233 years on

Does the fightback start today ?  It's the earliest the BBC Annual report has been published for three years - and whilst the fourth floor offics of the DCMS in 100 Parliament Street may not be the Bastille, Lord Hall has chosen 14th of July to start the revolt on behalf of The Audience against The New Ancien Regime.

Good things have been leaked to friendly press, to demonstrate how Tone and his business partner Anne Bulford have got the organisation into a fitter shape. But there will inevitably be bits for the unfriendly press to pick over.

More interesting is the emerging battle over who decides what programmes are made with public money. Tory politicians who should know better have expressed views over the year - Cameron, Osborne, Sajid Javid, John Whittingdale and more. I bet the eight outriders can't wait to tell us what they do and don't like in the schedules.

A few forensic interviews with these people wouldn't go amiss, asking them to explain why average punter competition The Voice has to go, but average punter competition Bake-Off can stay ? And if they'd like to publish the research that shows the licence fee payers share their judgement ?  Perhaps they can point to commercial music services that have any smidge of the scale of commitment to news, discussion and live British music demonstrated by the BBC's networks ?  And explain why local newspapers are struggling, for example, in the USA without the competition and imperial ambitions of the BBC ? And estimate the total UK audience for Jeremy Hunt's local tv fiasco, taking £40m from the licence fee ? And share how much, as individuals, they spend a year with Sky and BT for media services to their various homes ?  One might even ask how much of the Green Paper has been written by Ray Gallagher, ex-Sky.

A grand 'insider' quote in The Guardian. "The last time politicians made decisions about creative content they gave us the Dome".