A rant about British TV

I hadn't had regular access to British TV for about 13 years until a few weekends ago when a satellite was installed at my home and I now can watch pretty much what you watch in the UK. I'd just like to make it clear before I start ranting that I support the BBC, support the continuation of the licence fee, and believe that government / press / Murdoch actions and arguments against the BBC are abhorrent. Auntie is a great institution, respected worldwide, and should be looked after and cherished.

BUT

How much has British TV changed in the last 13 years? It's incredible. Daytime Tv is filled with antiques shows (how many of them are there?), property shows, cooking shows, particularly Come Dine With Me, and game shows. One of the ITV channels seems to have devoted itself to Agatha Christie. Channel Four is all property and reality things like Four In a Bed (yes, I'm addicted already).

Come Dine With Me is also addictive, and I much prefer it to the French version, Un Dîner Presque Parfait as the Brits, unsurprisingly, take it far less seriously. But why oh why oh why oh WHY is there an irritating voiceover person making smart arse comments all the time? Not big, not clever, not at all funny.

A couple of Saturdays ago I was treated to six episodes in a row of Jamie's 30 minute meals. I'm not sure I have ever watched a non-dubbed Jamie show before, but it reaffirmed my crush on admiration for the guy. And I stand by my previous rant in support of what he does.

I'm not going to go into the Jubilee coverage, but it is safe to say I switched back to the French coverage of the Thames boat flotilla.

A massive difference with a few years ago is how loud it has become. And by loud I mean brash. I watched an episode of Loose Women the other day, and was disturbed, distracted, by all the shouting from the audience. Why? Why do they need a live audience? Why do both the audience and the presenters have to be so shouty? I'm sure what they had to say was interesting but I couldn't hack the shoutiness of the whole thing. It's like those Boots adverts. Loud. Shut up !

Another channel seems to have various versions of Real Housewives on some kind of loop - and I haven't even tried watching that. I just know it's not going to be my cup of tea.

But once you have got past all the antiques, knick knacks and property shows, and past all the shoutiness, there are some really interesting shows. Embarassing Bodies last night was eye-opening, on another channel was something about some relations of the Queen which was interesting; on yet another some couple were converting an old RNLI building into a house, which was great (though was, again, to do with property). Have I Got News For You is still going strong and it pretty good, and there is new fun, like 8 out of 10 cats.

Being used to French TV, for better or for worse, it is strange watching TV from home again. I am finally able to see what the newspapers and forums are going on about (Episodes? Didn't get it.) And after years of craving British TV the most interesting thing is how often I switch back to French TV. Yesterday I even switched over to French coverage of Wimbledon.

Maybe it is time I sorted out French nationality after all...