Post by Teddy Bear on Dec 21, 2007 22:49:22 GMT
Despite the BBC recently trying to find prominent people to speak ill of the queen, to be included in a documentary which would be showed immediately after her death, and the scandal of the deceptive trailer for another documentary on her life which showed the queen walking off in a huff, an article in today's Telegraph says the BBC could learn much from our queen.
The BBC has much to learn from the Queen
By Alice Thomson
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 21/12/2007
It will be on everyone's list of disasters of the year, up there with Gordon Brown's non-election and Lewis Hamilton failing to win the Formula 1 title. But the BBC series on the Queen, which sparked a witch-hunt through the corporation, is in fact one of the triumphs of the past 12 months.
That's what is so bizarre. Everyone now knows that the Queen was not amused to be falsely depicted walking off in a huff after a photograph session with Annie Leibovitz.
The BBC has spent months ensuring that it hasn't cheated viewers over the rest of its output and millions sending its staff on re-education programmes.
But following the furore, the actual documentary series has attracted little scrutiny; few newspapers reviewed all of the programmes and the BBC was far too nervous to promote the series.
Which is a shame because The Royal Family at Work is one of the best things the BBC has done all year and is exactly the kind of project that the public broadcaster should be pursuing.
It is a very straightforward, calm, slow-moving portrayal of a year in the life of our 81-year-old Queen and the perfect tribute to the woman who yesterday became Britain's oldest monarch.
There is no side to the documentaries - no snide asides by republicans or pictures of minor royals falling over drunk - just a measured account of Elizabeth II's life from the moment she is woken to the wail of bagpipes to the end of the day, when she hangs up her tiara after a state banquet.
The first episode begins with Leibovitz waiting for the Queen, who arrives in full Order of the Garter regalia and is clearly irritated by being asked to take off her "crown".
Leibovitz, who has photographed most of Hollywood's royalty - including Demi Moore in the nude - is awestruck by the Queen's refusal to have her image tweaked. Far from complaining about her icy composure, she praises the octogenarian's professionalism. "She went in and worked the shoot," she says. "She was extraordinary."
The state banquet for the Ghanaian president is equally mesmerising. Every piece of fruit has to be polished, the Queen checks each flower arrangement and worries which of the 25,000 bottles of wine from her cellar he would prefer.
As Tony Blair says: "We can take foreign dignitaries to the pub or to Downing Street, but they don't want that. They want to come to the Palace, because you can't have that sort of treatment anywhere else in the world." The Queen embodies civility as well as stability for everyone from presidents to football players and struggling single mothers.
Mr Blair, her 10th prime minister, clearly warmed to the Queen over the 10 years during which they held private meetings. Gordon Brown is shown while Chancellor, keen to cosy up to her.
The Queen is also the one person in the world who can upstage George W. Bush: she has been centre-stage for 50 years to his seven.
Americans are desperate to meet someone who, as the actor Don Johnson put it is, "more than just a celebrity" and has no agenda, "just common sense", as one teenage cheerleader said.
The documentaries show just how much she cares about money. Any of the family wanting to use the helicopter has to ask her first. She insists on knowing the cost of every piece of cutlery and every bar of soap and has ensured that the Civil List has not increased for 17 years.
The book written by the journalist Robert Hardman to accompany the series reveals just how hard she works to maintain the Union and the Commonwealth, as well as trying to be a figurehead for all faiths without alienating any side; equally, to support her battalions without either condoning or condemning recent wars.
This week, the Queen appeared with a huge bruise on her neck, but she was still smiling as she carried out five engagements in a day. Meanwhile, even Castro is giving up.
What is so remarkable is that she has managed to modernise "The Firm" without compromising her views or altering many of her habits.
She still likes her gin and dubonnet, her pastel coat and dress outfits and her Racing Post. She refuses to condescend to the young by wearing trainers or talking about the Arctic Monkeys and they appreciate her honesty.
She is happy to appear as a role model for a long and stable marriage. She has quietly introduced reform - publishing the royal accounts, employing more female staff, opening up Buckingham Palace, going to see "baby boogie classes" and eating take-away curries in Huddersfield.
The royal palaces now host rock concerts as well as tea parties, and they are increasingly environmentally friendly, though she would never shout about it. No wonder the wily SNP leader, Alex Salmond, wants to keep the Queen as a figurehead for an independent Scotland.
This is where the BBC can learn lessons. As an institution paid for by the public, it has the same duty to bind the nation together and to provide something unique.
It needs to embrace tradition without appearing stuffy and to modernise without embarrassing itself. As Mr Blair said of the monarchy: "It is a good way of keeping the country together in a changing world." Like the Queen, the corporation is also a perfect showcase for Britain abroad.
But if the BBC wants to be as admired as the Queen, it has to live up to its responsibilities. It could keep a much stricter eye on costs and learn lessons in integrity and impartiality.
It must concentrate on what it does best, rather than trying to imitate flashier broadcasters.
The Queen would never try to compete with Posh Spice, and the BBC should accept it is the grande dame of the air waves, not just another commercial outlet.
