At a speech in a Voice of the Listener and Viewer Conference in London yesterday, Yentob attacked critics obsessed with the corporation’s spending, acknowledging that while accountability was important, much of the “outrage” is both naïve and a case of politically motivated spite that was “calculated, lazy and opportunistic”. “When I went to New York, I immediately when I arrived went to give a talk to an organisation,” Yentob noted. “I was filming in the afternoon and then I returned within about 24 hours back to London, back to work straight away. Do you think I should have travelled economy? I wouldn’t have been capable of doing the job. I try to limit the number of times that I go. I am not capable of doing all those things at once. That’s all I can say.”

Yentob went on to criticise the sheer number of organisations putting the BBC under the microscope. “Make no mistake about it, the regulatory regimes and the financial scrutiny under which the BBC operates – whether through a government department like the DCMS, through the BBC Trust or Ofcom or the National Audit Office or the Parliamentary Accounts Committee… all of those will affect the BBC’s ability, ultimately, to act effectively, creatively and independently in the best interests of license payers… There’s a point to which we should be held to account, but there’s also a point after a while when people are trying to interfere in which programs you do and how you do them, and it gets a bit trying,” he said.

The series, which starred Patterson Joseph (“Jekyll”), Phillip Rhys (“24”) and Julie Graham (“At Home with the Braithwaites”, was itself a remake of the 1970s “Survivors” series, about a virus that wipes out most of humanity, with the drama then focusing on a group of survivors who must somehow try to find to keep on living in a very different world. The 1970s series was created by writer Terry Nation, best known as the man who invented the infamous Daleks for “Doctor Who”. The original series ran for four seasons, but the remake will now not be equaling that run. A spokeswoman for the corporation said that “The BBC is committed to making a broad range of varied and ambitious drama, but in order to achieve this we do have to move on from some pieces in order to allow new work to come through.

After two series, “Survivors” will now not be returning.” Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning Ben Stephenson warned earlier this year that some ongoing series will be removed from the schedules in order to create room for fresh projects, and it would seem that “Survivors” is now one of the first casualties of that decision.

“The whole place has changed quite dramatically,” he says. “The people running it are always trying to second guess what the newspapers will say.” The Andrew Sachs scandal, which forced a public apology out of him and Russell Brand and led to the sacking of both Brand and BBC Radio 2 Controller Lesley Douglas, with Ross himself subsequently suspended without pay for three months, is also mentioned in the new interview, with Ross now revealing what he really thought of the whole mess. “Just silly”, is how he sums it up. “It was literally within about four days of the whole thing kicking off that I just thought, “You know what, there’s no way I can control this”. It was weird watching people get themselves into a lather over something so intrinsically unimportant.”

Ross’ contract with the BBC ends in July, though he claims to have had “firm offers” from other broadcasters and will continue hosting various BBC specials, including the annual Comic Relief telethon and the BAFTA film awards.

“I can’t believe they’re trying to shut it down,” British born Asian singer Jay Sean wrote on his Twitter account. “This is crazy. We (Asians) have no mainstream platforms as it is.” Sunny Hundal, the editor of magazine Asians in Media, is another expressing disgust at the decision, made as part of a “strategic review” of all the BBC’s services, which also includes closing many of its websites and axing teen radio service 6 Music (a decision that has likewise sparked condemnation). “Axing Asian Network would kill off vital media space for a lot of British Asian content and culture (documentaries, fusion music) which does not get represented on commercial alternatives,” he wrote on his blog. “It is within the BBC’s remit to represent and give a platform to minority interests that need a mainstream platform to develop and grow.”

Scottish music producing team Tigerstyle (brothers Pops & Raj) have also commented on the seemingly unwarranted decision. “I’m devastated,” Pops remarked. “The Asian Network is a prime source for people to hear our music. They are the only station that champions our music. All the commercial stations in the UK do not play music from British Asian-born talent. British born artists like us are going to find it very difficult to survive. We’ve been discussing whether it is even going to be possible for us to continue as musicians.”

Broadcasting union Bectu and the NUJ (National Union of Journalists) have accused the BBC of capitulating to politicians and corporations after the claims leaked that the BBC Asian Network and 6 Music were to be axed, believed to be a preemptive attempt to appease the Conservative government many are expecting to seize power in Britain after the upcoming May election. The BBC is being “bounced by its competitors and by the political climate ahead of the upcoming general election”, according to Bectu’s General Secretary Gerry Morrissey, with the NUJ’s General Secretary Jeremy Dear saying such plans would be fought by the unions “with all its might… If true, these cuts will result not just in the loss of hundreds of jobs, but the loss of valuable, quality output aimed at young people and the Asian communities… We will do everything that’s required, including taking industrial action, if necessary, to defend jobs at the BBC.”

The Guardian’s Phil Jupitus is one of many outraged by the scheme, noting that “Cutting 6 Music is an act of cultural vandalism, and an affront to the memory of John Peel”, while the editor of the magazine Asians in Media, Sunny Hundal, told BBC 5 Live that “There are a lot of people in Britain who produce hybrid British-Asian music and culture and they want to see some of that culture on display.” The BBC has yet to confirm the cuts, which follow a number of attacks on the corporation by the Murdoch media empire.

