Over the weekend I had one of the standard debates with my brother about the merits of the BBC and the advantages of the licence fee system.   Admittedly it was late in the evening and, for some reason we had ended up listening to one of the many commercial radio stations via the wonders of Freeview.   I had commented that we might just as well be listening to a CD as it was one track after another with a recorded link.

Anyway, the long and short of the debate was that we both agreed the BBC was worth the money; it was the way in which the money was collected over which we disagreed.

The proof that the BBC is worth the money followed less than 24 hours later with the arrival of Sherlock (9pm Sunday, BBC1).   Benedict Cumberbatch is the latest actor to play the master sleuth, with Martin Freeman as Watson.   What makes this interpretation special is that it is in the modern day, with texting, blogs and websites, blue lights and fast cars.

It was either going to be a disaster or work brilliantly...it worked brilliantly.   The character of the stories was retained (with Mycroft, Mrs Hudson and Moriarty, Inspector Lestrade - now a modern day DI all making appearances or being referred to).   At no point did I think, "no that doesn't work".

It is sad that, as previously discussed, drama production on British television is in decline.   Occasional gems such as Sherlock reminds us just how good British television can be.   What did you think of it? Click here and tell us.

As iconic as the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, the traditional New York Taxi - the Ford Crown Victoria - is about to become extinct.

With its huge trunk (that's boot to us Brits) and comfortable sedan style suspension, the Crown Vic has been around since the mid-1950s. Michael Bloomberg, Mayor of New York, allowed hybrid taxis to start operating in the city in 2005 and cabbies have started switching to more economic Ford Escapes and Toyota Siennas.

Now, Ford has decided to withdraw the famous model from the market. New York rules prohibit vehicles over five years of age from operating and so they will be off Manhattan's streets in 2015.

London suffered a similar fate when its Mayor, Ken Livingstone, abolished the traditional Routemaster double-decker bus from the streets in 2005, on a mixture of health and safety and environmental grounds. Next, I suspect will be the traditional London Taxi, following the current Mayor, Boris Johnson's decision to allow the Mercedes Vito Traveliner to begin to take the place of the more familiar LTI models.

Are vehicles an important part of our streetscape and do they form part of the cityscape?   Click here and tell us.

© Batphone PR London, 2010

Star of the Farnborough International Airshow at the beginning of the week was the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, which will come into service in Europe with UK based Thomson Airways in 2012.   One of the most striking design features of the aircraft are the chevrons at the back of the engine nacelle.   These control the way air mixes after passing through and around the engine.   This feature is part of both the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines and the General Electric GNnx engines, the two options.

The engine nacelles are just one aspect of the design of the aircraft which makes it so different from others.   Its composite carbon construction and raking wings contribute to it being 20% more fuel efficient and 10% more cash per seat operating costs.

There are more pictures of the Dreamliner at Farnborough available at the Batphone PR London Facebook page.  Click on the link, have a look and follow the page.

© Batphone PR London, 2010

The Farnborough International Airshow is in full swing and is generating a lot of trade for the world's aviation industry.   The industry is of course dominated by Boeing and Airbus and it was Boeing that provided the star of this year's show, the long-awaited Boeing 787.   Thomson Airways (the successor to Britannia and Air 2000) will be Europe's launch customer of the aircraft type when it takes delivery in 2012.   The airline and manufacturer capitalised on publicity at the show.

Every so often an aircraft comes into service which has a striking look that makes it stand out from the rest.   The Lockheed Constellation was probably the first, then the Boeing 707 and, to a lesser extent, the Boeing 727.   The Comet, of course, and Concorde were the same.   Then a couple of years ago the Airbus A380 - which still turns heads at Heathrow - and now the Dreamliner, with distinctive engine cowlings and raked wings.

There are more pictures of the Dreamliner at Farnborough available at the Batphone PR London Facebook page.  Click on the link, have a look and follow the page.

Surprising news comes that the quality newspapers are suffering a significant decline in circulation, following the General Election.   The sector's five titles (The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Independent and The Financial Times) have all suffered.    The Daily Telegraph is worst hit with a year-on-year change in circulation of -18.45%.   The Independent, under its new owner, is only down -6.62% but this hides a more worrying

statistic in that their circulation is only 187,135 to start with (cf The Daily Telegraph 681,322) but only 53.9% of the Indy's circulation is paid for.

Is it just the Internet or has the way in which we consume our news coverage changed more fundamentally?

The Times this week celebrated the 70,000th issue of the newspaper.   The Thunderer as it was once fondly referred to is experimenting with the paywall system for its website.   As a subscriber to the print newspaper, I get access to the online offering free and I have to say I am fairly impressed with it...but would I feel the same if I had to pay for it separately?  

