Mr Brooker certainly knows the score, doesn't he!
Looking ahead, I was willing to forgive any commercial broadcaster for such a level of obtrusive squashing and plugging - but this is the Beeb we are talking about and something within me says this is particularly wrong.
We stand to gain absolutely nothing from this; shoving promotions down our throats for programmes that we will never care to watch, just becomes clutter that that further rots junctions and ruins them - as well as the credits that fall victim.
There's the public to think about first, but the other aspect that worries me is how this inevitably will stifle much of the creativity that could otherwise be placed into credits, by the makers themselves - limiting their choices and forcing them to conform to guidelines just to get the credits ready for the cram. I should imagine some of them won't be particularly pleased
Then, there's the issue of the credit time limits depending on the show type - this will require re-editing all affected theme tunes to ensure they fit the duration and don't exceed it, and quite possibly similar trimming of the credit content to start removing people who contributed to a programme because their involvement is not considered worthy of mention...
...And of course, as has been said, while a continuity announcer interrupting the closing theme to a great episode of Doctor Who or the curtain call of Life on Mars can serve as a disappointment, these new guidelines are going to completely suck every last drop of enjoyment out of such instances.
So, here's to the new guidelines. And all this, made only possible due to the unique way the BBC is funded.