The editorial in the Daily Telegraph could practically not contain its glee at the news, saying “Ross was hired because he was seen as edgy and possessed an appeal to young people, who do not necessarily pay the licence fee. Too many of those who did pay it never warmed to him and were appalled by his vulgar humour. For them he came to personify a corruption of taste across the BBC’s output – a collective madness we trust will follow him out of the door”. The Evening Standard’s David Sexton was disappointed by Ross’ decision, however, noting that “The prudes pulled him down in the end”, while the New Statesman’s George Eaton pointedly asked “Can we expect the rebels to pay up? (Daily Telegraph columnist Charles) Moore insisted that he would refuse to pay the licence fee until the BBC terminated Ross’ contract.

The presenters’ voluntary departure may not be enough to satisfy the High Tory”. The Guardian editorial says that while “A huge talent, Mr. Ross will do better out of the publicly funded spotlight for a while”, Ben Preston of the Radio Times says in The Independent that Ross will be missed, being “an inspired radio presenter long regarded at the BBC as the natural heir to Terry Wogan – if only he’d ever been willing to get out of bed on weekdays.”

The forty nine year old, who was suspended from the corporation in 2008 following a controversial series of spoof phone calls to actor Andrew Sachs on Russell Brand’s Radio 2 show, told journalists that “It’s probably not a bad time for me to move on – and it’s probably not a bad time for the BBC, either. I’ve got six months. I’m hoping to make the best shows of my career with them.” The fact that Ross’ announcement comes only a day after the BBC signed a two year deal with Graham Norton has led to speculation that the latter will  replacing Ross on his Friday evening talk show, but BBC creative director Alan Yentob says it is still “too premature” to decide that. “You don’t need to compare Graham with Jonathan Ross,” he says. “No decisions have been taken with that slot.”

Ross insists that “Although I have had a wonderful time working for the BBC, and am very proud of the shows I have made while there, over the last two weeks I have decided not to renegotiate when my current contract comes to an end… My decision was not financially motivated… It’s time to move on.”

Part One of the story will be shown on Christmas Day from 6 pm to 7 pm, and now Part Two has been confirmed as screening on January the first 2010 at 6.40 – 7.55 pm. It has also been confirmed that actress Claire Bloom and Emmy winning actor Brian Cox will feature in the finale. The Part Two screening on BBC 1 will be swiftly followed by a screening on BBC America on January the second, just one day later, while Canadian network SPACE will also the air both of the final two specials on January 2. The channel will also show repeat screenings of the most recent specials, “The Next Doctor”, “Planet of the Dead”, and “The Waters of Mars” on the same day, in the hours leading up to the new episodes.

It is shaping up to be a “Doctor Who” filled Christmas for the BBC with, in addition to David Tennant’s final appearances in the role,  a special ident for the channel featuring Tennant, an edition of “Never Mind the Buzzcocks” to air on Wednesday December 18 with guests Tennant, Bernard Cribbins and Catherine Tate, and a BBC Radio Four Documentary to air this week, “Shelved”, which takes a look at TV episodes that were never completed for various reasons, among them being the 1979 “Doctor Who” story, “Shada”, which was written by Douglas Adams and starred Tom Baker as the Doctor.

The number was slightly short of the amount raised by the 2008 telethon, but as host Sir Terry Wogan pointed out, it was “Another fantastic fundraising effort – we didn’t get quite to twenty one million, but we got pretty close… By the time we give you the full total in a couple of month’s time, I bet it’s got to be pretty close to what we made last year.”

In total, the 2008 “Children in Need” event managed to raise a record breaking thirty eight million pounds. A host of stars from theatre, television and the music industry participated in the event, including musical numbers from the casts of such popular soap operas as “The Bill”, “Hollyoaks” and “Eastenders” and BBC newsreaders such as Kate Silverton, Susanna Reid, Sophie Raworth and Fiona Bruce. Musicians such as Peter Andre, Spandau Ballet, Westlife, JLS, Annie Lennox and Stereophonics performed live on stage, while Wogan himself took part in a spoofy edition of period drama series “Lark Rise to Candleford”. There was also a preview of the upcoming “Doctor Who” Christmas special, “The End of Time”, which will mark David Tennant’s departure from the role. Over two hundred and ten thousand calls were made to the event by British viewers during the course of the evening.

The event has been running since 1980, and has accumulated over five hundred and twenty five million in donations since that time.

The competition, held on the popular and long running children’s show earlier this year, was to design a new fifty pence piece for the upcoming London 2012 Olympics, but newspapers have had a field day since it emerged that the father of the child who entered the winning design is Andrew Jackson, who is just about to become the head of the BBC’s Natural History Unit.

The BBC, however, insist it is a pure coincidence and reject any other insinuations, pointing out that the appointment of Jackson had not even been made when the winner was chosen, and that the judges did not even know the identity of any of the entrants. “We strongly refute any allegations of wrong doing,” the BBC said in a statement on Friday. “Any suggestion that anyone at the BBC could have had undue influence on the selection of the winning entry is totally wrong and without any foundation whatsoever,” the statement declared in no uncertain terms. “The judging panel who short listed the finalists was not given any indication of the name, sex or age of any of the contestants. Their decision was based purely on the design of the coin.”

The BBC received a fine after it was revealed that a contest on “Blue Peter” was faked in 2007, and since then media outlets have been scouring the corporation for any other signs of trickery.