I wish they'd stop using Roman numerals on TV/film credits - AIBU?

[Defenbaker]

Very small annoyance in the grand scheme of things, but I wish TV and film companies would drop the habit of showing the copyright/production date in Roman numerals. I know that the digital TV guide often shows the year that a film was made, but on the occasion when it doesn't, it can be frustrating to wait for the credits to roll, only to find that the date appears as a row of Roman numerals which often flash by too quickly to convert them into Arabic ("ordinary") numerals.

The BBC is the main culprit, which is even more annoying as it's funded by tax payers through the TV licence. I know most of the Roman numerals, so I'm not completely phased by them, but they make things overly complicated and I think the use of them by a public service provider is somewhat archane in 21st century. In the early days of the BBC, most of its presenters and hierachy were products of the public school system, and had the benefit of a classical education, so their attitude may have been "well, anyone who's had a decent classical/public school education will understand them, and we're not bothered about the rest". Or maybe they just thought Roman numerals looked more elegant? Either way, I wish they'd switch over to "ordinary" Arabic numerals - AIBU?

Do they not teach Roman numerals in state schools then? It’s a very simply system so you should be able to learn to read them without needing to ‘convert’ them if you have a quarter of an hour to spare and an internet connection.

YABU.
Roman numerals are in the National Curriculum and are taught in all state primary schools in England at least.Children love them - it's like cracking a code.
You only need to look at the last few letters to work out the date - the start will be either MM (recent - well , in my eyes!) or a longer string of letters (last century). No TV programmes or films were made before the 20th century, so you don't need to work out every letter combination from the start.
The lovelv longer strings of letters my family have always read and pronounced as 'Mucklemuxxx' (sounds like a cross between a traditional Scottish surname and the church season of Michaelmas). Fun to say.

Are you LIVID
😃

Roman Numerals?? Where I live we rarely get full credits at the end of a t.v. programme. Why do you need to know exactly when the programme was made? Either it was interesting or not. If you want to know more then do some research. There are so many other words in credits that I can't understand (chief grip, cable boy, assistant to.....) I have no idea what their actual jobs are. But they are being given credit for their contribution to making a film and that should be appreciated. There are many titles in real life that no-one outside of that particulat industry can understand. Roman numerals are like a code, MM is (two) thousands times better than 2000-

Given the Romans' propensity towards slavery, one might expect the BBC to distance themselves.

It’s just tradition. Something that’s been carried on since around 300 AD when Roman families first started watching TV at home and spending less time at the amphitheatres.

My 8 year old had Roman Numerals set last week in the online learning set from her very ordinary state school. Hardly a classical / public education.

I love roman numerals! I went to state school and we learnt them then and my daughter, who went to a small state primary, not even in the UK, learnt them II or III years ago, so maybe aged VIII or IX . I didn't know people didn't know them...

My eight year old did Roman numerals at his very ordinary state school in the recent past, so I think the accusations of elitism are completely misplaced. And if a guessing game about dates is really so important to you, why not extend the game to learning them yourself now instead of frothing about obscurantism and elitism on the Internet?

@Moonmelodies

Given the Romans' propensity towards slavery, one might expect the BBC to distance themselves.

Are you another one for re-writing / eradicating history ? By trying to remove of all evidence of what actually happened in the past does not help anyone. History is there to learn from. Distancing ourselves from Roman numerals because the Romans had a "propensity towards slavery". ??????

I think you may have missed the sarcasm there...

My 8 year old can read them (state education). YABU.

I can read them relatively easily as we used them for class names at my school but still I find it pretentious and unnecessary.

Totally agree and I went to a public school & was taught Latin. A pointless & elitist tradition that should be consigned to the dustbin.

If we can embrace producing movies & TV specifically for streaming over scheduled television then other bits of the industry can modernise.

Roman numerals are still taught in primary schools. It's great because kids have a lot if fun with it and all seem to grasp it quickly even if they generally struggle a little with maths. I love to see them on the end of a bbc programme and these days you can generally pause and have a bit more time to work them out!!

@SallyLovesCheese

I like seeing the Roman numerals. You see them far less often these days. Makes me feel nostalgic for the 80s!

What the actual 80s (BC)?

You only need to look at the last few numbers anyway, you don’t need to look at the whole thing and start working out which century it is!

Not even Roman numbers now? What’s next? 😱😱😱

Rocky V plus Rocky Ii = Rocky VII, Adrian's revenge!

Nonsense to say they are elite. I learned them at a young age and I was state educated.

If something comes along that you don't understand, learn it - don't ask for it to be changed. No one will ever learn anything if we have to dumb down everything that's even slightly out of the ordinary.

I’m clearly thick. I’ve never noticed all of these Roman numerals.
They show up at the end of the credits? To tell you when the film / programme was made? Does this mean you are all watching the credits to the end?
So many questions!

Yes Fight milk that's right. They have always been there...

Well you only need to see the end few digits as the first is definitely going to be 19 or 20 (though that will change next year)

I feel like an alien from another planet. Like everybody knows something I don’t.
I’m late twenties, if I wanted to know when something was made I’d just google it went I thought of the question, not wait until the end to see the credits.
God I sound like a twat.

Crikey!

Dumbing down, again!

Nope! It's one of the things that make the end credits watchable... that and who did sing that song?

Bluemoon why will the 20 change next year? It will still be 20 something... MMXXI

Or are we leaping into a time machine?