News of figures for their website users have yet to be published.   The Guardian, meanwhile, has more people accessing the website each day than purchasing the print version; and they claim to be making it work for them financially.

Will iPad editions help or do the newspapers need to take a more radical approach to their declining sales (and thus advertising revenue)?

What do you think?  Click here and tell us.

It is predictable that the news of Take That's reunion with Robbie Williams is being talked about by the press under the headline "Back for good", the title of their 1995 hit.   But the addition of the question mark indicates the scepticism that the media has about whether it will last.

I learnt an important lesson about planning a public relations event, thanks to the famous five, or rather the split of the not-quite-so-famous four.  

On a cold day in February 1996, whilst working for HM Customs and Excise, I had planned a press conference in conjunction with the then Department of the Environment.

We were launching a consumer campaign to prevent the smuggling of wildlife artifacts back as holiday souvenirs.  The minister was on standby; the journalists had been invited.   One turned up (the environment correspondent of The Independent who arrived by bicycle).   We heard then that Take That had split up and that was the news that was being covered by everybody that morning.

Many systems and databases are available for press offices to plan media campaigns and dates to avoid to prevent a conflict with a stronger news story.   But you can never plan for the unexpected...however trivial the other news story may appear to you!

As a foot note, I was amused to read that Robbie Williams apparently knew that it was time to give up on his solo career when at the end of 2006, there were so many unsold copies of Rudebox, his last album, that the CDs were sent to China to be used on a road resurfacing programme.

On the corner of Palmerston Road and Clarendon Road in Southsea, the picturesque and relaxed neighbour of Portsmouth, is a little piece of history.   It is one of the last remaining traditional department stores in the country.   It is not all bright lights, glass lifts and noise.   It is a store that has remained popular through doing what it does so well, providing quality products that you can rely on at a reasonable price with exceptional, personal service.

Knight and Lee was formed by two men who had trained at Whiteleys of Queensway in London, another such store, now long since gone.  

Jesse Knight and Herbert Sedden Lee went into partnership in 1887 and, with the exception of the period from 10 January to 24 February 1941, when the store was closed as a result of a direct hit by anenemy incendiary device (it was also bombed in 1940 but stayed open), has traded in Southsea ever since.

The store, now the only member of the John Lewis Partnership not to be called John Lewis (apart from Peter Jones in Sloane Square, on which the building is based), has had its present home since 1956.

I was amazed this week to learn that there is an organisation called the Global Department Store Summit.  This august institution has awarded the title of "Department Store of the Year" to Selfridges in Oxford Street.   Knight and Lee may be much smaller but, I am sure, is more deserving of the recognition.   Visit both and see what I mean!  

Are there any other quaint old department stores left?   Click here and tell us.

It is one of my regrets that I will never fly at supersonic speed.   I missed my chance while Concorde was in service and scheduled supersonic flights are unlikely to return in my lifetime.

In the late seventies, in the days when "security reasons" had not caused the closure of the roof gardens at Heathrow's now demolished Queens Building, watching Concorde take off or land was quite a spectacle.   It was something British (well half-British, half-French) of which we were proud.

Concorde has a wealth of stories attached to it, many of which were related in last night's Channel 4 documentary Concorde's Last Flight.   The US Ryder Cup team apparently broke the record for the longest golf putt...down the aisle of Concorde into a glass, whilst in flight.   The ball took 23 seconds to travel 8.5 miles.

It cost billions to develop, millions to operate and, although the service eventually was profitable for British Airways, a combination of the Air France crash in Paris in 2000, the loss of a huge number of its regular flyers in the attacks on the World Trade Center the following year and Airbus announcing a substantial increase in the cost of maintaining the two fleets led to its demise.

Sir Terence Conran described the aircraft as "symbolising optimism", which it did.     A "fast New York", as it was referred to by the crew who operated her between Heathrow and JFK, took three and a half hours.  This meant that, while the USA was a long-haul destination, it was operated by short-haul crew.    Taking account of the time zone changed, it arrived in New York earlier than it departed from London; time travel for the masses.   It was an enigma - but an enigma loved by everybody.

The huge, double-decker Airbus A380 still turns heads when it flies into London, but will it ever be held with the same affection as Concorde?

Concorde's Last Flight is available to view, on line, for thirty days by visiting 4 on demand.   Click here to navigate to the site.

Have you any comments or thoughts about Concorde?    Click here and tell us.

The latest incarnation of ITV's attempt to woo the breakfast audience, GMTV, is to follow its predecessor, TVAM into the history books at the end of this summer.   ITV, which took over GMTV in November last year, is to ditch the brand, and indeed the company, and relaunch its breakfast programming as "Daybreak" from the autumn.   Andrew Castle and Ben Shepherd, existing presenters will leave, joining other regulars like Penny Smith, who have already left.

