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Article: Televised history : Schama's Britain.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- September 30, 2000
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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"IT IS a huge gamble," admits Martin Davidson, the producer of the BBC's new 16-part "History of Britain". The first episode goes out on BBC2 on September 30th, with five more to follow this year and the rest to be shown in 2001.
In an age of "dumbed-down" media and intense competition for television viewers, such a large investment in an unapologetically serious programme does represent a considerable risk. The whole project has cost Pounds5m, and is the longest single-presenter factual programme that the BBC has ever made. The corporation is gambling that there is still an audience for this sort of television, and hoping for one of more than 2.5m viewers. ...