Repetitive TV about Duke’s Death

[Thisisnotreallymyname]

At a risk of being sent to the Tower, whilst I think it is sad that Prince Philip has died, am I alone in being amazed at the constant repetitive TV about his life.
It’s just going over snd over same old stuff. And I’d like to watch some normal TV !

IABU - YES
IANBU - NO

@BigPaperBag

For the people moaning about missing TV programmes, you sound like twattish selfish childish morons. The Queen has just lost her beloved partner of 73 years and I think that the coverage will hopefully make her feel that he is in people’s thoughts during a tough time. Get over yourselves, seriously, and think of someone else for once.

I lost both parents last year...I doubt the Queen cared too much about my family's suffering. Why would I and many others, want to have somebody else's rammed down our throats continuously when we are still trying to come to terms with our own losses. 1 t.v channel and 1 radio station covering it non-stop would have sufficed and all those who wanted to watch an endless stream about the death of an old man would have been more than catered for.

It’s like the bloody NHS clapping all over again.

Yes an old woman has lost her life partner. What the fuck does that have to do with me?

Exactly.

I know an elderly lady living on a state pension in a council house, who lost her husband who was her constant companion who did everything for her. She wasn't allowed to go to his funeral and his death means she's now shielding alone without any support.

Her story is hardly unusual.

There's no public outrage over that, but we're supposed to prostrate ourselves as a show of support for a powerful billionaire who'd lived almost completely separate lives from her husband for years, husband had a new partner, and who didn't even visit him in the hospital?

Why is Elizabeth's grief so much more important just because of who her granddad was?

I also think that all channels devoted to Prince Phillip is wrong, one channel dedicated to him would be quite sufficient. We talk about mental health enough, yet are dictated to by the bbc that we must watch a certain broadcast when choice is restricted already, and are paying for the privilege. The one thing I can see is that more people will be anti royalist after this, freedom of choice should be priority and small things like removing the everyday normalities of tv and visiting gardens will be a step too far for some. We aren't in the 1950s any more.

As others have said, a common theme of the reporting on any royal event is that the media / politicians / royal commentators etc all presume to speak on behalf of the entire country when they gush forth their sycophantic nonsense. They don't. It needs to stop. As do the attempts to shame those of us who don't fall in line with the toadying.

@BigPaperBag

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

I'm sure the Queen wasn't the only person who lost a spouse yesterday, why is she more important than anyone else? Are we supposed to sit and think about her loss for the next 8 days I didn't put the tv on because Nicholas Witchell makes me want to hurl myself off the roof, but I can imagine it's a lot of reporters talking the same old shit and desperately trying to fill dead air.

I think some people misunderstand the BBC’s response. They are looking at this as just a news item that’s being covered excessively, but the BBC is effectively required to go into mourning when certain Royals die.

It probably feels really unfamiliar as formal mourning doesn’t really happen these days. People generally don’t do the whole wearing black for a certain period of time, or wearing a black armband. That is what the BBC are doing though, and that is why everything they put out is currently affected.

I can see how it feels odd, but if you turned up at someone’s house and discovered that everyone there was dressed in black looking serious it would be a bit odd to say “can’t you just stick a bit of Wham on the CD player for me in the other room?”. That’s sort of the equivalent of saying that the BBC should be putting a bit of Eastenders on for the people who don’t really give a shit about Prince Philip.

It will happen, but this initial response has to run its course first.

@ohforarainyday

Yes an old woman has lost her life partner. What the fuck does that have to do with me?

Exactly.

I know an elderly lady living on a state pension in a council house, who lost her husband who was her constant companion who did everything for her. She wasn't allowed to go to his funeral and his death means she's now shielding alone without any support.

Her story is hardly unusual.

There's no public outrage over that, but we're supposed to prostrate ourselves as a show of support for a powerful billionaire who'd lived almost completely separate lives from her husband for years, husband had a new partner, and who didn't even visit him in the hospital?

Why is Elizabeth's grief so much more important just because of who her granddad was?

Agree. Can you imagine the grief this old woman and lots others who've lost their husbands must be going through having nothing to watch but a constant reminder of their husbands' death?

People don't think about that because Lizzie's grief is so much more important than others', so we all should be grieving for her too.

It’s ridiculous. Prince Philip dying is of course very sad for those know loved him but he is a 99 year old man in poor health so it wasn’t a surprise and the weird repetitive coverage will just cause people to turn off and not watch, nobody wants to watch the same thing over and over for hours. A really good news report of what has happened on the usual news programmes and a news special about his life last night and maybe repeated today would have been sufficient and respectful.

Poor wee old lady. I shall prostrate myself with grief for her.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/07/revealed-queen-lobbied-for-change-in-law-to-hide-her-private-wealth

I have to agree with @Bluegrass. The fact that the BBC showed the same coverage on 2 channels isn't because they thought some people might miss it in BBC1. Flags are at half mast and the Queen is in mourning. Showing the MasterChef final would be disrespectful and inappropriate so it's either the life of Prince Phillip on loop or they stop broadcasting altogether and we have a blank screen. They really aren't doing it for ratings. It will be an agreed protocol in the sane way as the Government are recalling parliament and halting press briefings.

