Stunned by BBC Sir: I have noticed for some time
now that BBC play directors have become increasingly prone to the modern compulsion to add to their dramas a sprinkling of four-letter words as a sort of condiment and, for additional relish, a dash here and there of explicit carnality. The superficial justification of 'realism' or of catering to the 'public taste' (which public?) might, for an offguard instant, be allowed if the BBC were a commercial organisation. But the chief purpose of giving a virtual monopoly of sound broadcasting to a public corporation is to enable it to resist popular pressures and thus to set and maintain standards of taste and propriety.
To appreciate the extent of the BBC's failure in these respects, one has only to recall the egregious lapse of taste that occurred several weeks ago. On 10 January I was listening with my family to the 8 p.m. Monday play on BBC Radio 4 (the one-time 'Home Service'). To our incredulity we found ourselves eavesdropping to a swift act of copulation between a coal miner and his upper-class mistress. Speaking for myself, this is the first time [have heard the sighs, the pantings, and the grunts of a couple in coitus, and the orgasmic cry of the woman reaching her climax, over the ail-. And very impressive it was.
In the circumstances, however, my wife, my children, and I were rather more than just embarrassed. we were stunned. I switched off the set, dialled the BBC, and spoke on the telephone to a flustered young man who promised to relay my indignation to the play's director. In addition I wrote to the Head of Drama, Radio 4, questioning the propriety of smuggling this erotic escapade into the family circle in this way. f made it clear that if ever I feel the need for sexual stimulation, there is today no shortage of sources. One does not look to the BBC
director believes it to be.
Since we have received no assurances from the BBC, we have to choose between the risk of a second embarrassment or a policy of avoiding Radio 4 plays. Reluctantly, We have chosen the latter.
Ezra Mishan The London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2
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