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All-time favourites

Menka Shivdasani

BBC, which scored with its extensive coverage of September 11 and its aftermath, brings back on air some old favourites.

This has been an eventful year for BBC World. Ten years ago, when it began as BBC World Service Television, the world was a very different place. Now, as Jane Gorard, Director, Marketing, points out, Not only has competition increased but the way people get their news has also undergone a radical change. The Internet, WAP phones you no longer need to tune in to television to find out what is happening in the world.

Still, BBC World has managed to hold its own. As events unfolded post-September 11, the channel provided 24-hour rolling news coverage and, with requests from broadcasters around the world to relay BBC World, an additional 300 million viewers had access to it on top of the ordinary distribution of 178 million households globally. In the US, says Gorard, BBC America cut to BBC World, and the channel was made available to over 134 public television stations across America on a continuous basis.

Now that the situation has settled down and viewership of news channels normalised, the channel has come down at a higher level, Ms. Gorard says. We are now at 180 million, she explains. Thats two million more than we were earlier. We were affected by Se ptember 11, as everyone else has been, but we believe we have come out stronger.

It wasnt easy; among other things, BBC World had just rolled out a global marketing campaign for what they call the travel corridor, accompanying travellers from the start of their journeys to their hotels, using vehicles that included in-flight magazine s and literature in the rooms. The campaign, which had broken just a few days earlier in September, was scheduled to run till mid-November, but as Gorard explains, it suddenly seemed hugely inappropriate; the messages referred to such things as a tornado ripping through a field, and an air force stronger than any military power!

As BBC tried to frantically pull out the campaign behind the scenes, on-screen, there were changes as well. The popular India band, for instance, had to take a backseat, and programmes such as Siddharth Basus prestigious Mastermind India went off the air .

Now, as the world limps back to apparent normalcy, BBC has plans to resume its regular telecasts. Starting January 1, 2002, the 10 p.m. India-specific band will be back, says Narendhra Morar, Commissioning Editor, Regions, unless, of course, as he wryly adds, that turns out to be the day the US finally captures Osama bin Laden!

When it returns, the India band will have a mix of new shows and old favourites. One of the new programmes, starting January 1, is a 13-part reality series called Commando! The documentary covers the six-week training course at the Commando Training Scho ol at Belgaum in Karnataka, considered to be one of the toughest programmes an army officer can undergo. The participant are not exactly raw recruits, in fact, one of them, Captain Sanjay Singh Routela, fought at Kargil and was part of the battalion that captured the first peak. The gruelling course, however, is an unforgettable experience; as one trainer tells the participants, You will not go to a doctor till youre dead!

BBCs other new shows for India include Islam UK, starting January 7, which explores the diverse aspects of the Muslim experience in Britain today; East, which recounts the escape of three sisters from a forced marriage in Pakistan; and Bindi Millionaires , a three-part series which profiles British Asians who figure in the Sunday Times Rich List.

Familiar programmes such as Karan Thapars Face to Face and Prannoy Roys Question Time India will also be back. Mastermind India, of course, will be on again, with its fourth series, starting January 3. Initial episodes, which had been shown earlier, will be re-telecast in the interest of continuity, culminating in the finals scheduled for telecast on May 23, 2002.

It should be a final worth waiting for; the episode was shot on December 9 at the splendid Durbar Hall of the Fatehprakash Palace in Udaipur, home of the 76 custodians of the Mewar Dynasty, and currently inhabited by Maharana Arvind Singh. You will also catch a glimpse of a magnificent crystal collection displayed just above the Durbar Hall, commissioned by Lord Minto in 1909; the collection includes everything from a hookah to a four-poster bed in crystal!

This year, the contest was between Archana Garodia Gupta, a businesswoman from Delhi, Prasanna Ananthasubramanian, a 26-year-old investment banker from Mumbai, Anand Vivek Taneja, a 21-year-old student from Delhi, and Rajeev Gowda, a 37-year-old associat e professor from Bangalore.

The topics were varied, from The Films of Mani Ratnam to the more esoteric The Quest for the Golden Fleece.

Who won the title, did you ask? Tune in on Thursdays at 10 p.m. to find out; the run-up to the finals should be as interesting as the grand finale!!

The author can be reached at menkashivdasani@ftnetwork.com

Picture: Beginning January 1, BBC will air a 13-part reality series called Commando.