Who actually has time to complain to the BBC about its royal coverage?

A lot of people complained about the BBC’s extensive coverage of Prince Philip’s death. What an entitled, spiteful thing to do, writes Rupert Hawksley

A missed programme is not too much to ask for (AFP)

I don’t honestly know how long it takes to file a complaint to the BBC – but there are obviously many people out there who can tell me. Is it five minutes? 10? Do you have to fill out a form? Do you have nothing better to do?

I only ask because the BBC received a very large number of complaints – we have not been told how many – on Friday and Saturday about the extent of its coverage of the Duke of Edinburgh’s death. There were so many complaints, in fact, that the BBC set up a dedicated page on its website to process them all.

Now, I can’t be sure, but I strongly suspect the complainants fell broadly into two categories. Those who don’t much like the royal family and can’t understand why the death of one of its leading figures is newsworthy; and those who were irritated that Gardeners’ World was not on. There may even have been some overlap. 

I’m afraid I have very little sympathy with either stance. You may not approve of the royal family but they are, to put it mildly, something of an institution in this country. The idea that the BBC should have done a neat little news bulletin and cut straight back to EastEnders is, frankly, absurd. Like it or not, the death of Prince Philip is a major news story and deserves to be treated as such by the BBC. News is not just the stuff you are interested in, frustrating as that might sometimes be. 

As for the second lot of complainants – those who were sad to miss MasterChef – might I gently suggest a bit of perspective? Perhaps a deep breath. Gregg Wallace, unlike Prince Philip, is not going anywhere.

I, too, know how galling it can be to look forward to something, only to be let down at the last moment. One of my favourite things as a child was staying up to watch Match of the Day, having not checked the football scores. On one occasion, though, my father accidentally told me the results beforehand. It was upsetting. I may even have cried. But I was only six – and I certainly didn’t send him an official complaint. Do you really need to fire off an angry email because the TV schedules didn’t quite go your way one evening?

I am not suggesting for a moment that you can’t be peeved at the wall-to-wall Prince Philip coverage. Of course you can be. We all have different interests. That’s fine. It would be extraordinary if the BBC pleased all of the people, all of the time. The bit I am interested in, though, is the complaining. So much effort and... for what? You could just as easily switch off the telly, pick up a book, cook some food, and enjoy your evening that way.

It strikes me as a strangely entitled, spiteful thing to do – complaining to the BBC because it had the temerity to pay proper tribute to a man who died that day.

Yours,

Rupert Hawksley

Senior commissioning editor, Voices