Actor Hugh Bonneville says it would be “catastrophic” for Britain if the BBC and its independent news reporting disappeared.
He was reacting to the scrapping of over-75s’ free TV licences after the Tory government made the BBC responsible for them.
The Downton Abbey star, 57, told Radio Times: “The BBC at its best entertains, informs and educates sublimely. It should be given freedom to do so.
“It is disgraceful that media moguls blame the BBC for over-75s having to pay their licences. That was a political decision by David Cameron.
“The BBC needs funding and support or we will have Fox News, which would be utterly catastrophic for this country.”
Bonneville was speaking to promote his new film To Olivia where he plays Roald Dahl.
He says he became a fan of the author in his teenage years reading his short stories.
Asked if he had a guilty TV pleasure in lockdown, Bonneville added: “Below Deck on Netflix : property porn meets scripted reality, following the crew of a luxury yacht as they deal with ridiculously entitled people. My wife and I are addicted.”
Bonneville is best known as Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham in the ITV historical drama series Downton Abbey.
He married wife Lucinda in 1998 and the pair have a 19-year-old son Felix.
*The full interview with the actor is in Radio Times magazine, out now.
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