[Kojak]

It’s at times like this that you want to bang your head against a brick wall. There is no longer any real leadership at the BBC.

I personally don’t think BBC3 should have been closed in the first place - but equally (and perhaps paradoxically) I don’t think there was any need to bring it back. Especially when it was announced just a few months later that BBC4, CBBC and News 24 were for the chop! What the Beeb giveth with one hand, with another they taketh away.

I think the idea of giving a bigger linear outlet for BBC3 programmes was and is good - but I think that could have just as easily been done without bringing back the whole channel. Why not, say, have 10pm-midnight on BBC Two as the BBC Three slot? I know, I know, what about Newsnight - but that programme is sadly on borrowed time anyway. I’ve always thought it should be merged with the Ten over on One. You could then put the CBBC shows on Two during the day - and voila! A whole channel slot no longer needed.