‘What has the BBC ever done for me?’ Romesh Ranganathan reboots corporation’s 1985 licence fee plea | BBC licence fee

In John Cleese’s 1985 advert for the BBC, he asks a bar full of stars: “What has the BBC given us?” he asks. is one of the most famous examples of companies publicly advocating the value of paying licensing fees.

in advertisingCleese complains to the bartender that he just got his television license. “Fifty-eight pounds for the privilege of sitting in your own home and watching your own television. That’s evil. So what did the BBC give us for £58?” he says, before being correctly tuned in by a host of punters, from David Attenborough and John Humphrys to Terry Wogan and David Jason.

Now, more than 40 years later, the company has relaunched it with an ad as it ramps up its campaign for the renewal of the contract that allows it to operate. new musical version The film stars Romesh Ranganathan and is directed by Dougal Wilson, the man behind the Paddington and John Lewis Christmas ad campaigns in Peru.

The comedian plays a disgruntled license fee payer who grumbles at the likes of Chris Martin, Claudia Winkleman, David Jason and Greg James in EastEnders’ Queen Vic bar.

The comedian then leads a whistling song and dance tour of BBC shows and services, featuring around 90 famous faces, from Alan Carr to Cate Blanchett, Hey Duggee to Clive Myrie.

The BBC is facing what its chief executive Matt Brittin recently described as a “moment of real peril” due to the decline in license fee payments and the rise of rivals such as YouTube, TikTok and broadcasters. The number of people paying the BBC’s license fee fell faster than expected last year, with another half a million households opting out of paying.

To illustrate what could be lost, towards the end of the advert Ranganathan pushes backstage at Strictly Come Dancing to meet Louis Theroux, who says “You know, none of this needs to exist” as he places his hand on the lever of a giant on/off switch that says BBC “If we don’t want to”.

The film will premiere on TV during the World Cup final and will begin streaming on social platforms on Sunday morning. It received some positive response from the audience, but a lukewarm response from some quarters. Telegram complaining that the BBC’s offerings were “particularly middling” and The Times complains It was a repetition of an old idea, “as is highly emblematic of a lot of TV content on the BBC and elsewhere these days”.

A number of trailers have been produced over the years aimed at summarizing the BBC’s public service delivery in an informative, educational and entertaining way.

These include star-studded versions of the Beach Boys’ God Only Knows. Lou Reed’s Perfect Day. But Cleese’s ad (itself based on a scene from Monty Python’s Life of Brian) What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?) was recently highlighted by Chris Packham as a “genius” while promoting an open letter defending the company.

Ranganathan defended the reasoning behind the new version, saying: “I’m very, very convinced that the BBC should exist, and look, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it doesn’t have its flaws.”

“There have definitely been times and issues where I wish he would have handled things differently — but I’m incredibly passionate about the fact that we got to have it and that it adds so much to our lives. And I’m really proud of it.”

“I truly believe we should have a BBC and I don’t think there’s anything else that does what the BBC does.”

When asked to star in the film, she said: “I was very surprised and very honored that they chose me, but I really thought it was such a simple thing.”

Growing up it was BBC’s Bon appetit to me This led him to believe he could have a performing career, saying: “I didn’t think people who looked like me could do comedy. I was doing stand-up as a little kid and then you watch something like Goodness Gracious Me and you think ‘yeah, I can do that’.”

The ad acknowledges that the BBC has done a lot for Ranganathan; Myrie notes that he fronts The Weakest Link, Sara Cox reminds him that he hosts a Radio 2 show and Chris McCausland highlights his “hip-hop podcast on Sounds”.