Letter: Life's not cheap at the BBC

THE SERIES Video Nation is not by any stretch of the imagination cheap television ('Life is cheap at the BBC', 20 March). Indeed, the BBC's accountants currently find it rather pricey in relation to conventional documentaries. While we don't employ film crews, our production team has to provide intensive training for the 55 contributors and give them individual briefings, back-up and attention throughout the year, regardless of whether we are on air. That's quite apart from making the programmes themselves, which cost the same as conventional documentaries to edit and post- produce. (Rather more, actually, if you add the cost of transferring and processing many hours of Hi-8 material to a format suitable for professional editing.) So much for the unfounded jibe about 'lovely cheap programming'.

Second, Video Nation is not about expecting people to 'act naturally' in front of a camera. It's a broadcast and archive project (in collaboration with the BFI's National Film and Television Archive) whose aim is to document life in 1990s Britain through the eyes and words of the individual contributors.

Furthermore, the people who take part have complete control over their own material as used in the finished programmes. Many of them wanted to take part in Video Nation because they believed the project was a worthwhile one, many others because they thought of themselves as 'ordinary people', whom television rarely features. It is appallingly patronising and insulting to them to suggest that they are a group of losers and wannabees, and could not be further from the truth.

Bob Long

Executive Producer

Video Nation, BBC TV

London W3