Sir David Attenborough spoke about retirement for the first time last week, sparking dread amongst his many fans, and no doubt the BBC. The 91-year-old said that he would stop broadcasting if he felt that his work had become substandard (or if he could no longer walk up and down stairs).
The success of Blue Planet 2 demonstrated why the BBC must be fearing the moment Attenborough stops work.
Blue Planet 2 was the most-watched programme of 2017 in the UK; it has been sold to more than 30 countries and lauded by critics. The work of the camera crew who delivered the defining images of the series was extraordinary and the show was well produced – but Attenborough added stardust, gravitas and a warm familiarity to the natural history documentary.
Thankfully, more Attenborough-helmed shows are on the way in 2018 – including Attenborough and the Sea Dragon this weekend.
They are almost certain to attract huge audiences again for the BBC, demonstrating that Attenborough, even after more than 65 years with the corporation, could still be its most important broadcaster.
There’s more where the Mash-up came from
The pressure on British broadcasters to invest more time, energy and cash into original children’s programmes was cranked up again between Christmas and New Year with the launch of a £60m government fund to finance new content.
This fund is the latest stage in efforts by the government and Ofcom to improve the genre; Ofcom has already launched a review of kids’ TV.
A generation of young people in Britain are growing up on a diet of Netflix, Amazon and YouTube rather than domestic programmes. Expect the BBC, ITV, C4 and C5 to do more in 2018: the return of Saturday children’s shows to main BBC channels – through Saturday Mash-Up! on BBC2 – is just the start.
