12 APRIL 1957, Page 7

THE TROUBLE WITH many BBC programmes is not that they

are intrinsically bad but that they do not collect an audience large enough to justify their cost. The Third Programme's amputation-warrant has been sealed in the last few years because its audiences have actually contracted. The same is true of BBC television : a potentially attractive programme like the Brains Trust has sometimes failed to attract even 1 per cent. on the viewer ratings by contrast With CTV's 'Free Speech,' which also appears on Sunday afternoons and has been far more successful. But 'Free Speech,' it will be argued, takes itself less seri- ously. Precigely. The Brains Trust is at its best when it includes such guests as John Betjeman and Lord David Cecil, who refuse to regard them- selves as pundits. How little the Brains Trust will lose by the defection of Dr. Bronowski can be judged from his explanation that his only reason for appearing on television is that 'what I have to say to viewers has, I hope, a meaning for intelli- gent people.' He left because he was worried about having Mr. Bernard Braden as chairman owing to Mr. Braden's association with light en- tertainment. 'I am afraid,' Dr. Bronowski said, 'it will lose its character as a serious discussion pro- gramme.' With any luck—if a few others with his attitude can be induced to follow him—it will.