre Comedy offers some really great programmes. There aren't so many as it seems at first glance, though, having listened to Radio 4 for about a year now I know that quite a lot are repeated. Never mind, if they're good I like listen to them again. Insights into what is on British minds can be got from attentive listening. Not one week passes without a mention of homosexuality, Hitler and Nazi Germany and the Germans' lack of humour.

I guess that the percentage of homosexuality is the same in all countries, but from what I personally know and what friends from other countries have told me I can say that it's not such a frequent topic of cultural outpourings there, if at all. As to Hitler and Nazi Germany, well, what can I say? The clocks in GB seem to move more slowly than in other countries where 64 years after the end of WW2 this topic isn't dealt with so often any more.

Q: "What is a Brit without humour?"
A: "A German."

Funny, eh? I bet that not one of the comedians knows enough German to be able to follow a German comedy programme, of which there are loads and they cover exactly the same range of humour as the British ones. From vulgar like occasionally in 'Act your Age' over sheer nonsense as in, say, 'Listen Against' or 'The Odd Half Hour' to biting political satire as in 'The Now Show'.

If I lived in London, I'd attend the recordings of 'The Now Show' in Broadcasting House which are free of charge. It's obvious that the laughter I hear during the show is genuine and doesn't come from the laughter machine, this is the case also with other programmes. It gives them a special atmosphere which can only be obtained with real people. Only recently a heckler interrupted a comedy show, very funny.

I don't follow 'The Archers' as I don't understand who does what and with which and to whom. Since 1950 the show has been on and as it seems it's still going strong. Too late for me to jump in. I also abstain from the news programmes as I don't have enough background knowledge of British politics. What I want to know about politics I get from newspapers in my mother tongue.

I don't remember when I last watched TV, it's BBC Radio 4 in the evenings now!

Summary: My favourite radio programme.