a_silver_story | If there isn't an update later, blame the BBC

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If there isn't an update later, blame the BBC

How did this:

Thanks for your e-mail regarding 'Torchwood - Children of Earth'.

We appreciate that you were unhappy that Ianto Jones was killed off.

It is rightly heartbreaking for Ianto to die in this season of 'Torchwood'. We had established that its characters are involved in dangerous, life threatening work and that the myth of 'Torchwood' is that its people 'die young'. Ianto's death is particularly poignant and right for the story because it puts great pressure on the character of Captain Jack. Captain Jack has to pay the ultimate price, given the sins of the past and his own tragic immortality.

We do acknowledge your concerns, however, and we'd like to assure you that we've registered your complaint on our audience log. This is a daily report of audience feedback that's circulated to many BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive Board, channel controllers and other senior managers.

The audience logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions about future programming and content.

Thanks again for taking the time to contact us.

Regards

BBC Complaints

In any way equate to this:

Dear BBC,

I sent a complaint over two weeks ago and never received a reply, despite indicating via the drop down menu that I required one.

My complaint addressed issues of homophobia and misinformation regarding the recent BBC miniseries ‘Torchwood: Children of Earth’, mainly the insinuation that sexuality has its own unique ‘scent’ (Day Three; the character of Clem apparently ‘smells’ that another character is in a homosexual relationship) and the omission of other such complaints from the monthly complaint report published by the BBC on the main website.

I am disappointed by this lack of response and consideration by the BBC, particularly as they are a non-optional public service who draw large audiences to their programming and content. It concerns me that this comment regarding homosexuality having a ‘scent’ has not only gone unexplained, but was also actually aired on prime time television as well as my complaint about it being evidently ignored.

I hope you can provide me with an acceptable explanation for the omission of such complaints from the monthly reports, as well as informing me what it is about homosexuals or bisexuals that smells different from heterosexual people that would justify the use of this ridiculous idea.

Yours,

If you don't get a fic update later, it's the BBC's fault. I shall send them another message, and keep sending them until I get an informed response.

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are they drunk? or don't they read their emails? OR are these emails send out randomly by ppl who have an IQ like a doorknob?

Considering the fact that i'm sure i've read that reply somewhereelse i reckon they haven't read your email and that what you have recieved is an automated response

It didn't. A over used stock answer couldn't possibly answer such an important and valid question. When I got that message twice in a row and then finally a "different" stock response, It just helped add to my growliness.

What bullshit! What was this, a form letter response? Your question/concern was not even addressed.

Ugh, monotone form e-mails. Having spent the best part of last week dealing with these instead of real people with informative, helpful responses I can only empathise with your plight.

Obviously you need to borrow the Mind Probe to get any coherent response from these people. Give them as big a headache as they've given the rest of us. Alternatively, pitchforks are at the ready.

Even worse than a standard reply that has nothing to do with your original e-mail, it's not exactly endearing itself to the fanbase at all.

We appreciate that you were unhappy that Ianto Jones was killed off.

Good idea, sound like you're happy that the fan is unhappy about something. Yes, that's the way to set a positive tone for the rest of the e-mail! *Facepalm*

And, honestly, implying that Ianto was killed because Jack deserves to lose him because he made a itty-bitty mistake in the past? That's all kinds of stupid and irrelevant (we all know Ianto was killed off because he dared to be more popular than RTD's pet project).

You try to put forward a valid point, and get a brick wall of ignorance in response. I've had dates like that.

*hugs*

You're right. Appreciating our unhappiness just makes me think of smug men in smoking jackets with pipes, leatherbound books and a stag head mounted on the wall, laughing about the misfortune of peasants.

RTD is one of them ....

Do you have MSN by any chance? :D

I'm a_silver_story@hotmail.co.uk

I don't, actually! At least, not on this computer...which is a bit odd, really.

I'll put installing on here on my to-do list, along with actually remembering my MSN log-in details and that pesky act of sleeping at night.

I'm in *no* way defending them. But the 'appreciate' here is simply 'acknowledge/(claim to) understand', with no connotation of 'being specifically pleased by/happy about'. It's a different usage of the word than 'I appreciate your support,' or etc.

Cf:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/appreciate

ap-pre-ci-ate (-prsh-t)
v. ap-pre-ci-at-ed, ap-pre-ci-at-ing, ap-pre-ci-ates
v.tr.

1. To recognize the quality, significance, or magnitude of : appreciated their freedom.
2. To be fully aware of or sensitive to; realize : I appreciate your problems.

As opposed to:
3. To be thankful or show gratitude for: I really appreciate your help.
4. To admire greatly; value.
5. To raise in value or price, especially over time.
v.intr.
To increase in value or price, especially over time.

I'm not *that* silly. I know what they meant ... I just wanted to poke fun at them :-P

Never thought you were. I was more having a "with-hyphen" moment, largely sleep-dep-induced, and had thought (not for you, but for some of the others on the thread) that there might be a Brit/Anglish discrepancy. Again, just not enough sleep. I think it was just - I'm upset over what they're doing too re: the auto-replies, and so it was something besides that that I wanted to pick on them for. A-la zsazsa4168 's post later on this thread:
http://a-silver-story.livejournal.com/86580.html?thread=1554484#t1554484

Anyhow. No insult intended. Sincerely sorry. I'd also been - half-teasing- too. Hence my emoticons. It's hard to get tone right in text, especially on sleep-dep.
And now I've waaay over-posted :/

G'night. Or G'morning.

