BBC's Tomorrow's World dropped after 38 years

Gees, this was a shock when my cousin freestyle pointed me to this over at DigitalSpy...

After 38 years of weekly programmes, the BBC has announced it will no longer produce the half-hourly technology show Tomorrow's World, but produce one-off special reports instead.

Over the years the show has followed the developments of products such as the fax machine, CDs, pocket calculator and disposable cameras. It has also helped develop the careers of past presenters including Raymond Baxter, Anna Ford and Carol Vorderman.

Vivienne Parry, who presented the show between 1994 and 1997, has called on the BBC to rethink its decision. "Tomorrow's World was one of the reasons I got into science in the first place. It has inspired generations of children to become scientists. I think it is sad when the BBC treats the programme as just a brand."

Raymond Baxter, who presented the show for 13 years following it's launch in 1965, is said to be "very sad" about the move. "It lost its way in my view about five or six years ago but I thought it had recovered very well in the last two or three years. This decision was totally unexpected and I think it is a great shame," he said.

Mr Baxter feels that the show lost viewers because the BBC wouldn't allow them to spend enough time on each story. "The length of our stories was about five and a half minutes, but now the BBC has reduced that to about two and a half minutes. You can't explain an issue properly in that short a time."

News source: Digital Spy