BBC Opens Up Archives

BBC Director General Greg Dyke announced today that the BBC will be opening up its archives of radio and television programs to be downloaded from the Internet. The new service, called the BBC Creative Archive, will be free and available to anyone not seeking to use the material for commercial purposes. "The BBC probably has the best television library in the world," said Dyke. "Up until now this huge resource has remained locked up, inaccessible to the public because there hasn't been an effective mechanism for distribution. But the digital revolution and broadband are changing all that. For the first time there is an easy and affordable way of making this treasure trove of BBC content available to all." There is no word about exactly what will be included in this Creative Archive, nor whether or not Doctor Who (which is a viable commercial property for the BBC) would be made available in any form on it, but it is certainly a change in philosophy for the originators of the show we celebrate here. (Thanks to Michael Zecca and Jonathan Baldwin for letting us know!)