What are the most left-wing BBC programs of the past 10 years or so?

[Endicott]

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4896038/

or this one:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11122262/

Both look like they are worth checking out, cheers.

[Shaxberd]

Thanks for the replies, it helps clarify the question (and I've got more old telly to look into!).

In terms of recent works including social commentary then, Steve McQueen's Small Axe series might qualify - five stories about black lives in Britain in the 20th century, which touches on class, protest and structural inequality.

[tribalfusion]

Both look like they are worth checking out, cheers.

You're welcome. They are definitely extremely different from the usual econ related documentaries and you'll find a lot of interesting bits in both from a wide range of heterodox economists and people from related disciplines as well.

[tribalfusion]

Thanks for the replies, it helps clarify the question (and I've got more old telly to look into!).

In terms of recent works including social commentary then, Steve McQueen's Small Axe series might qualify - five stories about black lives in Britain in the 20th century, which touches on class, protest and structural inequality.

Thanks, Small Axe probably does qualify given the contemporary panorama. It does touch a bit on the themes you mention, though far less than it does on race, of course.

I think that is fairly typical of the few programs which do discuss social issues on major networks like the BBC. Race is deemed an acceptable topic, but discussion of class is just not tolerated in any systematic or sustained way.

[tribalfusion]

That BBC4 lecture given by Jeremy Deller about rave culture called "Everybody in the Place" very deliberately allowed the audience to draw their own conclusions, but there was absolutely no doubt what those conclusions should be from the information presented.

Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check it out. Do you have any other suggestions?

[dissolute ocelot]

Call The Midwife is probably the most left-wing BBC show, pro-NHS, anti-poverty, and liberal on issues like abortion, although set in the past so it's safer. I've not seen it but Exodus: Our Journey To Europe (2016) was apparently very good about the actual experience of refugees in their own words (because not wanting to die is a liberal bias). Horrible Histories was mildly subversive, I guess.

But it's thin pickings. The Deller program was very good. But Diversity doing a BLM dance on ITV's Britain's Got Talent was probably more radical than anything on the BBC.

For all its talk of both sides, did the BBC show any anti-royalist TV over the past couple of years?

What about Scandi crime dramas on BBC4? Do imports count?

[shoulders]

I've mentioned him before but Simon Reeve's travelogue shows, whether it's home or abroad he always finds a way to speak to the poorest in an area and highlight the structural problems keeping them in poverty. That might not be left wing per se, but then I can't think of anyone right wing who does anything similar.

Sounds a bit precious from me here, but I'd rather he did straight up documentaries where those issues were covered and keep the travelogue about the journey and exploration. I find his shows jarring in tone sometimes. Everything has the designated 'and now we move on to how their way of life is being destroyed' section. While it's right to highlight that, his series are quite deflating to watch, I think.

[tribalfusion]

Call The Midwife is probably the most left-wing BBC show, pro-NHS, anti-poverty, and liberal on issues like abortion, although set in the past so it's safer. I've not seen it but Exodus: Our Journey To Europe (2016) was apparently very good about the actual experience of refugees in their own words (because not wanting to die is a liberal bias). Horrible Histories was mildly subversive, I guess.

But it's thin pickings. The Deller program was very good. But Diversity doing a BLM dance on ITV's Britain's Got Talent was probably more radical than anything on the BBC.

For all its talk of both sides, did the BBC show any anti-royalist TV over the past couple of years?

What about Scandi crime dramas on BBC4? Do imports count?

It's true that setting shows in the past often makes certain aspects less contentious. Imports weren't my aim here, but if anyone has any suggestions, I'd also be curious to hear about that.

I'd also be curious to see if there were any anti-royalist TV on the BBC or anywhere else in Britain, actually.

That reminds me; which programs came closest to being supportive of Corbyn, or failing that, treating him with something approaching respect?

[Wacky Homemade Badges]

Diane Abbott Of Fry And Laurie

[Dr Rock]

Right-wingers will label the BBC woke just because not all their newsreaders are white.

[Wacky Homemade Badges]

I'd also be curious to see if there were any anti-royalist TV on the BBC or anywhere else in Britain, actually.

The BBC's King Charles III play was pretty full on, in its treatment of the institution and the individuals. 

[superthunderstingcar]

I'd also be curious to see if there were any anti-royalist TV on the BBC or anywhere else in Britain, actually.

The Prince Andrew interview ended up being this. There's also the Diana interview.

If you add to that It's A Royal Knockout (and Prince Edward's rant at the press afterwards) then the royals (or former royal, in Diana's case) are responsible for most of the significant anti-royalist TV the BBC has broadcast over the years.

[Blue Jam]

This Country gets in a few digs at the way rural communities are marginalised and receive inadequate funding for things like healthcare and youth activities. The vicar in particular seems like a nice left-wing guy who genuinely wants to help reform criminals and drug users. It's also a generally sympathetic portrayal of working class people.

The show's urban cousin, People Just Do Nothing, to a lesser extent. The final series has a major plot strand about a family being moved to a different council house miles outside London and having to uproot their daughter.

[tribalfusion]

This Country gets in a few digs at the way rural communities are marginalised and receive inadequate funding for things like healthcare and youth activities. The vicar in particular seems like a nice left-wing guy who genuinely wants to help reform criminals and drug users. It's also a generally sympathetic portrayal of working class people.

The show's urban cousin, People Just Do Nothing, to a lesser extent. The final series has a major plot strand about a family being moved to a different council house miles outside London and having to uproot their daughter.