GMTV succeeded TVAM in 1993 when the original breakfast show lost what was then an ITV franchise.   The subsequent abolition of franchises has seen monumental change at ITV.

Daybreak will be presented by Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley, joining from BBC1's The One Show, and it will be interesting to see how the new line up and schedule affects the share of audience against the more serious offering by BBC1 on Breakfast.

It is interesting that after the highly successful days of The Big Breakfast on Channel 4, the other state run broadcaster, they have more or less given up attempts to secure a piece of the breakfast market.   However The Big Breakfast presenter Chris Evans, has gone on to make a huge success of the Radio 2 breakfast show, proving pundits wrong by increasing the audience of his predecessor Terry Wogan's show by 1.5 million.

It is all change in the broadcasting world though.   RTL, the German broadcaster is trying to offload Five (formerly Channel 5), but nobody wants it.   The BBC is facing constant challenges on spending, some of which it is beginning to concede.

ITV was once a great force in television.   Big variety line ups at the weekend, a serious news provider in ITN, excellent in-house made drama series and good regional television have all gone.   Advertising revenues have been affected by cable and satellite broadcasters thinning out audience share and more people turning to the internet for entertainment.   It will be interesting to see what the broadcast landscape looks like in five years' time.

What do you think?   Click here and tell us.

I have had to make a couple of telephone calls to help desks recently.   The agent at my mobile telephone service provider, courteously, asked if I was happy if they used my first name, or would I prefer them to use my surname (presumably prefixed by "mister").   My internet service provider, being an Indian based call centre, immediately used my surname and sir.  However, a call to a software helpdesk resulted in me called "mate" and "bud", which I have to say tested my tolerance of informality.

Gillian Orr, writing in yesterday's The Independent, reviewed a flight she had taken with British Airways. 

She was pleased to report that the cabin crew "all look very smart and I can't remember the last time I was called 'Madam' ".   So, is presentation and courtesy as important to us as it used to be?  

My grandmother worked as a shop assistant in Bentalls of Kingston in the thirties, in the days when it was a prestige department store to which people travelled miles, rather than using it as a short cut from one part of Kingston to John Lewis as they do these days.   "Mr Leonard" (Leonard Bentall, son of the store's founder) walked the floor in a frock coat, talking to customers (addressing each as "sir" or "madam") and being watched in awe by hard working staff.   All the staff were properly dressed and would not have dared treat customers with anything other than the utmost respect.   These days, it seems, staff are more likely to be dressed in tee shirt and jeans and treating customers as equals.  

I was struck the other day by a contrast to this, when a South West Trains railway worker addressed a passenger as "madam" at Portsmouth and Southsea Station.    There is nothing demeaning in using respect for those that pay your wages.   The situation may have reversed the following day.   If, for example, that passenger worked in a shop, the railway worker may have been one of her customers and she would then have referred to him as "sir".   It is not the person, but the role that warrants the respect.

What do you think?   Click here and tell us.

Earlier this year I took out a subscription for The Times newspaper.   With clever marketing, it gives me a cheaper daily newspaper and it gives them guaranteed sales.

In becoming a regular purchaser of The Times (I have always been a regular reader) I have noticed the difference between the Monday issue and the Friday issue.   The week starts with a thin edition on Monday and then each day's paper gradually increases in thickness as the week progresses.

It is only in recent years that the page size of newspapers has changed with The Times following the lead set by The Independent in going to "compact" size and The Guardian and The Observer going for the European Berliner format.

Irrespective of the size though, I cannot help but feel that the advertising space has increased and the amount of reported news has reduced.   Compare the front page of this issue from July 1863 with today's and I am sure you will find more words then than there are today.   I do not know whether there has been any serious research into this but are we being short changed?   What do you think?   Click here and tell us.

The city of Seattle in Washington State has much to commend it.   It is the home of Microsoft, Starbucks, Frasier and the Boeing Airplane Company. But be prepared; it rains a lot.   It is a beautiful city, despite its weather.  It also allows the possibility of those staying there to make a day trip to Canada by water, car or coach.

Pike Place market in the city is home to the world's very first Starbucks branch.  Whilst Starbucks has become a symbol of globalisation, the market itself has its own economic significance.

Established in 1907, the market was an economic experiment.   Retailers were pushing up the prices paid by customers, whilst at the same time driving down the farmers' incomes.   The market aimed, successfully, at bringing farmers together directly with their consumers, eliminating the middleman.   Not surprisingly the market has flourished, uninterrupted ever since.

