Letters: Maybe it's time the BBC monolith was split 

BBC scandal is the tip of the iceberg

How many more BBC scandals will there have to be before the government of the day steps in and sorts it out?

The Trump speech fiasco is only the latest. In just the last 12 months or so, we have also had allegations of bullying and drug taking on Strictly, the Gary Lineker fiasco, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, The MasterChef controversy, Glastonbury Festival [Bob Vylan] and perhaps there are others we don’t yet know about.

BBC News is the one area where we have a right to demand the highest editorial standards. 

Although this latest failure focuses attention on BBC News, the problems extend across all departments. Hardly a month goes by without the BBC being the subject of headlines, bringing itself into disrepute. 

Maybe it is time the BBC monolith was split into semi-independent broadcasting operations. Tim Davie’s failure to get a grip on the problems within each ‘silo’ of the BBC highlights the impossibility of managing such a large and complex organisation. 

With the BBC Charter up for renewal now is the time to make the fundamental changes needed to make the BBC the flagship global public sector broadcaster it aspires to be. Ideally, this process would be a cross-party exercise, but the government has the majority it needs to push through changes and protect its new creation from political interference in future. 

Does the government have the imagination, vision and above all, courage to restructure the BBC to ensure its survival as an independent public sector broadcaster? Over to you, Ms Nandy.

Joe Walsh

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Northern souls

I bought an issue from Anna in York on Saturday and went straight to the My Pitch article about Preda in Alnwick. I found his story so interesting and am pleased to hear how well his children are doing in education. I love to read about your northern sellers, as I feel an affinity with them as people. I hope he gets to meet the inspirational John Bird. 

His children will be future British citizens who, no doubt, will work hard in and for our country. 

Anne Carlill, York

Train of thought

I read Adrian Lobb’s eulogy on the film Train Dreams only to realise that once again a line is drawn across history, which suggests that it only began with the arrival of the white man. While, understandably, the fictional character would fail to fully recognise the significance of their place in history, the same cannot be said of the original storyteller, the film-maker or the reviewers who fail to place the central character in their true perspective, at the point in history marked by the destruction of an ancient civilisation which had existed for thousands of years. 

All of this, we are today supposedly consciously remembering with regret, while striving to remedy the injustices committed as best we can, and halt and repair the environmental damage while we can. If reflection is to be as worthwhile as the article suggests, can we remember to reflect on the fact that the rise of western ‘civilisation’ is still recent, and notably marked by destruction and exploitation.

Thanks for a very enjoyable magazine, with its excellent delivery service, vendors Daniel, Gordon and Billy in Inverness.

Alisdair McKay

Read more:

• The BBC is one of the last decent things standing. And BBC 6 Music is a jewel in its crown.
• The BBC is the repository of our cultural memory. Protect it at all costs
• Gary Lineker is the final nail in the BBC’s coffin and I won’t be renewing my licence fee

Responses to our interview with Daniel Day-Lewis

I worked on Anemone last September, with both Sean Bean and DD-Lewis. He inhabits his role with 100% authenticity, developing his character’s walk and even speech pattern for the entire shoot. He even had the cast and crew, including his son, Ronan, who is the director, call him Ray, which is his name in the movie. He so totally transforms himself that it’s mesmerising in real life. So it’ll look absolutely amazing on screen. He, and Sean Bean, were a pleasure to work with, too.

Simon E Price, Facebook

Brian Cox is brilliant in his own right but Daniel Day-Lewis is pretty much at the apex of the craft. We studied Method techniques in my BA theatre programme and, used well, they are clearly effective. Every actor has their own way of calling the muse. Cox’s disdain is more amusing than anything to me and totally tracks with his grumpiness.

Monica R Jae, Facebook

The thing is that while DDL has his process as an actor, I’m not aware of anyone saying he was a prima donna jerk. He wants immersion and stays in the character for most of the day, but he doesn’t ignore the difference between action and cut. It was mostly in Gangs of New York in which he was playing a huge all-powerful villain, that he was a little standoffish with his castmates, as his character would be with them, but I haven’t heard of him hurting any feelings.

Daniel Alrick, Facebook

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