With the BBC under more pressure than ever to prove its worth, the broadcaster has come out fighting in a celebrity-packed new advert showcasing the best of what it has to offer. And, naturally, the starry commercial has divided the nation.
Following Tim Davies’ exit, which came after the Trump-Panorama debacle proved to be one controversy too many, the Beeb is attempting to usher in a new era. Doing so isn’t proving easy though, and its new director-general Matt Britten was last month forced to kick off his stint at the top by announcing up to 2,000 job losses due to budget cuts. It’s since been revealed that some 500,000 UK households cancelled their TV licences in the past year.
Aired during Sunday night’s World Cup final, “What has the BBC ever done for me?” is less an advert and more a rallying cry for continued funding – with plenty of surreal moments packed into just three minutes and 45 seconds. The reaction has been… mixed. While some have argued the commercial is an emotional and powerful defence of one of the most important public institutions, others have suggested it’s a patronising lecture from people who we know, thanks to last week’s salary report, get paid handsomely to work for the BBC. Whichever side of the fence you sit on, there’s one thing everyone can agree on: it’s certainly sparked conversation.
The advert is actually a remake; John Cleese took the lead in the 1985 original, asking a pub barman: “Fifty-eight quid for the privilege of sitting in your own home, watching your own television set. It’s diabolical. I mean, what’s the BBC ever given us for 58 quid?” The Monty Python’s Life of Brian star was then schooled by an impressively starry range of punters, with the likes of David Attenborough, Terry Wogan and David Jason (yes, it was also quite blokey) pointing out the many services the BBC provides.
This time around, Romesh Ranganathan takes centre stage and the new version, perhaps wisely, doesn’t mention that the cost of the licence fee now stands at £180 a year for most households (thanks, inflation). The random pub has also been swapped for EastEnders boozer the Queen Vic, and Rangathan (a man who has, as the advert points out, benefited massively from multiple gigs on the BBC) starts by holding a Walford Gazette front page emblazoned with the headline: “Is the BBC really worth it?” Turning to the Queen Vic’s most overworked and undervalued bartender, he says: “It’s a good question, Tracey, but you have got to ask, what has the BBC ever done for me?”
The question is soon answered by an eclectic mix of stars making blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearances. There’s Ian Beale waiting to be served, Chris Martin proving he really does get everywhere by playing piano and Claudia Winkleman in full Traitors mode pulling a pint. “Who cares if they’ve raised two and a half billion for charity?” Romesh points out, bumping into Children in Need mascot Pudsey, as it becomes clear that subtlety is not on the agenda. That’s all before the Weakest Link host has even stepped out into Albert Square – where Alan Carr is playing EastEnders’ iconic “duff duffs” on the drums, naturally.
Ranganathan then takes us on a whistlestop tour of some of the Beeb’s most-loved and best-known studios and sets, stumbling into a kitchen where Gavin and Stacey’s Nessa speaks Welsh to plug BBC Radio Cymru, before being chased down by a pair of Daleks and crashing onto a Casualty ward, where Mr Tumble is being treated (this is what I meant by surreal).
There’s an interrogation scene with Wallace and Gromit’s nemesis Feathers McGraw, a classroom of kids chanting “BBC Bitesize helps kids learn” in a slightly aggressive manner and Clive Myrie sat at the BBC News studio’s desk, before a trip through the BBC Radio studios, Graham Norton’s chatshow set, Wimbledon and Glastonbury.
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Things get serious with the help of Louis Theroux (whose most recent documentary, Inside the Manosphere, was released on, um, Netflix and whose podcast is produced by Spotify) as he stands by a giant BBC lever and threatens to switch it off. “None of this has to exist if we don’t want it to,” he tells Ranganathan, who is helpfully handed a folder with some vital stats. “It says here that the money we pay for the BBC creates over six and a half billion pounds for the economy,” he tells us, stepping onto a Strictly Come Dancing-esque stage where an orchestra is playing and dancers are twirling. It gets a ‘10’ from Strictly judge Anton du Beke – who is delightfully told to “bog off” by Ranganathan.
It’s all undeniably heavy-handed, but perhaps coming out all guns blazing is the best thing the BBC can do right now. The charter that sets out the corporation’s funding is currently up for renewal, and with viewing habits having changed drastically in the past 10 years, the licence fee model is facing increasing scrutiny. The fight isn’t just about money either – in order to justify its need for millions in public funding, the BBC has to prove its cultural relevance. Why not draft in the director behind John Lewis’s tearjerker Christmas ads for a big swing at proving your worth? Sure, one advert isn’t going to save the BBC. But it’s got to have been worth a shot.
