 The BBC have chosen to pull Steven Spielberg's multi-million dollar World War II blockbuster, Band of Brothers out of its primetime slot. Spielberg's 10-part epic, which at £7 million was the most expensive programme ever bought by the BBC, was to head up this Autumn's schedules on BBC1 but will now be shown on BBC2. The series is a TV follow up to the enormously successful feature, Saving Private Ryan and its acquisition was seen by many as the publicly funded broadcaster's boldest move in years. However, Lorraine Heggessey, the controller of BBC1 and her counterpart at BBC2, Jane Root, met the Corporation's director of television before finalising a decision most see as utter lunacy. It should be noted that perhaps the most exciting series to hit British telly was bought before Heggessey was appointed.
In an interview with the Guardian newspaper after the shock announcement Heggessey stated "It's a fantastic, quality piece of drama. It looks like a movie. But I didn't think it was broad enough for a mainstream audience."
Heggessey is the one responsible for bringing us another quality piece of programming…Animal Hospital with Rolf Harris.
A spokesman for Auntie insisted, "The programme has not been axed from BBC1, it was decided to move it to BBC2 because we would be able to give it an uninterrupted 10-week run on the channel, which may not have been possible on BBC1." The spokesman denied the series had been shifted because it was not mainstream enough, insisting that BBC2 was also a mainstream channel, which had a proud history of groundbreaking drama. | 
