please empty your brain below
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I was living in Japan when Emperor Hirohito died, and the year Showa 64 suddenly became the year Heisei 1. His death was announced on Friday evening; on Saturday morning, all staff in large shops were dressed in black uniforms; by Sunday evening, following a weekend of solemn music and replays of a grainy film of the Emperor on a white horse, the queues outside video rental stores were enormous.
Martin | 11.04.21 - 7:25 a.m. | #
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I was one of the (many) people who complained before the BBC put up their special complaints page.
My condolences to the family of the person who passed away but did we need wall-to-wall media converage?
Every BBC channel was showing the same, repetive, news feed. WTF? If you're going to do this, why the heck have the BBC News channel?
End rant.
He was born into royalty and he married into more royalty. He ended up where he was by dint of coming from the "right blood line"
At least the streaming services didn't shut up shop for the day.
Jon Jones | 11.04.21 - 7:29 a.m. | #
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Lots of audio of various radio stations announcing the news here.
Lewis Gillingham | 11.04.21 - 7:34 a.m. | #
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I think we need the rolling news coverage, given his demise is so close to Easter. What if he'd come back to life?
Ian | 11.04.21 - 7:44 a.m. | #
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Although he was a significant national figure, I lean towards the 'old man I didn't know dies of natural causes' point of view, it wasn't a surprise, there was nothing much else to say, cancelling all regular programming for blanket 'Prince Phillip is dead, feel upset now' broadcasts is the sort of 'cultural enforcement' that SJW's normally indulge in.
I bet that the Royals are delighted that Megan can't attend.
As to your other comment about if this had happened when he was 89, there were DVD's and satellite in April 2011, and books.
Still Anon | 11.04.21 - 7:45 a.m. | #
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More interesting than the death of Philip is the death of linear broadcasting. I've seen some of the commentary about the changes to BBC schedules afterwards but I didn't notice on the day and there's no reason why I should. I watch a pretty average amount of TV, but I don't watch any of it live any more.
Eric | 11.04.21 - 7:53 a.m. | #
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Whatever the reason for the broadcast disruption, it baffles me that people can’t go a day without their tv on.
Renata | 11.04.21 - 7:59 a.m. | #
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If a few hours, or even days, of wall-to-wall TV every decade or so is the price we have to pay for Boris Johnson not being our head of state then I, for one, welcome it. And, as people have said, no one's forcing anyone to watch it.
Sally | 11.04.21 - 8:02 a.m. | #
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The ladies who died in 1925, 1953 and 2002 were all (Dowager) Queens, but you have demoted two of them to Princess (their titles before their husbands were crowned).
dg writes: updated, thanks.
timbo | 11.04.21 - 8:21 a.m. | #
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At 12:09pm the BBC were slow off the mark. Talk Radio announced it at 12:03 or so, immediately after their 12 noon news.
davews | 11.04.21 - 8:36 a.m. | #
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I agree with Jon Jones, not just BBC1, BBC2 and BBC News but the Parliament channel as well. I think the only channel the Beeb left alone was the kiddies one. Did the 6pm BBC1 News even mention the pandemic, frankly much more important, dozens still dying each week? I don't know because I turned the telly off.
J. | 11.04.21 - 8:41 a.m. | #
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I can see the reason for BBC1 doing it. And ITV because of 'rivalry'. But just what is gained by BBC2 joining in the Phil-fest? After a brief announcement, that could have gone back to normal programmes, or carried some of the displaced stuff from BBC1.
I've nothing against fervent royalists. But it's time to recognise that not everyone is numbered among them.
Malcolm of Kent | 11.04.21 - 8:42 a.m. | #
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Smallest 'respectfulness' adjustment seen so far: substituting 'Celebrity Mastermind' for 'Pointless Celebrities'.
Radio 3's taken the biggest hit: Friday and all Saturday rolling 'A Sequence of music with [a presenter]' in place of regular programming.
Even Bells on Sunday (Radio 4) changed, from village church bells to Westminster Abbey with the bells half-muffled (loud, soft alternately) as the traditional way of marking mourning.
Gordon | 11.04.21 - 8:43 a.m. | #
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Good post, but I think your first sentence could be better expressed. The death of a major royal is not “planned” (that smacks of assassination) but “planned for”.
dg writes: updated, thanks.
