Independence of the BBC is as much result of habit and common agreement as it is the result of it’s legal status. Its income depends on the licence fee which everybody who uses a television set has to pay.

In terms of the size of its audience, television has long since taken over from radio as the most significant form of broadcasting in Britain. For a brief period starting in the late 198s, the government broke with the convention of non-interference and banned the transmission of interviewers with members of outlawed organizations such as the IRA on the television. The BBC's response was to make a mockery of this law by showing such interviews on the screen with an actor's voice dubbed over the moving mouth of the interviewer ! Irish Republican Army - military organization fighting for the independence of Ireland's first, and in 1921 to join Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland.

BBC1, ITV, BBC2 and Channel 4 - these are the channels which all viewers in the country receive. BBC1 and ITV broadcast popular programmes: the news, children’s programmes, recent films, game show, soap opera and do not show adverts. BBC2 and Channel 4 show programmes which usually attract much smaller audiences: TV plays and classical concerts.

Soaps opera are popular TV serials which dramatise their characters’ daily lives. They storylines are funny, but often unbelievable. Soaps broadcast either three or four times a week and lasts about half an hour. The most popular soaps opera are: EastEnders and Coronation Street.

Soap –Style drama: The Bill- It’s about the police. Talk Show: ’Noel‘s House Party’. Quiz Show: Countdown Soap-Style drama: Casualty- I’t about medicine and hospital.

By: Gabriela Morawska Edyta Szwajcowska Karol Chrz ą stowski Oskar Ś wierczek