Oh Lords!

At first I thought it was an April Fool’s gag from The Governess who passed it my way.

Lord McNally: My Lords, is the Minister aware that, if he were to come to McNally Manor on a Saturday evening, he would find the McNally family and perhaps a few of the children from the neighbourhood all gathered with popcorn and other eatables to watch the next edition of Doctor Who? Is that not a reminder that good children’s television is not just a duty but makes commercial common sense and should that not be drawn to Michael Grade’s attention, as I know that he has some experience in these matters?

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, after yesterday, I wondered how long I would have to wait for an invitation to McNally Manor, and I am grateful that it has occurred so soon. The Doctor Who programme has been watched by as many adults as children and is an example of a hugely successful television programme that was originally children-oriented but captured the imagination of the whole nation. That is the ideal to be strived for and it requires resources and commitment. I doubt that Michael Grade, who is all too well aware of the commercial implications of good television, is unaware that, if he were able to broadcast a programme like Doctor Who, the position of commercial television would improve significantly.

Turns out it’s verbatim from Lords Hansard on last week’s House of Lords debate about the future of Commercial Television for Children. Or, in the words of Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury:

Whether, in view of the significant reduction in programmes for children in the commercial television sector, they have any proposals to amend Section 264 of the Communications Act 2003.

Ah, those crazy old bastards. The House of Lords, what would we do without them?