Deborah Kelly | 11.04.21 - 8:46 a.m. | #
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Radio 2 seem to have dropped all jingles, which is a weird way to mark his death.
Andrew S | 11.04.21 - 9:02 a.m. | #
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Strictly speaking it wasn’t the TV Continuity announcer that broke the news, it was the newsreader. Continuity announcers on the BBC never appear in vision.
dg writes: updated, thanks.
Richard | 11.04.21 - 9:03 a.m. | #
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I think I was generally begrudgingly accepting of it all until I saw that BBC4 had been turned off. Not broadcasting news, not showing a different schedule, just turned off.
Lew | 11.04.21 - 9:24 a.m. | #
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To note that the BBC is not a state broadcaster - it is a public broadcaster.
What leaves many people so uncomfortable over the last few days is that it has behaved like a state broadcaster and forgotten its public broadcasting duties.
BeefQueen | 11.04.21 - 10:17 a.m. | #
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Most programmes have, sort of, returned to normal but Radio 4Extra is mirroring Radio 4 and continues to do so. It shows as coming back tomorrow morning, but we'll see.
Martin | 11.04.21 - 10:19 a.m. | #
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The BBC might still want to be the national broadcaster, but I suspect that Friday's actions actually undermined rather than reinforced that. I'm definitely with Still Anon's neat summing up.
Shieldsman | 11.04.21 - 10:22 a.m. | #
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Radio6Music was the worst hit for me.
Spent the whole day playing voices talking! No music of any sort.
Then the next day downbeat music all day from each of the scheduled DJs.
Joho | Homepage | 11.04.21 - 10:24 a.m. | #
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The junking of regular programming does feel like the deferential treatment of an earlier age but I can cope with a day or two without regular programming and I learnt a thing or two from the programmes that were put on. The coverage of the 41 gun salute yesterday was oddly fascinating.
Even more of a throwback was the email I received from Waitrose expressing their condolences on the death of Prince Philip. That did seem odd.
Jonathan | 11.04.21 - 10:47 a.m. | #
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The chorus of grumbling voices at the royal coverage is all part of the great and time-honoured British tradition - long may it continue...!
cau1khead | 11.04.21 - 10:52 a.m. | #
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Meticulous planned indeed, but I suspect they will add a "what if we are in a pandemic" section to Operation London Bridge, now that it needs updating.
JonF | 11.04.21 - 11:10 a.m. | #
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I can't help but worry that the people who care least about the death are the people the BBC needs to win over the most - young people. This is just going to accelerate the growth of Netflix etc
Felix | 11.04.21 - 11:12 a.m. | #
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Here in Australia we look forward to watching Vera on Friday nights. A couple of minutes interruption for the announcement to the show would have been ok but we never saw the end of Vera. I thought my partner was being silly when he said, we will have days of this. I was wrong as usual. 10.30 Sunday night, we are watching a PP special programme.
Andrew | Homepage | 11.04.21 - 11:15 a.m. | #
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I happened to be in London yesterday and walked last Buckingham Palace. Lots of people there, interestingly all of a younger demographic.
Hadders | 11.04.21 - 11:21 a.m. | #
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Given catch up and streaming, not to mention numerous other distractions, putting identical programming on all channels seems pointless. Equally, and for the same reason, so does complaining about it.
For better or worse, in the 21st century, it is no longer possible to 'force' all the people to all see/hear the same thing. That Was only really possible for the last 70 years of the 20th century and not before, nor since.
Will | 11.04.21 - 11:23 a.m. | #
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I can quite easily find alternative stuff to watch, but yes this does feel rather OTT
I wonder after this if the BBC and other media organisations will carry out detailed polling on how the public felt about this wall to wall coverage, when basically there's nothing to talk about once you've done a couple of decent tribute programmes.
Especially as few people were actually watching the coverage. On Friday the most watched programme on TV was Gogglebox with 4.2m
Mikey C | 11.04.21 - 11:32 a.m. | #
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I had to complain. There was no escape from the coverage on the BBC, on television, radio, online. ITV, Sky News, Channel 5 and Channel 4 also carried far too much.
This isn't the 1950s, the world is far less deferential.
Jonathan | 11.04.21 - 11:39 a.m. | #
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Regarding the Waitrose condolence email, Waitrose does hold two royal warrants.