Auntie can even learn from the Queen's huffiness; like Her Majesty, it does not need to take off its public service tiara in a grubby attempt to grab a few more viewers.
By Alice Thomson
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 21/12/2007
It will be on everyone's list of disasters of the year, up there with Gordon Brown's non-election and Lewis Hamilton failing to win the Formula 1 title. But the BBC series on the Queen, which sparked a witch-hunt through the corporation, is in fact one of the triumphs of the past 12 months.
That's what is so bizarre. Everyone now knows that the Queen was not amused to be falsely depicted walking off in a huff after a photograph session with Annie Leibovitz.
The BBC has spent months ensuring that it hasn't cheated viewers over the rest of its output and millions sending its staff on re-education programmes.
But following the furore, the actual documentary series has attracted little scrutiny; few newspapers reviewed all of the programmes and the BBC was far too nervous to promote the series.
Which is a shame because The Royal Family at Work is one of the best things the BBC has done all year and is exactly the kind of project that the public broadcaster should be pursuing.
It is a very straightforward, calm, slow-moving portrayal of a year in the life of our 81-year-old Queen and the perfect tribute to the woman who yesterday became Britain's oldest monarch.
There is no side to the documentaries - no snide asides by republicans or pictures of minor royals falling over drunk - just a measured account of Elizabeth II's life from the moment she is woken to the wail of bagpipes to the end of the day, when she hangs up her tiara after a state banquet.
The first episode begins with Leibovitz waiting for the Queen, who arrives in full Order of the Garter regalia and is clearly irritated by being asked to take off her "crown".
Leibovitz, who has photographed most of Hollywood's royalty - including Demi Moore in the nude - is awestruck by the Queen's refusal to have her image tweaked. Far from complaining about her icy composure, she praises the octogenarian's professionalism. "She went in and worked the shoot," she says. "She was extraordinary."
The state banquet for the Ghanaian president is equally mesmerising. Every piece of fruit has to be polished, the Queen checks each flower arrangement and worries which of the 25,000 bottles of wine from her cellar he would prefer.
As Tony Blair says: "We can take foreign dignitaries to the pub or to Downing Street, but they don't want that. They want to come to the Palace, because you can't have that sort of treatment anywhere else in the world." The Queen embodies civility as well as stability for everyone from presidents to football players and struggling single mothers.
Mr Blair, her 10th prime minister, clearly warmed to the Queen over the 10 years during which they held private meetings. Gordon Brown is shown while Chancellor, keen to cosy up to her.
The Queen is also the one person in the world who can upstage George W. Bush: she has been centre-stage for 50 years to his seven.
Americans are desperate to meet someone who, as the actor Don Johnson put it is, "more than just a celebrity" and has no agenda, "just common sense", as one teenage cheerleader said.
The documentaries show just how much she cares about money. Any of the family wanting to use the helicopter has to ask her first. She insists on knowing the cost of every piece of cutlery and every bar of soap and has ensured that the Civil List has not increased for 17 years.
The book written by the journalist Robert Hardman to accompany the series reveals just how hard she works to maintain the Union and the Commonwealth, as well as trying to be a figurehead for all faiths without alienating any side; equally, to support her battalions without either condoning or condemning recent wars.
This week, the Queen appeared with a huge bruise on her neck, but she was still smiling as she carried out five engagements in a day. Meanwhile, even Castro is giving up.
What is so remarkable is that she has managed to modernise "The Firm" without compromising her views or altering many of her habits.
She still likes her gin and dubonnet, her pastel coat and dress outfits and her Racing Post. She refuses to condescend to the young by wearing trainers or talking about the Arctic Monkeys and they appreciate her honesty.
She is happy to appear as a role model for a long and stable marriage. She has quietly introduced reform - publishing the royal accounts, employing more female staff, opening up Buckingham Palace, going to see "baby boogie classes" and eating take-away curries in Huddersfield.
The royal palaces now host rock concerts as well as tea parties, and they are increasingly environmentally friendly, though she would never shout about it. No wonder the wily SNP leader, Alex Salmond, wants to keep the Queen as a figurehead for an independent Scotland.
This is where the BBC can learn lessons. As an institution paid for by the public, it has the same duty to bind the nation together and to provide something unique.
It needs to embrace tradition without appearing stuffy and to modernise without embarrassing itself. As Mr Blair said of the monarchy: "It is a good way of keeping the country together in a changing world." Like the Queen, the corporation is also a perfect showcase for Britain abroad.
But if the BBC wants to be as admired as the Queen, it has to live up to its responsibilities. It could keep a much stricter eye on costs and learn lessons in integrity and impartiality.
It must concentrate on what it does best, rather than trying to imitate flashier broadcasters.
The Queen would never try to compete with Posh Spice, and the BBC should accept it is the grande dame of the air waves, not just another commercial outlet.
Auntie can even learn from the Queen's huffiness; like Her Majesty, it does not need to take off its public service tiara in a grubby attempt to grab a few more viewers.