Points of View
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Points of View is also the title of an essay by W. Somerset Maugham, a philosophical book by A.W. Moore and a philosophical book by Louis Mackey.
Points of View is a long-running television show shown in the United Kingdom on BBC One, featuring the letters of viewers offering praise, criticism and purportedly witty observations on the television of recent weeks.
Originally designed as an occasional five-minute show to plug the gap between shows, the show began in 1961 with Robert Robinson presenting viewers' letters. Kenneth Robinson took over in 1965, though Robert Robinson took over once again in 1969, before the show was dropped in 1971.
The show returned in 1979 with the dry humour of Barry Took at the helm, and with The Beatles' When I'm Sixty-Four as its theme tune (courtesy of the line "Send me a postcard, drop me a line, stating point of view"), and has continued to this day. Took was eventually replaced by a succession of short-lived presenters including Tony Robinson, Alan Titchmarsh and Chris Serle, until Anne Robinson restored stability to the role of presenter. Since 1999 the show has been presented by Terry Wogan, though has moved to a slot on Sunday afternoons.
This perennially popular show typifies the British method of complaint; as Victoria Wood put it, when the Russians feel strongly about an issue they form a bloody revolution — the British write a strongly-worded letter to Points of View. Although much less common now, the show has over the decades featured many a letter beginning "Why, oh why, oh why..." and signed "Upset of Uxbridge" or "Tired of Tunbridge Wells", or something similar (nowadays, most, if not all, simply use their real names), with the complaints receiving little but a pre-packaged witty comment from the presenter. Along the way the show has always discreetly catered for those who reminisce about the so-called "golden days" of the BBC, featuring letters asking "Please, please, please could you show the clip where Vera Lynn sang to the troops on the 50th anniversary of D-Day last week", and the like.
The series has often been criticised for featuring too much praise of the BBC and its programmes, and playing down criticism. This tendency has been sent up by many comedians over the years, including memorable skits in Monty Python's Flying Circus and Not the Nine O'Clock News.
Between 1963 and 1970 Robert Robinson (later replaced by Sarah Ward, and Gaynor Morgan Rees) presented a version designed for children's letters entitled Junior Points of View. There was also a spoof version for children with Otis the Aardvark, entitled "Pointy Views".