Gordon | 11.04.21 - 11:54 a.m. | #
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On your link (12.09) announcement of death - the news reader for the BBC News Channel has a necklace on over her scoop neck black top. The next update (BBC1) she has removed the necklace and added what looks like a smart jacket or cardigan. I take it necklaces (and scoop necks) are far too jaunty for such announcements.
Jayne | 11.04.21 - 11:57 a.m. | #
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Waitrose also put up a poster of DoE outside their branches.
Which made a nice change to the request for information relating to stabbings that are usually seen outside my local Little Waitrose.
ADS | Homepage | 11.04.21 - 12:12 p.m. | #
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The BBC + ITV knew they'd be damned if they did, and damned if they didn't. Those complaining that they couldn't avoid the w2w TV coverage are unimaginative souls at best. In a broader context, it does feel like another significant turning of a page in the history of the UK, where WW2 and the Royal Family are being left behind in an earlier chapter.
Frank F | 11.04.21 - 12:17 p.m. | #
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I wonder what was done on Luxemborgish TV when their previous Grand Duke passed away 2 years ago. If they made a small fuss Britain should follow suit. Besides I think it's reported that Prince Philip did not want to pester others in the first place.
Patrickov | 11.04.21 - 1:12 p.m. | #
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Having not turned the TV on since last Sunday it would all have gone whoosh over my head had I not taken a peek at social media at lunch time, instead of my normal late evening check-in!
Very sad for the Royals though, especially the Queen.
And as one with a family member who is involved with the preparations for such occasions - contingency plans are always in place alongside!
Cornish Cockney | 11.04.21 - 1:49 p.m. | #
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Thanks for a good post that puts some perspective into things, including the link to the Guardian article which I read with detached fascination at the time, but is so much more poignant this weekend, as we have now had a modest taster of what's to come.
I'm most perplexed at the disappearance of R4 Extra for a few days. It's just not right, and makes the Beeb look as though it can't hold itself together, or that Corporal Jones is in charge of strategic network co-ordination. A duff call, from which I hope they will learn.
NickW | 11.04.21 - 2:32 p.m. | #
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It'll be a good few days to bury bad news.
Gerry | 11.04.21 - 2:49 p.m. | #
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The Guardian article was very very interesting and informative. Thank you for the link
MO | 11.04.21 - 2:56 p.m. | #
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In reply to Jayne this YouTube clip is very interesting at showing what happened.
The BBC newsreader makes the initial announcement and there is a switch to video for a couple of minutes, over which she continues to speak. During all of this she puts on a black jacket and removes her necklace.
Very professionally done.
Hadders | 11.04.21 - 3:33 p.m. | #
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Does anybody know the details of the serious situation developing in Northern Ireland over the last few days? No? Phew, it really is a good time to bury news like that.
TomH | 11.04.21 - 4:04 p.m. | #
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I hate to think what Joe Public will do when Britain is invaded, public broadcasting is taken over and martial music is played until the country is subdued. If you don't like what is on TV read a book or take a walk.
Tones | 11.04.21 - 4:55 p.m. | #
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The people complaining that the much welcomed respectful coverage was interrupting their daily TV viewing made me smile. If only there were other channels to watch, or books to read, or music to listen to! To my mind, I was pleased that just for once, not dissimilar to the first lockdown, normal life was put on pause. It gave time to think and time to reflect.
Stuart R | 11.04.21 - 5:20 p.m. | #
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It’s noticeable how the professional anti-BBC lobby (such as pressure group Defund the BBC) spend all their time decrying the organisation and the licence fee as irrelevant in a multi-channel era, yet have been among the first to condemn the Corporation for its wall-to-wall coverage of Prince Philip’s death (or for then accepting complaints about it, which was deemed anti-British). If the Beeb’s so irrelevant, why weren’t they tuned to one of the other 200+ channels they claim to prefer in the first place?
It’s arguable that the BBC’s response smacked of a past forelock-tugging era, a time when their plans may first have been drawn up; but they received a pasting from the usual right-wing suspects for apparently not being reverential enough when the Queen Mother died, so maybe decided that the full works were still required in this case. As was said above: damned if they do, damned if they don’t....
Labourer | 11.04.21 - 5:33 p.m. | #
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Thoroughly amazed that those who decry the BBC were listening and tuned in, to complain so much about their coverage.
Considering we no longer have terrestrial TV, everyone with access to the BBC has access to other Freeview channels. There was plenty more choice on Friday night that on Diana's death or on the death of The Queen Mother.