Thanks. I agree that those shows are probably on the more sympathetic end of today's spectrum.

If I broadened the original question to British television in general, would you (or anyone else) have any additional suggestions?

[Blue Jam]

The Prince Andrew interview ended up being this. There's also the Diana interview.

If you add to that It's A Royal Knockout (and Prince Edward's rant at the press afterwards) then the royals (or former royal, in Diana's case) are responsible for most of the significant anti-royalist TV the BBC has broadcast over the years.

Was Charles' "There's Nicholas Witchell, I can't bear that man" broadcast on the BBC?

[Captain Z]

Match of the day

[Blue Jam]

Match of the day

:)

[Sebastian Cobb]

What about Scandi crime dramas on BBC4? Do imports count?

Haven't watched lots of these Scandinavian ones although the ones I've seen have mostly been murder mysteries, I'd say the French series Spiral tends to better present the police as a corrupt institution and shows individual officers breaking the rules, although I think the latter is presented as a fact of life as I think it still corrals you into sympathising with them.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

Thanks for the replies, it helps clarify the question (and I've got more old telly to look into!).

In terms of recent works including social commentary then, Steve McQueen's Small Axe series might qualify - five stories about black lives in Britain in the 20th century, which touches on class, protest and structural inequality.

Was coming in here to mention these! Although the best of them (episode 2, "Lovers Rock") is probably the least explicitly political.

[MattD]

That Russell.T.Davis dystopian drama, Years and Years (2019) seemed fairly critical of right wing populist politics.  In fact, hasn't Doctor Who over the past decade exemplified a left wing viewpoint?

RTD is liberal, but I wouldn't say it espouses left wing politics.

Jimmy McGovern's stuff is still the place to go.

[MattD]

Sounds a bit precious from me here, but I'd rather he did straight up documentaries where those issues were covered and keep the travelogue about the journey and exploration. I find his shows jarring in tone sometimes. Everything has the designated 'and now we move on to how their way of life is being destroyed' section. While it's right to highlight that, his series are quite deflating to watch, I think.

No other travel documentaries cover what Reeve does though. If it ain't Reeve, its some Oxbridge comedian patronising the locals and prancing about in a grass skirt for larks.

Simon Reeve seems the only travel presenter interested and curious about the people he's talking to.

[tribalfusion]

RTD is liberal, but I wouldn't say it espouses left wing politics.

Jimmy McGovern's stuff is still the place to go.

I agree about RTD and also about McGovern as well. I mentioned him earlier in the thread and asked about people's thoughts on him, and no one replied. Is he not generally well considered around here?

How do people here generally view Shane Meadows as well?

[LordMorgan]

I'm a massive fan of Jimmy Mcgoverns work

Obviously cracker is great but I wouldn't say that's very politicised

He worked on early brookside episodes, Ricky Tomlinsons storylines are pretty lefty 
Bobby grant trying to avoid the closure of his factory and protect his and his workers jobs

He has written shows on hillsborough , Liverpool dockers strike

His programme the street was brilliant too
I wish they were available somewhere 

[PowerButchi]

Dockers is on All4

[Pink Gregory]

Obviously cracker is great but I wouldn't say that's very politicised

Arguably the one with Robert Carlyle kind of goes places, although it's all really a cover for his Hillsborough revenge fantasy.  You don't really know if he's as much of a red as he claims to be.

One of my least favourite stories in the series, though.

[superthunderstingcar]

If I broadened the original question to British television in general, would you (or anyone else) have any additional suggestions?

Just recently there was Gregg Wallace: The British Miracle Meat on Channel 4.

[tribalfusion]

Are any posters old enough to recall the state of British television from the 70s or 80s to date with impressions of the ideological state of affairs over time?

[Endicott]

I was only old enough to start taking an interest in politics by the very end of the 70s / early 80s. I tend to think that there was more working class representation in BBC drama then than there is now, but I don't have anything to back that up, it's just a feeling. Maybe I'm just thinking about Play for Today.

With news, I was much more naive back then so it's tricky, but I think that BBC and most UK news in general gave a very slanted view of foreign affairs, and were not predisposed to present unions in a good light. Coverage of Nicaragua, Iran Contra, the Miner's Strike, are all things I recall thinking were covered from a very pro-establishment position and not to be trusted. It may be even worse today, but it's never been good.

[tribalfusion]

I was only old enough to start taking an interest in politics by the very end of the 70s / early 80s. I tend to think that there was more working class representation in BBC drama then than there is now, but I don't have anything to back that up, it's just a feeling. Maybe I'm just thinking about Play for Today.

With news, I was much more naive back then so it's tricky, but I think that BBC and most UK news in general gave a very slanted view of foreign affairs, and were not predisposed to present unions in a good light. Coverage of Nicaragua, Iran Contra, the Miner's Strike, are all things I recall thinking were covered from a very pro-establishment position and not to be trusted. It may be even worse today, but it's never been good.

Thanks. My own impression from having worked my way through the BBC catalog over time is that there was significantly more avowedly left-wing material on the BBC, particularly in the 1970s. The Play for Today is a very noteworthy example, but there are also numerous other programs and documentaries which are hard to imagine being aired today as well (I mentioned a few earlier in this thread).

I haven't systematically reviewed British TV news over time, so I appreciate your comments about that as well.

If you had to list British TV news programs/channels in a spectrum from right to left, how would you arrange them?

[Endicott]

It's an interesting question but I can't do it because I don't watch them anymore. Most telly news annoys the fuck out of me now, even Ch4 news although I can still stomach that in small doses.