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The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is the national broadcaster of the United Kingdom, based at Broadcasting House in London, England. It is the world's oldest national broadcaster, and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees, employing over 21,000 staff in total, of whom approximately 17,900 are in public-sector broadcasting.

The BBC is established under a royal charter and operates under its agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee which is charged to all British households, companies, and organisations using any type of equipment to receive or record live television broadcasts or watch using iPlayer. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and is used to fund the BBC's radio, TV, and online services covering the nations and regions of the UK. Since 1 April 2014, it has also funded the BBC World Service (launched in 1932 as the BBC Empire Service), which broadcasts in 28 languages and provides comprehensive TV, radio, and online services in Arabic and Persian.

Around a quarter of the BBC's revenue comes from its commercial subsidiary BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), which sells BBC programmes and services internationally and also distributes the BBC's international 24-hour English-language news services BBC World News, and from BBC.com, provided by BBC Global News Ltd. In 2009, the company was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise in recognition of its international achievements. (Full article...)

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"Goodbyeee", or "Plan F: Goodbyeee", is the sixth and final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, the fourth and final series of British historical sitcom Blackadder. The episode was first broadcast on BBC1 in the United Kingdom on 2 November 1989, shortly before Armistice Day. Apart from the one-off short film Blackadder: Back & Forth made a decade later, it was the last episode of Blackadder to be produced and transmitted.

The episode depicts its main characters' final hours before a major British offensive on the Western Front of the First World War, and Captain Blackadder's attempts to escape his fate by feigning madness; after he fails to convince General Melchett, and Field Marshal Haig's advice proves useless, he resigns himself to taking part in the offensive. "Goodbyeee" has a darker tone than other episodes in the series, culminating in its acclaimed ending in which the main characters are assumed to have died. The episode's theme of death ties in with the series' use of gallows humour, its criticism and satire of war, and its depiction of authority figures contentedly sending their subordinates to face the enemy, while unwilling to do so themselves. (Full article...)

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Huw Edwards
Huw Edwards

BBC journalist, presenter and newsreader Huw Edwards during an outside broadcast for BBC News. He joined the BBC in 1984, and since 2003 he has been the main presenter of the BBC Ten O'Clock News.

Selected list article

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. As of 23 October 2022, 871 episodes of Doctor Who have aired, concluding the thirteenth series. This includes one television movie and multiple specials, and encompasses 300 stories over 39 seasons, starting in 1963. Additionally, four charity specials and two animated serials have also been aired. The programme's high episode count has resulted in Doctor Who holding the world record for the highest number of episodes of a science-fiction programme. (Full article...)

Selected biography

Thomas Nigel Kneale (28 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Screenplay.

Predominantly a writer of thrillers that used science-fiction and horror elements, he was best known for the creation of the character Professor Bernard Quatermass. Quatermass was an heroic scientist who appeared in various television, film and radio productions written by Kneale for the BBC, Hammer Film Productions and Thames Television between 1953 and 1996. Kneale wrote original scripts and successfully adapted works by writers such as George Orwell, John Osborne, H. G. Wells and Susan Hill. (Full article...)

Selected building

The transmission mast at Alexandra Palace
The transmission mast at Alexandra Palace

The transmission mast above the BBC wing of Alexandra Palace in North London. Alexandra Palace was home to the BBC Television Service (now BBC One) from 1936 until the early 1950s, and was the site of the world's first public broadcasts of analogue high-definition television in 1936.

Did you know

Highlights from Wikipedia's Did you know

  • ... that the episodes of the BBC 7 sitcom Knocker have titles such as "Privinvasionacy", "Obselejectivitysence" and "Confidentialitydence"?

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