It's hard to imagine Love Island celebrating 50 years on air. Today's television is obsessed with short-term, celebrity froth. But at least we can celebrate some good news. The BBC is to restore its 53 year old flagship current affairs programme to peak time on its most popular channel, BBC One.
Panorama has made the news during its distinguished life, most famously with Princess Diana's interview in 1995. But Greg Dyke's decision to move the programme to Sunday night was an act of vandalism: it's hard to imagine a less fertile time for hard-hitting current affairs. The surprise is that the BBC took so long to rescue Panorama from the grave. It might just have a chance, despite competing with Coronation Street. Channel 4 has protested that the BBC has set its old flagship against 4's current affairs strand, Despatches. But Panorama is simply returning home. In the days of VCRs, Sky + and DVD recorders, scheduling clashes no longer matter as much as they did in Panorama's heyday.
Richard Dimbleby will be smiling in his studio in the sky.
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