British Telly’s Online Shangri-La

Our darling Beeb has taken a boot to the pants for years on both sides of the Atlantic. While often these trips to the woodshed have been deserved, the BBC has done a fair amount of good in the world that gets overlooked quite a bit.

In a move that should go a long way toward garnering that institution greater respect online,  the BBC has set out to create a Web-based repository for its more than 80 years of programming. As this piece from The Guardian’s Web site explains:

“…the project will create a web page for every episode of every single programme ever broadcast on the BBC, and be the basis of a future plan to introduce a searchable vault of archived shows.”

The possibilities here are endless. And on behalf of myself and my fellow non-British TV fans, I only hope that this “vault” is accessible by everyone.

In recent years the Beeb’s rival, ITV, has done an impressive job of unearthing classic shows for viewing online, only to lock out we foreign types. In May, for example, ITV’s Web site posted a lost episode of its classic soap opera Crossroads. You can read about that rare find here, but heaven help you if you actually want to watch it if you’re living outside the UK.

There are literally dozens of wonderful ITV programs waiting to be watched online here, safely locked away from all but British eyes. Rising Damp, Cold Feet, Chancer, Cracker…it’s pretty maddening, actually.

And while an argument can be made that these companies can hardly pop for unlimited bandwidth, would it be so difficult for ITV, and the BBC for that matter, to allow foreign users to pay a nominal sum to see these programs online? While Rising Damp and Cracker are readily available in American DVD editions, other series such as the Kevin Whately/Amanda Burton doctor drama Peak Practice are not.

Let us hope that, in the name of good will and celebration of this wonderful art form, the BBC will throw open the doors of this groundbreaking archive for the enjoyment of people the world over.