23 OCTOBER 1999, Page 36

BSE docudrama

From Mr Allan Lloyd

Sir: In his splendid review rubbishing the BBC's Walking with Dinosaurs (Arts, 16 October), James Delingpole affects sur- prise that the Corporation has the nerve to present speculative fantasy as fact. Why so? A brief glance at recent history will show that this is now the norm for it. Worst of all BBC fictions is the oft-repeated statement that BSE 'causes' CJD, hammered home in news bulletin after news bulletin. The 'sci- entific evidence' for this claim is a lot less sound than some old bones and the odd pile of fossilised dung.

Sadly, though, this particular falsehood did not result in a couple of hours of rat- ings-topping television. It helped destroy a large, proud and successful British industry. Allan Lloyd

Barton Court, Colwall, Herefordshire