Lots of people complaining, "just because".
Jordan D | 11.04.21 - 6:02 p.m. | #
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If the BBC et al wanted to fuel anti monarchy sentiment then they have succeeded.
If they want to complete the job, and probably kill off any lingering support for the licence fee then they need to carry on with their antiquated plan to switch off for a week or so when Maj joins Phil.
It only reinforces every argument that the BBC is an out of touch organisation in need of reform.
Mr BW | 11.04.21 - 7:10 p.m. | #
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If a day of interrupted BBC scheduling has genuinely angered the nation, a 44p refund to the licence fee ought to cover it.
diamond geezer | Homepage | 11.04.21 - 7:22 p.m. | #
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It's become a political requirement in some quarters to complain about the BBC at every opportunity. In this case it was for re-scheduling their programmes to carry Prince Philip stories, many of which were reasonably informative and gave a balanced account of his life and personality.
ITV and Channel 5 did the same, but I didn't see the same level of 'uproar' aimed at them. And what about all those newspapers! Pages and pages of Prince Philip stuff replacing what they'd otherwise have printed - and hardly a whimper of complaint!
ActonMan | 11.04.21 - 10:00 p.m. | #
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Yes DG, I want my 44p back. For no apparent reason Radio 3 pulled their five and a half hours of Igor Stravinsky's music (to celebrate the centenary of his birth) on the Saturday afternoon. Why? BBC 1, ITV, Radio 4 should have had and, indeed, did have blanket coverage and quite right too. But Radio 3 should have continued.
Nigel | 11.04.21 - 10:46 p.m. | #
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Even the magnificent Radcliffe & Maconie weekend show on Radio 6 music wasn't broadcast in it's normal format this weekend. Yet it seems sport TV and radio coverage continued as scheduled.
Richard | 11.04.21 - 11:17 p.m. | #
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But it isn't just 1 day and the point is the BBC simulcast across all channels. If they had set aside 'The Prince Philip Channel' that would have been OK , but to believe that we would all like BBC21 and BBC2 to show the same PC programmes just in case is ridiculous.
Yesterday we had Jonnie Walker replaced with politically approved lift music. I expect it will go on this week with all channels gradually running down the list of 'people with interesting Prince Philip stories to tell everyone else' until we get to 'I once went to a garden party and he was supposed to be there but wasn't. What a guy, how we laughed'.
I say all this as fundamentally a royalist, if only for the straight financial gain to the country. The planners have just got it wrong, no balance.
Mr BW | 12.04.21 - 8:45 a.m. | #
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The BBC's coverage of Prince Philip's death has elicited the Corporation's highest ever number of complaints.
(sigh)
diamond geezer | Homepage | 12.04.21 - 6:01 p.m. | #
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Thanks Hadders for the YouTube link! Yes, a very professional handover.
Jayne | 13.04.21 - 11:33 a.m. | #
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For those who are unhappy not at the man's demise so much as missing Pointless it would be nice to be reminded that we are free to make such first-world complaints, there are many who appreciate the deference and, as I, have learned things about him that I never knew.
As it's a moment in history, not to mark it with a bit of "forced viewing" so that it sticks in our multi-media-soaked brains would have been weird and would have upset a great deal of people.
Thank goodness we don't live in any number of countries around the world where we would still be subjected to black screens, martial music and re-runs of the hundred best speeches of the Dear Leader.
If it all got too much, just remember the self-defeating song title of the BBC childrens' tv show Why don't you?
Why don't you just go out and do something less boring instead?
JP | 15.04.21 - 5:53 a.m. | #
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I complained. I actually felt angry that the wall to wall coverage and sadness expressed by all on the TV news and radio left no room for those who don't give a fig that the DoE died. I felt as mentioned above they were acting as a state broadcaster, when journalists should be independent. Yes, family should be given time to mourn, and yes it is somewhat significant, but it's clear from all those complaints that there are many of us who feel that the BBC was out of touch with license fee payers as a whole - those of us who did not feel sad, whose voice had been shut out completely for a long episode of 'national mourning'. I don't get cross much but this took the biscuit, and I wanted to add my name to the list of people complaining. I didn't miss any of 'my' TV programs, that wasn't the point for me, it was the 'one nation'nonsense and lack of any other voice on the BBC that appalled me.
SJM | 16.04.21 - 7:07 p.m. | #
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