Now, over a hundred marketeers jostle for the attention of their customers, all of whom pass Rachel, a 750lb brass piggy bank who guards the entrance.   She acts as both a mascot for the market and also a grateful recipient of donations for the Pike Place Market Foundation, the traders' charitable concern.

Seattle, through being home for three of America's most significant corporations, plays an important role in that nation's economy.   How it must have changed since those early days of the twentieth century when a group of farmers challenged the local retail scene.

Rumours now circulate about the possibility that Boeing is to leave the Puget Sound area and the impact would obviously be great to Seattle's economy.   Every Boeing aircraft since the 707 has been manufactured here.   It is difficult to imagine.

I am indebted to my father for pointing out the rather alarming news about Ascot.   Not long after the opening of the £210m new stadium, it seems the racecourse may not be using it to its full potential; perhaps its a sign of the times.

Normally, we would expect to see horses racing round the track, a spectacle to be viewed from the fine new stadium.

However, advertising for the Ascot Summer Cocktail Party, to be held on Saturday 24 July, tells us that there is to be " live music after racing on the bandstand".   Clearly the bandstand must be quite some size to accommodate enough horses to entertain the crowd with racing!

This is, sadly, yet another example of the slipping standards of English.   The comma has simple enough rules and easy to understand.   The insertion of a comma in the right place would have clarified exactly what was meant, presumably "live music after racing, on the bandstand."   From a style point of view, it would actually be better to say "live music on the bandstand after racing."

I was taught English grammar at primary school, between the ages of five and 11 and it has served me well (and earned me a living) since.  A great book to help - and entertain - is Eats Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss.

Please feel free to send us any other examples of meaning changes by missing punctuation.   Just click here.

With England out of the FIFA World Cup, the Wimbledon finals played today and the House of Commons rising for the summer recess in less than a month, we are rapidly approaching the “silly season” when printed press and broadcast media are all scratching around for news.

The Sunday Times has not been slow in finding a rather dubious survey (always good to secure coverage) to fill its column inches, about “nominative determinism”. On the back of a report into incontinence published in 1977 by J.W. Splatt and D. Weedon, a professor at Wayne State University, Michigan, has carried out research into whether career choices are influenced by one’s name. Out of 800,000 doctors and 800,000 lawyers in the US, 20 of the doctors had a surname Doctor and fifteen had a surname Lawyer. Conversely, five with the surname Doctor had become lawyers and 12 with the surname Lawyer had become doctors.

At this point I have bored myself, but if your are still reading thank you. One of my greatest frustrations in the commercial world is the ridiculous job titles that people now have. What for example is a “Customer Experience Expert” or for that matter a “Head of Flow” (the latter by the way is nothing to do with plumbing). I am sure there are few people with surnames even close to these job titles.

There is no need to include every responsibility in your job title. Just give us a clue. Once upon a time, most companies managed with a Managing Director, a Finance Director, an Operations Director and a Personnel Director. Most things fit under one of those!

I was impressed on one occasion by a lady who came to see me, trying to sell me a service that I didn’t need. After she had left I examined the business card she had given me and saw that her job title was “Business Development Diva”. Well, if you are going to have a daft job title have a fun one!

Other examples will be gratefully received. Click here and tell us.

As far as Batphone is concerned, the jury is still out on the iPad. I have had meetings with two people this week who are very pleased with theirs and my opinion swings (as with most Apple products) from desperately wanting one, to realising that it perhaps doesn’t do anything I can’t do already.

Technology and science have moved on a pace in recent years. My first mobile telephone was the size of a small brick and was not something you could carry in your pocket. Now, everybody is immediately

contactable (in theory) and weekends are really just work days when you are not in the office. Emails are sent at odd times of the night and executives are disinclined to make decisions for themselves as it is just too easy to speak to the boss and let him or her take responsibility.

But with technical and scientific advances some benefits come.

This year is the 94th anniversary of a battle in the northern French town of Fromelles. In total 249 unidentified bodies of French and Australian soldiers lay in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery next to the village, having fallen during that battle in the First World War. One of the previously nationalised forensic science services, now LGC Forensics, has been working on DNA testing to identify the remains of some of those warriors.

Significantly, for the anniversary, 94 previously unidentified remains have now been identified and reburied with full military honours. The ceremony to mark the burial of the last of these 94, will take place on the anniversary itself,19 July.

And so the families of those soldiers, all these years on, now can know where their ancestors are buried, thanks to the application of a scientific process that those ancestors could never have imagined. Modern science and technology has its place.

If this has caught your imagination, Remembering Fromelles: A New Cemetery for a New Century, an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum London opens on Monday.