BBC One has been established for just less than 75 years and is still producing many television programmes of various genres, in order to provide for different audiences. But is it doing enough? Has BBC considered everyone when scheduling their television? I spent this afternoon researching into the channel...


====Children's TV Programmes====

Between 3.05pm and 5.15pm on a weekday, BBC One plays a variety of programmes aimed at children. The main programmes that are on from Monday to Friday are 3rd and Bird, Dirtgirlworld, Dennis & Gnasher, Shaun the Sheep, Muddle Earth and Newsround. The shows are usually linked together by a few moments with the CBBC presenters - a diverse range of vibrant, overly enthusiastic young men and women.

3rd and Bird is an animated series aimed at pre-school children. The voices of the characters sound like young children. I find it quite sweet, but I don't think I could stand it being on everyday! BBC One claims that in every episode the characters "learn lessons about diversity, tolerance or perseverance."

Dirtgirlworld encourages youngsters to care for the environment, whilst Muddle Earth and Dennis the Gnasher are cartoons aimed at the slightly older child.

Shaun the Sheep is quite entertaining for a wider range of ages and created by Aardman Animations - makers of Wallace and Gromit.

Through researching the main programmes the BBC offers for children, it is clear to me that the focus is too heavily on animation. I'd like to see more quality children's drama like The Sarah Jane Adventures.

However, most of the shows are educational in some way, without boring its young viewers. Newsround is probably the prime example of this. It presents the news in a way that interests our youth and encourages them to get involved in the show.

I also feel slightly let down by the total abundance of children's television at the weekend. Thankfully, Doctor Who will soon be starting again on a Saturday evening, but whatever happened to Live & Kicking!?


====BBC News and Weather====

BBC One provides both regional and national news shows at various times of the day and is accompanied by a great website.
They stick to a fail-safe, classic way of delivering the news to their audience, with headlines, followed by a more in-depth analysis of the news, which sometimes include interviews.

The presenters remain neutral, politically and otherwise, unless they are on regional news where, understandably, they promote local people and events.
I can't help but notice though, that the women are all slim and pretty, whilst most of the men are ageing and not very attractive! Hardly seems fair...

Recently, BBC News has gone down in my estimations, after misreporting statistics from a Unite Against Fascism protest I attended this weekend. On the other hand, I was surprised to see the Sky News report was much more balanced and accurate.

Great Britain is renowned for being a country of rain, rain and more rain, with our very changeable weather. I suppose it is a difficult job to accurately report on the future weather, but I just wish they got it right more often!

====Drama on BBC One====

===EastEnders===
As some of you will already know, EastEnders is one of my favourite programmes and is one of the most popular on BBC One. Episodes air four evenings a week, with an omnibus on Sunday.

For its 25th anniversary, EastEnders did a live episode which revealed who killed Archie Mitchell. Nearly 17 million viewers tuned in that night, compared to their usual 10.8 million.

I think EastEnders is great at consistently producing quality, realistic drama. The acting is mostly at a very high standard and it tackles some very important issues, alongside everyday matters that we can all relate to.

===Doctors===
The daytime Soap on BBC One is Doctors, which has just reached its 10th Anniversary with just under 3 million viewers.

I think Doctors does the best it can with a much lower budget. It has tried a few different ways of filming and storytelling and has also covered some important topics. It is not nearly as captivating as EastEnders, but is still rather watchable and throws a bit of medical education into the drama!

===Casualty and Holby City===
I don't take much interest in these two programmes, finding them a bit repetitive and samey.
I know they're not always medically accurate, but I think they do the best. The acting is quite good and there are often great special effects. I should think this attracts a similar audience to ITV1's The Bill.

===Doctor Who===
I have mentioned this already, but Doctor Who returns very soon and our family can't wait. I believe this is the best show for the whole family to watch. There is a great mix of science fiction adventure and human relationships. Doctor Who often tackles issues like racism and war in an entertaining and thought-provoking way.

===Other Drama===
There are some other great dramas I have seen on BBC One, for example, Torchwood, Lark Rise to Candleford and Mutual Friends. But there just aren't enough of these types of programmes! I really think that BBC One must continue focusing on this area and improving the regularity and quality of dramas.


====Daytime Television====

I find that daytime television on BBC One doesn't compare well with their rivals at ITV, who have the greatly popular This Morning and Loose Women under their belts.

There are several programmes about making money at auctions and a couple more about houses. Not my kind of entertainment!

Although they have recently started showing a new series of Missing, which I find a little more worthwhile.


====Light Entertainment====

In the light entertainment category comes The Weakest Link and Mastermind, which have remained the same for a number of years. The quiz show format goes down quite well in the early evening.

The One Show is a magazine-style programme that has cropped up over the last couple of years. Presented by Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley, they interview various celebrities, discuss relevant topics and educate their audience on history, gardening, nature, the environment and science. I think The One Show is quite a good idea, but for me the show can be dull one day and really interesting the next, depending upon what they have planned.

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross is a late-night programme that interviews stars from both the UK ans America. They have some brilliant guests and I always find it enjoyable to watch.
Jonathan Ross, as we all know, has received various criticisms over the past year, but I still find him humorous and entertaining.

Reality TV shows like Strictly Come Dancing and Andrew Lloyd's Webber's searches for musical stars are, in my opinion, much better than those you will find on other channels. I'm not entirely sure where all the profits from votes are going, but on the whole they are pretty good entertainment that the whole family can experience.


====Is the TV licence good value for money?====

Last year one would expect to pay £142.50 for their annual TV license. This money is mostly used to fund all BBC services, including their TV channels, radio stations and the website.
When considering a person's opinion on the Television Licence, I would say that, generally, people tend to fall into these three groups:

* People who are against this fee being a legal requirement and believe it should be optional.
* Some believe the cost should be lower in order to make it better value
* Those who are content with the service, feeling reasonably happy to pay the cost.

I fall into the last group, particularly with the company's efforts to make it affordable for all, with a variety of payment schedules to break down the cost. I know this is a subject that can cause a lot of debate amongst members of the public, so to keep a bit of focus to my review, I have decided not to go into this issue in too much detail.



====My Opinion====

Overall, I believe that BBC One has a handful of TV programmes that the whole family will enjoy, with the rest being aimed at specific audiences.

I think that children have a good range of programmes in the small slot they have, but this should include more shows with real people in them, rather than animals or animations.

There are very few things that are aimed specifically at the elderly, but I suppose BBC One presume that they enjoy the selection of daytime programmes provided, alongside evening programmes, like EastEnders.

Again, I can't think of anything in BBC One that is aimed at minority groups, but a lot of their programmes, namely EastEnders and Doctor Who, incorporate characters of all different ethnicities, religions, both sexes, those with disabilities and characters of most sexual orientations (although I am yet to see a transgender character). I believe this helps to tackle discrimination and makes acceptance of different individuals more likely in society. In my opinion, it is particularly good for children to have a wide variety of role models when they're growing up.

For adults, I can see there is a wide range of different programmes, so I suspect everyone will discover something they enjoy on BBC One.

BBC One always goes that extra mile to support charities, with big events held every year for Sport Relief, Comic Relief and Children In Need. They do very well to utilise celebrity faces in order to encourage the British Public to fundraise and sponsor.

I am certain that BBC One is a very good quality channel and is in fact the most watched in the UK. Naturally, not everything on there is to my taste, but it is the channel that I place the most faith in.