Songs of Praise Faces Further Scrutiny

|PIC1|The Bishop of Lichfield has supported the BBC as it stands up to criticism for filming its Songs of Praise Easter special last November.

A wave of controversy hit the broadcaster after it emerged that the Easter special of Songs of Praise was recorded at Lichfield Cathedral at the same time as the Christmas edition, with changes in lighting and flowers.

The Bishop of Lichfield, the Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill, has already come out in defence of the BBC, acknowledging that the November filming gave "an air of unreality" to the Easter special. He added, however, that this did not equate to "deliberate deceit".

Other news agencies reported that Bishop Gledhill had attacked the BBC for filming the Easter programme at Christmas during a speech he delivered at the Lichfield Diocesan Synod last weekend.

He said: "If I am attacking the BBC then I am attacking myself because I knew about it in advance and I was party to it.

"I used this in my speech to illustrate the point that what you see on television isn't always reality. Many people I have spoken to are completely shocked when I tell them that the Easter programme was recorded before Christmas. But the BBC explained to us in advance the cost and difficulty of rigging such large and beautiful cathedrals such as Lichfield."

A spokeswoman for the BBC further defended its decision to film the programme early, saying it was "common practice" to film two shows at once.

She said the double recording was made "perfectly clear" to the cathedral authorities and congregation and producers were making the "best use of resources".

Several newspapers have accused the BBC of "tricking" fans of Songs of Praise, just weeks after Blue Peter apologised for faking the result of a competition in November.

In addition, the BBC cookery show Saturday Kitchen is currently under investigation by the premium phone line regulator Icstis, after it emerged that viewers were encouraged to phone in to a programme not being filmed live.

Speaking on BBC One's Sunday AM earlier this month, BBC director general Mark Thompson called the recent slew of phone-in errors "a wake-up call to the industry".

"Across broadcasting we have to look very, very closely at the way we use phone lines," he said.