It annoyed me too. Media jumped on it because they're sick of reporting on George Floyd trial and Covid. DH put the blummin documentary on last night so I went upstairs and watched The Royle Family boxset. I'm quite pleased the funeral is reportedly being held on a Saturday as I will be at work.

Of course it's sad that PP has died but let's be honest, like Captain Tom, he was just an old man who lived a long and relatively healthy life. Although this media coverage gives you a tiny taste of what it will be like when Lizzie/Charlie pop their clogs

I think everyone knows it’s protocol but perhaps it’s time for that protocol to be modernised.

Showing the MasterChef final would be disrespectful and inappropriate

How??? Unless there was some kind of reference to PP , which I doubt there was. There had been coverage all afternoon and it could have been switched to BB2, leaving BBC1 to cater for those who wanted to continue to watch the tributes and whatever else.

I remember when the BBC and ITV, both one channel shut down for the entire evening just because some random President of America managed to get himself shot dead.
And I missed the Lucile Ball show.
And he was nothing to do with us.
Try explaining the relevance of that to a 7 year old !

@Thesearmsofmine - I think it is absolutely fair to question that. I’m sure the protocols weren’t easy to settle on, and who knows how much debate went into deciding exactly what happens (and who had input into that, I assume that the Royals have sight of them at least).

I wouldn’t be surprised if they are re-examined after the dust has settled, but then the next death to trigger them is most likely to be the Queen herself. Can they realistically reduce some of the formal requirements for the death of the Queen when it happens? Probably not. What would would be appropriate if Charles were to die before her?

These are difficult questions and a lot of people will feel very strongly about them. I doubt the rules are easy to change!

@Keyring

I refer to the inability to put the death of PP in the context of the nation's history.

Is that you, Lizzie?

@ohforarainyday

*The real problem is , that we have no respect for anyone anymore. We care more about absolute garbage on television, than the sacrifices someone has made for this country their whole life.*

Respect has to be earned.

I respect Philip's war record, but not more than I respect the hundreds of thousands of British soldiers who served - in far worse conditions, and in many cases gave their lives, or became disabled and had to come back to a country that barely lifts a finger to support them - without recognition.

My own grandfather enlisted in the Merchant Navy at just 14 (during WWII) and was on two ships that were torpedoed and sunk, and spent time as a PoW, all before his 16th birthday. I have his war medals. He devoted his life to public service too, where's his TV special?

I don't consider marrying someone who happened to be born to a famous dad to be anything deserving of respect, and I don't consider being a royal as "service." Philip overcame true hardship in his younger years, and that deserves respect. But he lived most of his adult life with almost complete privilege - married a woman who adored him and turned a blind eye to his other girlfriends, gave him an entire separate castle with full household staff to live in so he could enjoy privacy and space and pursue his own interests.

None of that, to me, deserves this level of blanket propaganda.

Totally agree

[quote Bluegrass]@Thesearmsofmine - I think it is absolutely fair to question that. I’m sure the protocols weren’t easy to settle on, and who knows how much debate went into deciding exactly what happens (and who had input into that, I assume that the Royals have sight of them at least).

I wouldn’t be surprised if they are re-examined after the dust has settled, but then the next death to trigger them is most likely to be the Queen herself. Can they realistically reduce some of the formal requirements for the death of the Queen when it happens? Probably not. What would would be appropriate if Charles were to die before her?

These are difficult questions and a lot of people will feel very strongly about them. I doubt the rules are easy to change![/quote]
I think after the queen passes will be the time to change things, Charles wants to modernise things and this is something he could do, I can’t the passing of Camilla having the same coverage.

@trappedsincesundaymorn

Showing the MasterChef final would be disrespectful and inappropriate

How??? Unless there was some kind of reference to PP , which I doubt there was. There had been coverage all afternoon and it could have been switched to BB2, leaving BBC1 to cater for those who wanted to continue to watch the tributes and whatever else.

Yes, I would like an answer to that question too.

How exactly has people watching TV in their own homes become a mark of disrespect?

@trappedsincesundaymorn

Showing the MasterChef final would be disrespectful and inappropriate

How??? Unless there was some kind of reference to PP , which I doubt there was. There had been coverage all afternoon and it could have been switched to BB2, leaving BBC1 to cater for those who wanted to continue to watch the tributes and whatever else.

See my earlier comment.

If you think of the BBC as a person, they are currently dressed in black, head bowed looking very sombre and they have to adopt this attitude for a set period of time. Everything they do has to be appropriate for that attitude, and unfortunately for Masterchef fans that includes popping a cookery show on one of their channels. It would be like attending a funeral whilst watching the live footie on your phone, it would look bad and plenty of people are ready to judge them for it (even if there are others in the congregation who might also prefer to watch the football!).

@Thesearmsofmine

I think everyone knows it’s protocol but perhaps it’s time for that protocol to be modernised.

A protocol that was probably written well before there were 4 channels, let alone specialist news channels 24/7.

husband had a new partner,

Who was that? I know he was living in a cottage on the Sandringham estate for much of the time, while the Queen was elsewhere.

End of the day he was a pampered privileged person paid for by tax payers. He hasn't helped this country in any way? We still have racism, poverty, homelessness etc.

The RF don't do anything to improve the country they preside over. Its just a figurehead role and I personally couldn't care less about the entire lot of them