Oh great another thread based on an 'Daily hate' article:yawn::yawn:.

MOnkeys would get paid with bananas which is hell a lot cheaper

With the greatest of respect, you are the poster who brought the Daily Mail into this thread and are claiming that their figures are accurate. Nobody had mentioned them until then.

I'm not telling you what to read or what to make of it. I'm simply asking how you know, given their consistent bias against the BBC, that their figures are accurate. If you don't want to be challenged on that, don't bring it up.

Pah! They'll be providing computers and soft toilet paper next.

I know with the BBC Breakfast presenters they have chauffeurs to pick them up. Due to the hours they work. As they are being picked up at home at 3:30am/4am. I know when Bill Turnball was doing Strictly, we saw him being picked up at home at an unearthly time o the morning

I worked in the BBC and it is NOT a conspiracy by the Mail, it is the truth. I remember the OTT waste of money by one BBC producer which he went too in redecorating and furnishing the offices which he used.

They should pay for their chauffuring out of their own pockets the same as people have to fork out for their oysters cards. It's just like the MP's perks, they'll try and get away with it, until someone exposes the scandalous waste of public money by these BBC employees.

Im sorry but a lot of people work early hours and they have to get their ass to work and pay for it themselves, i have read about this before and its not just the Daily Mail, the dancers should get themselves to work fgs what do they want next a flipping butler? oh sorry thats the runners job

No, runners are not butlers, not even close to being so in fact (something that was explained in a behind-the-scenes section on ITT last week).

And as explained in an earlier post, it is a common thing in broadcasting (especially in London), so you either have to accept it as coming with the territory, or perhaps get a job in broadcasting yourself and sample it first-hand!

It is rather a charmed existance, and I would hope that they have the chauffeur driven cars as part of their remuneration, and not as a 'perk of the job' at the tax payers expense. On that point it's probably the latter that is more accurate.

It's as if these so-called 'stars' are so important the earth might stop turning if they fail to turn up at their job ...... or perhaps they can't be relied on to turn up if they don't get someone knocking on their door to get them to work.

I saw the behind the scenes on ITT and the runners certainly did seem like butlers. Anything that needed doing for the 'stars' was done by them, from ushering them out of their chauffeur driven car in the morning, to running to the cafeteria/restaurant to get their lunch.

Even the celebs said they could not manage without them ..... sure seemed like a bit of a butler come dogsbody to me.

How come everyone automatically seems to know everything about the workings of the world of entertainment and yet ignore the posts of those who have worked within it?

I'll repeat what others have said. It is completely standard within the industry. It's not just a BBC thing. I have had cars many times and none were from the BBC.

So lets just for anexample you decide that everyone will drive themselves to work.
Where exactly do you think they would all park.
Better to have a set of cars and drivers and go and collect everyone than have a massive car park somewhre and ferry people back and forth in a park and ride system for bbc emplyees instead of shoppers.

If i had to be in the studio to present breakfast news that starts at six, so I'm sure they ahve to be there an hour early I relly don't think I'd be wanting to drive myself there. Also not everyone can drive. It seems to be an asumption that all celebs can drive.

It's been pointed out several times that 1. this is cheaper than taxis, 2. to have performers being late (especially ones who would need to travel at odd hours) does cost a fortune, so it makes sense from that perspective as well; and 3. the ones using this are not actually BBC employees. But hey, let's all pile on.

That's not what a butler would do though. And the runners did much more than that (for example, chasing around to make sure X or Y was ready and was where they were supposed to be at the right time).


Seemed more like a PA/secretary/gopher/dogsbody than anything like a butler - they certainly did not wait on them hand & foot, neither did they dress them, hold doors open for them, turn washroom taps on & off (as they apparently do at the Savoy in London so my old boss once told me from his personal excperience). Although perhaps people here have had first-hand experience of what a butler does .... ?
Last edited by mossy2103 : 23-10-2009 at 18:39

I'm in agreement with you but, for the record, my only experience of a butler is Geoffrey from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Check out my late edit on that post (regarding the Savoy)

What a superb summary of life on a forum! Bravo.

That's crazy! Even if I was a multi-billionaire, I could never let anyone do that for me!

I kid you not - he was there for some presentation from a large software company, and was astounded when he went to the Gents to see someone turn the taps on for him, and off again after he had washed his hands.

The world of the BBC is un affected by financial worries.
It is funded by the License Fee Tax which is raised every year, unlike commercial TV companies who have a lot less revenue this year and have to cut costs.
No commercial TV company could afford a to pay a third rate presenter SIX MILLION POUNDS per year.

Thanks for that. I'd forgotten this thread was about Jonathan Ross. Thanks for the reminder.

I live in London and the quickest way to get from A to B is by the Tube and NOT by car and the BBC headquarters in Shepherds Bush is a nightmare to travel too by car. So the excuse of a chauffeur is rubbish and if it's early morning let them drive their own cars like the thousands of other people working in London.

Ignoring what other posters who work in the industry have already stated - ooops sorry you already have ...... how practical is the Tube for a well-known soap actor/newsreader/performer? How practical is the Tube when the person is carrying larger (even bulky) items?


Well, that's all of us told then - end of argument.

As an ex-bbc staff member I can confirm that it is good practice financially to spend a small amount of money ensuring that artists are given transport to live programmes/recordings as the costs involved in their arriving late or not arriving at all are astronomically high - not to mention the inconvenience and increased stress to armies of people waiting to work with them. I'd be surprised if they would routinely get transport to rehearsals or production meetings unless there were extenuating circumstances, it would just be for recordings etc.

How would you get to the BBC in Shepherd's Bush for 4am? My nearest Tube station is half an hour's drive away and it doesn't start until gone 5am.

What about those people who don't drive or don't own a car?

As so many other people have said, sending a car is an industry standard for TV, radio, press and the music industries. The BBC are not unique.