BBC feels the pressure from Boris Johnson, Netflix

Boris Johnson suggested the BBC licence fee of around $300 a year per household be scrapped. Netflix costs around $240 a year, which begs the question: is the BBC worth it?

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I’m back after a couple of weeks off over Christmas, and in the UK that means you spend a lot of time watching the telly.

It’s cold and it’s dark by 4pm.

And what a fortnight of event programs it has been. We’ve had a brilliant, gory and quite frightening take on Dracula and Australian actor Guy Pearce playing a brilliant Scrooge in a remake of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

Guy Pearce in A Christmas Carol.

There was also another mini series on the Profumo affair called The Trial of Christine Keeler.

That was about the young woman’s affair with British politician John Profumo and a Russian spy around the same time.

Dr Who was also back on New Year’s Day with Jodie Whittaker taking the Tardis for a spin, and for fans like me – the Master is back.

Each of these well produced, superb series were run on the BBC – the national broadcaster.

The bizarre thing here is that I personally paid almost $300 for the privilege of a TV licence to watch these shows.

And if I don’t pay, I could be thrown in jail. Not just theoretically, it actually happens.

Bradley Walsh, Jodie Whittaker, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill return in season 12 of Doctor Who. Supplied: ABC-TV

Now while I loved all those shows mentioned, and watched them repeatedly, the audience for Love Island which returns to ITV this week will dwarf all of them.

Triumphant Prime Minister Boris Johnson threw a cat among the pigeons during the election campaign, suggesting the TV licence fee that funds the BBC may become voluntary.

And I’ll give you the hot tip: most people would keep that cash in their pocket rather than fork out for the ‘Beeb’, as it is called.

Some in the Labour Party will say Johnson’s threat is to punish the BBC for what the Conservatives saw as biased election coverage.

BBC chief inquisitor Andrew Neil did a piece to camera with all the questions he would have asked the PM had he not refused to go on his show.

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has suggested the TV licence fee that funds the BBC may become voluntary.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn did go on and made a right fool of himself, failing to remember when the Queen’s speech happened on Christmas Day. It’s 3pm Jeremy.

With Netflix coming in at around $240 a year over here, there’s a question over what value viewers get from the BBC.

I think Boris is blowing hot air up the BBC with his threat just to keep them in check.

Ricky Gervais joked at the Golden Globes that everyone except Netflix should go home because they would pick up all the gongs.

However, they only won two awards.

The BBC is not dead yet, but they would be wise not to poke the blonde bear.

Originally published as BBC feels the pressure from Boris Johnson, Netflix