In praise of … BBC Parliament

好像是为了告诉我Bank Holiday不是只有我一个人看 BBC Parliament 的 1997 Election Coverage ，今天的《卫报》上刊登了以下社论称赞这个频道：

In Praise of … BBC Parliament

Tucked away in one of the more obscure corners of digital television and prone to showing such ratings-killers as Pay Modernisation in the NHS Committee and Recorded Coverage of the Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Ten Minute Rule Bill, BBC Parliament will never be able to match the audience share of more glamorous channels. But it has risen to the challenge of an extraordinary political month with a series of programmes showing that there is still life in democracy. Over the last few days the channel has ventured abroad, broadcasting the full French presidential debate with an English translation, and then live coverage of Sunday’s election result from the French channel TF1. This morning it heads to Belfast to record the opening of the Northern Ireland assembly. Yesterday it filled a damp bank holiday Monday with a repeat of the BBC’s 1997 election night coverage. A fresh-faced Tony Blair promised from Sedgefield that he would create “a nation reborn and renewed” as Tory seats fell across the land. It was a nostalgic introduction to the week in which Mr Blair will set the date of his departure and a reminder of why he won. Even the politically obsessed may lack the stamina to watch all of this – although a hard core have delighted in the rebroadcasting of every British general election since 1955. By showing democracy in the raw, free of charge, BBC Parliament has done something to explain why politics matters. It has also proved that it still consists of rather more than soundbites.