What Happens When The BBC Get it Wrong

What do we expect from the BBC? (Click to see the BBC's chart) Its colloquial nickname 'Auntie Beeb' somehow sits well with both the Sun and chart ruler Venus sitting in 4th house Capricorn, meanwhile its own mission statement, which states it wants "to enrich people's lives with programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain,"¹ can be seen in the 3rd house Saturn, Moon and Mercury.

So, with a Capricorn Sun and Moon conjunct Saturn, we want Auntie Beeb to be sensible. But note that humour loving Jupiter is in innovative Aquarius and in the 5th house of entertainment, where it makes a wide square to the Saturn/Moon conjunction, and it should come as no surprise that the BBC sometimes stretches its boundaries and thus is noted for is its cutting edge comedy. The Goon Show, Monty Python's Flying Circus and The Kenny Everett Radio show to name a few.

But what happens when the BBC gets it wrong? The rest of the media tend to blow things out of all proportion. Note that exaggerative Jupiter rules the 3rd house of the media and opposes Neptune, a planet that loves to confuse. This happened when a young DJ made an inappropriate comment on his radio show. If the BBC had known that this comedian's Neptune was conjunct it's ascendant then maybe they would never have employed him, but employ him they did and subsequently in July 1970 Kenny Everett² was sacked by the BBC for suggesting that the wife of the then Minister of Transport had passed her advanced driving test by bribing the examiner.

Fast forward a few decades and the BBC employ a young comedian whose Pluto conjuncts their ascendant and we guess that this isn't going to end well. On the 18th October 2008 during the Russell Brand³ radio show, he and Jonathan Ross made a prank call to the actor Andrew Sachs, making inappropriate comments about his Granddaughter Georgina Baillie. Should they have done this? No! Should it have been broadcast? No! Was it blown out of all proportion? Yes! The DJs had both apologised, the BBC had received just two complaints. But step in the media in the shape of the Daily Mail who interview Miss Baillie and helpfully report the transcript of the phone calls, including some pieces that were never aired and the complaints suddenly run in to thousands, questions are raised in the House, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the opposition comment, Ofcom investigates, Brand resigns, Ross is suspended for 12 weeks without pay, the controller of BBC Radio 2 resigns, the BBC issue a statement and broadcast an apology. Oh and Georgina Baillie, who performs in a group called the Satanic Sluts, sells her story to the tabloids.

So what's happening in Auntie Beeb's chart to demonstrate this furore? The eclipses tell an interesting story. The total eclipse of 1st August was in partile opposition to the BBC's sun, whilst the lunar eclipse of the same month was sitting across the BBC's Jupiter/Neptune opposition. Neptune has also been passing back and forth over the BBC's Jupiter and on the day the program was aired Jupiter opposed Pluto. Also significant is that the BBC is currently in the middle phase of its Uranus Return. Amongst other things Uranus signifies revolution, rebellion unexpected change, unconventional activity and chaos. Perhaps all this indicates that in future the BBC will now be uncertain of airing its previously applauded innovative comedy.

Another issues arising out of this latest scandal is just how much the BBC pay their presenters. Jonathan Ross was reputedly given an £18 million three-year contract in June 2006.⁴ Ross has Sun, Moon and Midheaven in Scorpio as well as Neptune and Mercury. The BBC's second house of money has Scorpio on the cusp! We don't have a time for Ross⁵ other than sometime in the evening but this is enough to put his Moon and Mercury opposite the BBC's Mars, co-ruler of the 2nd (sitting in Taurus in the 8th.) When the contract was awarded transiting Jupiter was opposing the BBC's 8th house Mars.

The final phase of the BBC's Uranus return will be in March 2010, becoming exact on the 4th⁶ This is an interesting chart, transiting Venus and Uranus are conjunct each other, transiting Neptune is conjunct the Jupiter end of the BBC's Jupiter/Neptune opposition and Saturn is approaching its ascendant. As a result of the current scandal the BBC have already stated that they are "re-examining its financial relationships with some of its most famous presenters."⁷ This they may be doing, but as this chart shows, the current underlying issues will not rest until 2010.

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This article first appeared on the pages of the Astrological Association

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/purpose/ ↑
   
2. Rodden Rating: B Source: Bio/autobiography Source notes: Frank C. Clifford quotes autobiography "Custard Stops at Hadfield," Willow Books, 1982, p.8. Data given in British Entertainers, Flare Publications 1997 ↑
   
3. Russell Brand's book “My Booky Wook”,” Hodder & Stoughton, page 15 states “I was born at midnight on the 4t June 1975” he makes it unclear as to whether it's midnight starting or ending the day. ↑
   
4. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/jonathan-ross-nets-16318m-in-threeyear-bbc-deal-481826.html ↑
   
5. Various websites confirm 17th November 1960 in Leytonstone. His wife Jane Goodman has said that he was born in the evening. No further information is known. Many thanks to Frank Clifford for this information and forhelp in collating other data needed for this article.↑
   
6. BBC Uranus Return 4 Mar 2010, 01:13:27 UT +0:00 ↑
   
7. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/nov/03/ ↑