The Cheltenham Literature Festival debated the Future of the BBC last Saturday evening.

The panel chaired by Melvyn Bragg featured BBC Director of Strategy and Digital James Purnell, critic and author Charlotte Higgins and journalist Anne McElvoy, who each discussed their position on the BBC, before the debate was opened up.

The hottest topic of conversation, throughout the hour long debate was the licence fee, it’s importance to the BBC and its relevance in today’s society.

It quickly became clear, both from the discussions on stage and from comments by the audience that while the BBC will continued to be funded by some sort of licence fee for the foreseeable future, it would be forced to undergo changes, although what these could or should be, no one could say.

James Purnell, put forward a very clear and concise argument why the license fee is the best way of funding the BBC saying if the corporation was to switch to the advertising model, it would take business away from rivals, such as ITV, which would have an impact on content.

Equally, he argued, that if you speak to Sky they will be the first to tell the subscription model doesn’t work, as they spend millions in advertising each year just to get people to sign up to their service, which again has an impact on content.

I personally don’t have a problem paying the licence fee. At £145.50 a year it is a lot cheaper that subscriptions services, Sky ask households to spend at least £240 a year, which only allows them access to certain content. What’s more, one of the BBC’s greatest assets, at least in my opinion, is it’s lack of adverts.

While the licence fee did dominate conversation, the panel did spend some time discussing the content the BBC produces.

Charlotte Higgins claimed that all BBC dramas were who done its and that there was nothing new or innovative, stating you had to go to the theatre to get it.

While BBC does do crime drama well, Happy Valley and Line of Duty are two great example, it is not all it does.

Some of the biggest drama programmes of the last few years on the BBC include Poldark, Wolf Hall, Last Tango in Halifax, Peter Kay’s Car Share and Doctor Foster.

The latter in particular was adventurous, pushing the boundaries of television and taking it’s audience on a rollercoaster ride.

While the BBC may not have adapted the more modern theatre works, they have recently found success with various stage adaptations, including the classics An Inspector Calls and Cider with Rosie and Shakespeare with The Hollow Crown series.

The biggest problem this debate had was its audience, the majority of whom where over fifty and against the BBC expansion plans, past and present. One man criticised the BBC for having one of the best sports websites in the world because it doesn’t fit with their original remit of two TV channels.

Another gentleman stated that, other than himself, no one cared about the BBC. Clearly this is not the case, the venue at the festival was full and thousands of people have signed the petition against the closure of BBC Three.

Despite being under represented on the evening, the younger generation are the future for the corporation, just as they are the future of the country. They belong in this debate, and deserve to be listened to, both on BBC Three and across the board.

The BBC should have a future, a very strong one in my opinion. It is as big a part of British culture as the Monarchy, and helps to shape and share our identity.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many things I think the BBC get wrong, in some cases horribly wrong, but these are far outweighed by the many, many things they get right.

People want the BBC; they just don’t want to pay for it. We live in a world where society expects something for nothing and that just doesn’t work.

We should invest in the future of this organisation, so that it can continue to make great television across all genres, be it drama, comedy or light entertainment.

E