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Question Time

I fail to see why people get so angry about QT, just don't watch it. The fake outrage that it is all designed to be confrontational, of course it is, it's TV, its not a real scenario. As soon as you put cameras into a room people behave differently.
 
Agree completely.
Stopped watching it as soon as Bruce revealed herself to be incompetent, not impartial and the gammon audiences took over shrieking and bellowing.
 
I fail to see why people get so angry about QT, just don't watch it. The fake outrage that it is all designed to be confrontational, of course it is, it's TV, its not a real scenario. As soon as you put cameras into a room people behave differently.

Agree completely.
Stopped watching it as soon as Bruce revealed herself to be incompetent, not impartial and the gammon audiences took over shrieking and bellowing.
While I don't watch it and agree with the above comments in principle, the scary fact is that many, many people do watch it and tend to quote the "facts" that are thrown about on it, apparently unchallenged. The opinion of the "real person" in the audience is another irony regularly quoted by watchers.:eek:
 
People used to complain when Dimble Davidly did it, and I didn't really agree with the complaints (which mostly seemed to be from people with a poor handle on the political balance of the UK, who thought the audience or panel should be more biased towards their own particular political leanings). I thought he did an excellent job.

I haven't watched last night's yet, but from what I've seen of Fiona Bruce's stint, she isn't as good. She does seem to go harder on the opposition figures than on the government, whereas if anything she ought to do the opposite, holding those with the power up to enhanced scrutiny. (The way she dealt with Diane Abbott's perfectly reasonable point about opinion polls in one of her first programmes was something of a nadir.)

The main problem, however, is that she both talks when she shouldn't, and stays silent when she should intervene. The idea behind the programme is that the audience asks the questions, not the chair. There are plenty of other programmes on TV where politicians are interviewed by professional broadcasters. The odd question from that direction is OK, when something obvious has been missed, but this should be the exception rather than the rule. Conversely, if everyone is talking over the top of each other, or if a panellist has said something untrue without being challenged, then the chair must intervene to restore order or to gently but firmly query. If you are going to chair that kind of programme, you have to know an awful lot about politics, most of which you will never reveal on air. And you need to exude a quiet, but firm, authority.

The even worse problem, though, is that This Week is no longer on afterwards :(
 
If you are going to chair that kind of programme, you have to know an awful lot about politics, most of which you will never reveal on air. And you need to exude a quiet, but firm, authority.

Absolutely! Does the BBC employ people like that any longer, I suspect not...
 
While I don't watch it and agree with the above comments in principle, the scary fact is that many, many people do watch it and tend to quote the "facts" that are thrown about on it, apparently unchallenged. The opinion of the "real person" in the audience is another irony regularly quoted by watchers.:eek:
A certain type of person goes on the show, the BBC probably does some demographic profiling but it becomes quite self selecting. I also really dislike the way the politicians grandstand with off pat answers designed to get a favourable response without actually saying anything. Then you get the token celebrity/writer/historian etc..
 
Absolutely! Does the BBC employ people like that any longer, I suspect not...

Andrew Neill is the only one I can think of who displays that level of knowledge. The trouble is that he displays it rather too readily: he's too opinionated in his own right to do Question Time, too associated with a particular political viewpoint, and likely in the twilight of his career, so won't get the gig.

Actually, now I think of it, maybe John Pienaar? He doesn't rankle in the same way that Robinson and Kuennsberg do. He seems quieter, but with more gravitas.
 
Actually, now I think of it, maybe John Pienaar? He doesn't rankle in the same way that Robinson and Kuennsberg do. He seems quieter, but with more gravitas.

Yes. There's nobody senior making really challenging investigative style programmes though. That's what all these names should be doing themselves or else overseeing.
 
Last night’s was the first I’ve watched in its entirety for years.
I was surprised how anti-Labour it was but that didn’t bother me too much.
It made me realise that whilst brexiteers are mostly sympathetic to the Tories, everyone hates the Labour Party because they have no idea what they stand for in the brexit debate.
 
Last night’s was the first I’ve watched in its entirety for years.
I was surprised how anti-Labour it was but that didn’t bother me too much.
It made me realise that whilst brexiteers are mostly sympathetic to the Tories, everyone hates the Labour Party because they have no idea what they stand for in the brexit debate.
Your problem there is that I have a good (otherwise sensible) friend from the north of England who swears that QT is packed with lefties and actively pursues a Remain agenda. Be afraid ......... :eek:
 
Last night’s was the first I’ve watched in its entirety for years.
I was surprised how anti-Labour it was but that didn’t bother me too much.
It made me realise that whilst brexiteers are mostly sympathetic to the Tories, everyone hates the Labour Party because they have no idea what they stand for in the brexit debate.

You really ought to research the background of the person who is responsible for audience selection before posting drivel like that.

Start here
https://www.commonspace.scot/articl...me-producer-over-far-right-social-media-posts
 
I used to watch QT sometimes when Dimbleby was in charge. Watched the first three episodes when Bruce took over and I no longer watch QT. She also seems to have dumbed down the Antiques Roadshow.
 


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