I wasn't insulted! No apology necessary. It's nice to know there's some people out there as sleep deprived as I am too ;)

Ha! Of course that's what they meant to say, I just enjoy twisting their words around for my own amusement using that aforementioned etymology...I knew what I was doing for once. It was a nice opportunity for a silly break. :)

But, honestly, they could have used the word "acknowledge" rather than the more ambiguous "appreciate." Wouldn't have been half as much fun to poke at, though. ;)

Sleep deprivation isn't a bad thing...more time to poke fun at these people. Yay!

God, that's so annoying :/
You keep at it, girl!! They have to crack at some point.
Don't they realise that if they gave an honest, actual answer then you would stop emailing them?
(Well, stop for now.... ;D )

Can't you UK people stop paying the BBC fee?

I know it's a tax - we have the same misfortune here in Italy with the RAI - but here if you inform them you don't want their service and 'prove' you don't own a TV set (as if ;P) they let you free.

Pay the license fee or go to prison, basically. You can't have a tv set and not get the BBC, and they won't believe we don't have one and they'll send an inspector.

Fair, isn't it?

Very.

RAI sends its inspectors too, but only after years and you don't really have any obligation to admit them into your house... ;)

But basically it's the same situation. You have to pay, accept any rubbish they throw at you and say thanks.

It's not, simply. I've learned that they see Torchwood complaint and they just copy past a message about Ianto's death. I complain everyday. And I always get this response!

Private Pervert, signing off.

(so no, I don't care about the name. I almost wish I weren't the Alchemist already, or I might call myself that.)

I'm surprised that they don't have a stock 'we're not homophobic' answer. I'm sure they've received a number of complaints if only judging by the shit-storm that hit After Elton.

But you know, it will be something like

Dear one of the nine hysterical women: we can assure you that as a hetero female you cannot possibly spot gay bashing when you see it. As RTD and JB are certified queers and they say its not, then your opinion doesn't count.

If you are gay, they would send:

Dear beloved queer viewer: we can assure that as a queer you just paranoid about being depicted through a series of negative stereotypes. As RTD and JB are certified queers and they say they're not negative, then your opinion doesn't count. Further, as RTD has told us that only Mary Sue's are worthy of decent treatment, we defend our right to malign, degrade, debase and misrepresent queers however we want. And don't tell us that this leads to gay bashing, frankly we don't care.

Yours Sincerely, BBC Pricks

I'm bisexual - what reply do I get?

SHEESH! Once again, bisexuals are overlooked ;)

You're absolutely right about the BBC being all 'RTD and JB are gay so how can this be homophobic??', but I'm going to keep at it until I get my voice properly heard!

My bad!!

I don't know if your gender if male or female, so I wrote a reply for both:

Dear Bisexual viewer (female): We really, really don't care what you think. You are not not only part-queer you are also a hysterical women. Shut the fuck up.

Dear Bisexual viewer (male): We really, really don't care what you think. You are only part queer and if you were a real queer like RTD & JB, you wouldn't be so paranoid. Get a life.

For Both: Please be assured that we track responses from our viewers. Yours will go in the bisexual - you're a deviant who cares what you think pile, as opposed to the heter female - you need a good lay pile, as opposed to the gay male - oh go watch The Eastenders pile.

Yours Sincerely,

BBC Fucktards

I'm a bisexual female :)

Your responses are too funny.

"BBC Fucktards" is an excellent phrase.

Yeah Asshat and Fucktard seem to be getting a lot of use by me lately!

You want funny? I'll give you funny:
http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/13039.html

(hey, I think its funny, but what the hell do I know I'm just one of nine hysterical women!!).

*growls angrily in the face of the BBC*
You wanna know something? I got the same response to one of my complaints last week.

And we lay our licence fee to them. Pssshht. And i thought the BBC were nice people. *grumblegrumble*

We pay***
Darn my angry typing making me miss-spell easy words. I blame the BBC.

Exactly. I'm sending emails until I get a response from an actual human person, no matter how many times I have to complain.

LOL! I like that idea!
I got an email the other day saying that they'd reply when they had time. Or something along those lines. I deleted it by accident, so i can't remember what it said exactly. But....blerghhh. Stoopid BBC.

Perhaps a translation into regular (that is, American) English will help.
Dear Ms. Brown:
Your recent communications has us mystified. Since we haven't asked for your input, we can't really understand why you insist on providing it. (We do occasionally say we welcome your comments, but if you look you'll see our fingers firmly crossed behind our backs.)
We had thought, especially after the events of this past summer, that you would realize we don't care what you think, what you like, what you want. If you were to decide, in retaliation, to stop watching our programs, we would all breathe a sigh of relief. Please pass this message to your eight hysterical girlfriends.
In the meantime, try to imagine us with our grimy fingers stuck in our ears, tongues flapping while we sing to ourselves, "La, la, la, we are not listening to you. Not ever! Not ever!"
Now, please lose our address and stop bothering us or we will send someone around to smack you.

Honestly, sweetheart! Get a clue!

Not the least sincerely,
Auntie Beeb

(Watched the new Python documentary last week and noted that the BBC almost erased the film on which the original Flying Circus episodes were recorded. They were too cheap to buy new film. So, I guess the BBC's been pretty consistent in areas of entertainment and business acumen for all these years!)

I miss my rentboy! And the weeping angels scare me to death!

*boggles* They're idiots. That's all I have to say. WTF are they on about?

*headdesk* I sent a complaint and got the exact same response that you did -- and Ianto's death was only a tiny (literally, one line) part of it when the majority of the letter was complaining about Day 5 and it's depressing and weak ending. >:-(

*its. Sorry. My bad.

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If there isn't an update later, blame the BBC

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