Dave, despite its terrible name, is turning out to be a rather splendid TV channel. All weekend, it has featured long runs of brilliant shows like QI, Top Gear and Whose Line Is It Anyway? It’ll also be showing the hilarious Mock The Week soon. So, if there is a gap in the listings, it’s always worth flicking over to Dave to get some safe laughs. That’s all well and good… but why has Dave got the cream of the BBC crop, while Auntie is intent on showing us endless re-runs of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps?

Over the years, the BBC has prided itself on its innovative new shows and lack of repeats… however, in recent years, they gone to pot on that score. The seemingly endless wheeling out of Only Fools and Horses, Porridge and Some Mother’s Do ‘Ave ‘Em have seen Auntie using the word ‘classic’ as opposed to ‘repeat’. However, that’s not really a problem… showing repeats days apart is…

With Dragon’s Den being repeated the day after it is first shown, as well as Have I Got News For You being shown on a Friday, then again on a Saturday, then once more for good luck on a Monday, it all seems a bit daft. Add to this, the repeat viewings of The Graham Norton Show, as well as re-runs of Earth: The Power of the Planet… and you start to watch BBC channels with a horrible deja-vu. Now, I’m not one to bemoan the subscription we have to pay Auntie (it’s bloody cheap for the shows we get), but it does begin to feel like less value for money when you’re faced with shows being shown again merely days apart on the main terrestrial channels.

BBC Three and BBC Four seemingly serves two purposes now. To try out new comedy before it makes an inevitable leap to BBC Two (The Mighty Boosh surely won’t be kept secret forever?) and repeats. On the latter topic then… why would Auntie give up Top Gear, Mock The Week and QI to Dave? Let’s be honest, BBC Three and Four show a lot of dross before the magic 8pm/9pm mark, which leaves us all furiously hopping from channel to channel waiting for Flight of the Conchords or whatever.

If I ruled the BBC roost (shudder at that thought) I’d palm off Two Pints… to Dave, and re-run QI etc. Why give up your best shows… and from the current series no less… and hang on to garbage? It’s sad that I have to tune in to Dave to see how great Auntie’s output can be… and even more annoying that I have to watch BBC shows with commercial breaks in them. Still, I suppose it’s only a slight grumble… at least I get to watch something decent either way, even if I don’t understand the BBC’s thinking behind it.