The Beeb

Having come from New Zealand to the US, I suppose it is a little odd that I distract myself from the culture shock by seeking out programmes produced in a third country which I have never visited.  But I'm hooked on the BBC (and, to be fair, other British stuff, but let's not get sidetracked).  I'm especially keen on the radio, ever since I discovered over eight years ago that BBC radio is crazy courteous enough to put all their shows online for anyone to listen to anywhere in the world.

It's just a shame that they don't do the same thing with their TV shows.  A lot of them can be obtained on DVD over here and Mrs Walles and I have now built up quite a collection (Mrs Walles is particularly partial to the Vicar of Dibley).  But not everything can be had (alas, QI is denied me now).

There is even an entire cable channel called BBC America which, you might think, would help satisfy my cravings.  You'd be wrong.

Let's have a look at tonight's schedule, shall we?  At 8pm there's an exciting episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  That's on a lot, for some reason, even though as far as I can tell the only thing British about it is one of the actors.  Before that there's two repeats of Top Gear - at least it's British - and afterwards there's three episodes of The Tudors in a row.  And that's a good night.  They used to have the news on, but that recently shifted to public television.  You can also catch The X Files on BBC America...I guess it was popular in Britain?  Perhaps you're a fan of Kevin Costner in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves - in which case BBC America is the channel for you because it plays it several times a week.  They can't get enough of it.  I mean, it's set in England, right?  Don't worry, though, there's new programming coming soon - they're particularly excited about repeating the old new Battlestar Galactica.  For some reason.

Now, to be fair, you do get Graham Norton only a week after they show it in the UK.  That's about the only upside though.  I can only assume that nobody remotely connected with the BBC, or Britain come to that, has ever watched BBC America.

Fortunately some of the other channels pick up a wider range of output from Britain, like The IT Crowd.  So all is not lost.  I wouldn't mind if BBC America were lost, though.  I wouldn't be able to watch Kevin Costner in a jerkin 24/7, but somehow I think I'd live.