Until a few weeks ago, the most I’d ever watched BBC Three
was when it streamed Olympic sports over the summer. It was a channel that,
with a few notable exceptions, I generally only resorted to if there was
nothing else on and I couldn’t be bothered to pick up a book. But over the last
month or so, something strange has happened. BBC Three has had a sudden surge
of appointment television, of programmes that I would choose to watch, not just
let wash over me because I can’t roll out of the dent I’ve made in the sofa
(it’s been a long summer).
BBC Three’s remit states that it should provide
“high-quality” programming that is “innovative” and utilises “new UK talent”.
Maybe I have a selective memory or I’m being overly critical, but those
certainly aren’t the words that would spring to mind if anyone asked me to
describe the channel. Maybe I’ve just missed much of the good programming the
channel has had in the past, or perhaps the fact that it is funded by the
licence fee means that we will always expect more of BBC Three. Its rival E4,
competing for the same age group, often seems to grab the big name US imports,
which attract more attention than any misfires the channel might produce.
But recently on BBC Three there has been a glut of new,
decent comedy, the likes of which the channel usually only likes to provide in
sporadic episodes, often years apart, before coming to its senses and returning
to its usual output of repeats and Greatest
Movie Mistakes; see Little Britain,
Gavin and Stacey, and Him and Her for
examples, all of which, even if not to your personal taste, have garnered
larger audiences and more critical praise than the usual BBC Three fare. The
channel seems to be undergoing another comedy renaissance at the moment,
producing a string of quality programmes that seem a cut above the normal
channel output.
Jack Whitehall’s Bad
Education was a strong sitcom debut that I found myself looking forward to
every week, mainly due to the phenomenally talented young cast that populated
the classroom. The show managed to produce a whole host of gifted young actors,
certainly filling the “new UK talent” requirement.
Cuckoo, the
channel’s latest comedy, is far from perfect, but driven by the ridiculously
brilliant Andy Samberg, it has become compulsively watchable. The inclusion of
Samberg seems to hint at the channel’s intent – an American comedy legend from The Lonely Island and Saturday Night Live, he is traditionally
more likely to be found in a spoof music video with Justin Timberlake than
fronting a BBC Three comedy.
The channel also aired what was perhaps my favourite new
show of the summer, The Revolution Will Be Televised (although truthfully I
can’t really remember what I was watching two and a half months ago at the
beginning of the holiday). When I saw the trailer, it looked like a lazy prank
show, featuring comedians handing out Jubilee merchandise to the public and
chortling about how it’s cheap tat; obvious, and not particularly funny. But it
turned out to be a brave, intelligent and most importantly hilarious show. Rather
than being a mere exercise in cynicism, Revolution explained the cold hard
facts behind some of the biggest scandals and injustices that are going on, and
then combined this with hysterical public stunts – one of its stars was the guy
who tried to give George Osborne a GCSE maths textbook. Unfortunately for
everyone, Mr Osborne refused it.
Revolution was a genuinely excellent programme, the sort
that feels so vital that you are relieved someone is making it. With output
like this, BBC Three seems to be finally demonstrating its worth. Is this the
start of rejuvenation in the channel? Or is it just another brief episode of
brilliance before the channel suddenly remembers that John Humphrys hates it,
is crippled by self-doubt and returns to being a bit naff? Who knows. But I will
certainly now be more inclined to make time for new shows on the channel, even
if they do rub up alongside Pop’s Greatest
Dance Crazes.
