Jeff Evans
jeffevanswriter.bsky.social
Jeff Evans
@jeffevanswriter.bsky.social
Beer, television, music, quizzing, not necessarily in that order. Author: The Penguin TV Companion, Rock & Pop on British TV, numerous books on beer; former editor of the Good Beer Guide; question writer for Mastermind and other TV series.
Reposted by Jeff Evans
The BBC is a public service broadcaster - news, drama, music, documentary and at its heart, be it for children or adults, education.

It's World Service reaches around the world and in a fragmenting world it must survive, writes Stephen MacNair.
Defending our national treasure: the voice of the nation
Politicians see the BBC through the lens of TV news, but those who want to undermine it threaten a central plank of our national culture
eastangliabylines.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
Exactly 75 years ago today, BBC Television began regular broadcasting at Saturday teatimes with the very first episode of Whirligig, one of its first well-known, long-running children’s shows.

To mark the occasion, I’ve written a feature for the BBC website.

But if you’d like to know more… (1/3)
Whirligig
A tribute to a much-loved Saturday teatime children's favourite, 75 years on.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 8:42 AM
West Coast music your thing? #Mastermind tonight has a round on the Laurel Canyon scene in the '60s and '70s set by me.
November 24, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
It's Doctor Who Day. To celebrate, I've edited and designed a new digital bookazine for @radiotimes.bsky.social, collecting the best of the magazine's articles and rare photography from the show's early years. Download it FREE from www.radiotimes.com/doctor-who-t...
November 23, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Another classy offering from N Ireland’s #ourbrewery, this time an 8.5%, bottle-conditioned saison. Tart, refreshing and keeps you interested.
November 22, 2025 at 7:03 PM
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Those UK journalists backing Trump - a man who endorses the murder of a journalist because he’s ‘controversial’ - against the BBC need to see if they can find their moral compass
You know about Trump and Zelesnkyy’s call, but have you heard about the call between Trump and the Saudi Crown Prince?

Watch my statement below. Mr. President, release the transcript.
November 19, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
Good to see @peterprinsleymp.bsky.social support #BBC "It is striking that those most eager to discredit it on social media often present themselves as patriots. In truth, few actions are less patriotic than undermining an institution that contributes so profoundly to Britain’s identity."
Defending the BBC when truth is under siege
Since my election, I have been a consistent advocate for the BBC. Not out of sentimentality, but because in an age saturated with disinformation, the BBC remains one of Britain’s strongest defences ag...
commentcentral.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
Hooray! Just learned @talkingpicturestv.bsky.social is to air The Man From U.N.C.L.E. series!
November 18, 2025 at 10:52 AM
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The WAC campaign to date

More from me with details of progress (or lack thereof) in the campaign against the shutting down of access at the Written Archives Centre, and a summary of quite why this policy shift is, simply and straightforwardly, wrong.

cstonline.net/defending-th...
Defending the WAC: Our Rights, Their Wrongs: The WAC Campaign To Date by John Wyver
Just about exactly a year ago, on 19 November 2024, I e-mailed a group of colleagues expressing concern about the Terms of Use researchers had to sign up to it secure access to the immeasurably rich…
cstonline.net
November 14, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Sad to hear this. A pioneer for American craft brewers in the UK and the beers were great, too.
November 15, 2025 at 1:13 PM
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BBC has a case against Trump. WhiteHouse Chief Press Officer called the BBC ‘100% fake news.’ Which is defamatory and untrue.
November 15, 2025 at 8:45 AM
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The 1967 billboard for Love's Forever Changes album in West Hollywood. The original album art was by Bob Pepper.
November 15, 2025 at 3:04 AM
The Thornbridge/Theakston, bottle-conditioned, 'from the Union' take on Masham Ale is a joy. Traditional English strong* ale at its best.

* 6.5%, for readers from other countries.
November 14, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
The whole of the quite frankly amazing Public Service Broadcasting performance at 2022’s BBC Proms is up at YouTube and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Do I love PSB? I darn well do. And the entire show -orchestra, choir, horn section, film, light show - is nothing other than remarkable. Go see.
November 14, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
So much of what I’ve done has been because various archives let in a curious independent weirdo like me. What little research I did at the BBC Archives (some of it in this latest episode) was incredibly valuable/fascinating. To think that I would now be shut out is absurd.
November 13, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
"Z Victor 1 - Tomorrow rare, early black and white episodes of 🚓 Z-CARS begin on #TalkingPicturesTV channel."

🚓 Beginning Friday 14th November 8pm #TPTVsubtitles
Coming Soon Series 1 Z Cars Talking Pictures TV Sky 328 Freeview 82 Virgin 445 Freesat 306
www.youtube.com
November 13, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
If you don’t like the BBC, I suggest that you go to America and watch their TV for a day. It gives you a migraine. The BBC also keeps the standards of the other outlets relatively high. If you think we watch shit now, imagine it with no BBC. And they actually care about drama, children’s, factual.
November 10, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
What you’re witnessing is a populist assault on the BBC.

This is not an institutional scandal in any meaningful sense of the word. It is an attack on public service broadcasting.

iandunt.substack.com/p/extra-edit...
November 10, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
The BBC is now in a fight for its life. It enemies will be happy www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
The BBC is in a fight for its survival
The BBC only has itself to blame for its handling of a serious error in a documentary on Trump. But its demise—as the US media landscape shows—would l...
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 10:39 AM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
November 7, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
Number of pubs stocking draught Bass passes 1,000 as AB Inbev's sales drive takes hold. So distribution has nearly trebled from a couple of years ago. Latest directory of stockists: nationalbassdirectory.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...
November 6, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
The WAC is a hugely important resource for historians (I've made extensive use of it on multiple projects) and these hugely significant changes are an effective bar on access.
November 8, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Bar towel of the day.
November 7, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Reposted by Jeff Evans
He appeared on all of the band's releases from 1977's "Packet of Three" EP through 1991's "Play": ultimateclassicrock.com/squeeze-gils...
Squeeze's Classic-Era Drummer Gilson Lavis Dead at 74
Bandmate Jools Holland paid tribute to his 'dear friend and long-standing drummer.'
ultimateclassicrock.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Just watched Back to the Future at the cinema again. Tremendous.
November 4, 2025 at 9:09 PM