We all know what an absolutely ridiculous week it has been, at least nationally. I fear public trust in and support for the BBC has taken a real blow. To be honest I still don’t know what to make of it all: the beeb is the broadcaster I have most respect for; I see how it is funded, via the license fee, as akin to the NHS inasmuch as it guarantees us all access to a world class broadcaster free of adverts, irrespective of our ability to pay. Yet this week it has been shot to pieces on all sides, it’s independence from Tory control brought into real question. There is no doubt that the way it so obviously bowed to Tory pressure to get rid of Lineker, at least temporarily, has severely damaged it’s standing.

However, I’m very glad to see some facets of the beeb remain above all that crap. Tonight will see the airing of Sir David Attenborough’s new series, Wild Isles, about the nature of the British Isles. You can check out a few clips from it here. Needless to say, it looks spectacular, but that is what we have come to expect from the world’s greatest ever broadcaster. I find Attenborough utterly remarkable: when you remember that he joined the BBC in 1952, before either of my parents were born, and has fronted program after program, series after series, educating us about the natural world and bringing it’s beauty into our homes, one’s jaw can only drop in awe.

As dire as things are getting for the BBC, as large and ridiculous as this current shitshow is growing, I must say it still has my full respect, if simply because it still has the ability to produce such wonderful materiel. Hopefully when we watch Wild Isles this evening, we’ll all be reminded why the Beeb, as a national institution, is so precious, and why it needs defending against Tory attempts to compromise it.