Philip Glenister Speaks His Mind

Over the years I noticed the growing number of actors and TV presenters having a dig at the state of British TV today. Now Philip Glenister (Life On Mars)speaks out on the present state of TV in this week's Radio Times. It's about time comments like these have been brought centre stage.

British TV execs have been taking the p*ss for years now with their constant barrage of cheap reality programming and their obsession for making Joe Public famous for five minutes and get me started about the ridiculous amount of soap episodes that clog up prime time.

There is always talk about the decline in TV and a fall in audiences. This has nothing do with multi-channel TV as far as I am concerned as, let's face it, the majority of these digital channels pump out pure crud 24 hours day. How many times do you want to see Porridge on UKTV Gold or The Simpsons on Sky One? Personally I would love to see a move away from this surge of new TV channels, surely it would make much more sense to build and nurture a decent channel first before rearing a new one.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6498495.stm

Is this because Life on Mars got the axed after two series?

I would hardly say it was axed! The series reached its creative end.

Oh i dont know i never watched it, i thought this just might be him being annoyed that his show reached the end, while reality shows live on.

It didn't get axed at all. The first series was a massive hit but the writers decided to end it because they didn't want to drag it out and so viewers wouldn't have to watch for years until they found out what exactly happened to Sam.

And whilst the show may be ending, a spin-off for his (Philip's) character is being developed for the BBC. He's just speaking his mind about the state of British television - and I happen to agree with him on a lot of the points he makes.

Of course you agree with him, i wouldnt expect anything less.

Nice one Philip!

Perhaps a bit more Test Card Girl would help get rid of the rubbish?

I wonder if Phillip's agent is quite as enthralled at his comments?

It's not that I don't agree with much of what he said, but it could be considered commercial suicide to bite the hand that feeds.

Well, Paxman's done it, Wogan's done it, why not Glenister?

but its true!"

Truth has nothing to do with it.

It's called showbusiness because it's a business.

Then those in charge ought to start listening to Philip and heaven forbid, maybe their ratings will rise.