Editing BBC Two (section)

==Programming==
{{main|List of television programmes broadcast by the BBC}}
{{blockquote|BBC Two's remit is to be a mixed-genre channel appealing to a broad adult audience with programmes of depth and substance. It should carry the greatest amount and range of [[knowledge building]] programming of any BBC television channel, complemented by distinctive comedy, drama and arts programming.|'''BBC Two remit'''<ref name="BBC Two Remit 2011">{{cite web |title=BBC Two Service License |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/regulatory_framework/service_licences/tv/2011/bbc_two_feb11.pdf |publisher=BBC Trust |access-date=4 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128191417/https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/regulatory_framework/service_licences/tv/2011/bbc_two_feb11.pdf |archive-date=28 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

BBC Two's historical scope was arts, culture, some comedy and drama, and appealing to audiences not already served by BBC One or ITV. Over its first thirty or so years the channel developed a reputation for screening highly praised and prestigious drama series, among these ''[[Boys from the Blackstuff]]'' (1982), 1991's highly successful ''[[The Men's Room]]'', the costume drama ''[[Middlemarch (TV serial)|Middlemarch]]'' (1994) or 1996's critically acclaimed ''[[Our Friends in the North]]''. The channel's "highbrow" profile is also in part attributable to a long history of demanding documentaries of all types, beginning with ''[[Civilisation: A Personal View|Civilisation]]'' and ''[[The Ascent of Man]]'' in the 1960s. Like the early [[Channel 4]], BBC Two also established for itself a reputation as a champion of independent and international cinema, under the ''Screen 2'' brand.

The channel has sometimes been judged, increasingly in more recent years, to have moved away from this original role and closer to the mainstream. Since the launch of the digital-only [[BBC Four]], the BBC has been accused in particular of shifting its more highbrow output to the new channel, which, until the end of the UK's digital TV switchover in October 2012,<ref>[http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/82057/24-10-12_DSO_completion.pdf ''End of analogue era as switchover completes'', Digital UK, London, 10 October 2012]. {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130603183925/http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/82057/24-10-12_DSO_completion.pdf |date=3 June 2013 }}. ''Digitaluk.co.uk'', Retrieved 9 May 2013.</ref> a minority (7.5% in the final quarter of 2010)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/tv-research/dtv/dtv-site |title=Digital Television Update |date= |work=ofcom.org.uk|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130509165703/http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/other/tv-research/dtv/dtv-site/ |archive-date = 9 May 2013}}</ref> of viewers did not receive. BBC Four's remit is very similar to the earlier remit of BBC2, and contains many documentaries and arts programmes. It has been perceived by some that this strategy is to allow BBC Two to show more popular programmes and to secure higher ratings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/organgrinder/2007/09/bbc_funding_debate_why_bbc2_bb.html |title=Blogposts |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Since 2004 there have been some signs of an attempt to return closer to parts of BBC Two's earlier output with the arts strand ''[[The Culture Show]]''. Its most popular programme at the moment is ''[[Top Gear (2002 TV series)|Top Gear]]'', which now moved to BBC One.

Much of BBC Two's output has previously or subsequently been shown on other channels. Some of these programmes are repeats of popular or flagship programmes from BBC Four in a late-night strand, originally called ''BBC Four on Two'' but now unbranded. Other programmes are moved to the channel as a result of their success on [[BBC Three (former)|BBC Three]] or Four, so that subsequent series are well received. An example of this is the BBC Three series ''[[Torchwood]]'', which was transferred to the channel following the success of the first series. BBC Two is also used as a testing ground for programmes prior to their moving to the flagship [[BBC One]]: such examples include ''[[Have I Got News for You]]'' and popular comedies ''[[Absolutely Fabulous]]'' and ''[[Miranda (TV series)|Miranda]]'', which moved to BBC One after success on Two. Also in August 2014, ''[[The Great British Bake Off]]'' moved to BBC One, due to its success the previous year on BBC Two. In 2017, ''Bake Off'' moved from BBC One to [[Channel 4]].

Another founding part of BBC Two was to provide educational and community programming on the BBC, as part of its public service remit. The educational section of this commitment saw BBC2 broadcast a large amount of programming for the [[Open University]], who co-produced programming with the corporation, and saw the channel broadcast [[BBC Schools]] programmes from 1983 until the programmes were transferred to the [[BBC Learning Zone]] in 2010.

As a result of the channel's commitment to community broadcasting, the channel produced the symbolic ''[[Open Space (BBC TV)|Open Space]]'' series, a strand developed in the early 1970s in which members of the public would be allotted half an hour of television time, and given a level of editorial and technical training in order to produce for themselves a film on an issue most important to them. BBC2's [[Community Programme Unit]] kept this aspect of the channel's tradition alive into the 1990s in the form of ''Video Diaries'' and later ''[[Video Nation]]''. The Community Programmes Unit was disbanded in 2004.

BBC Two has also given various programmes from around the world their first UK broadcasts, and have introduced many more to terrestrial audiences. International shows that have been broadcast on BBC Two include ''[[M*A*S*H (TV series)|M*A*S*H]]'', ''[[The Simpsons]]'', ''[[24 (TV series)|24]]'', ''[[Family Guy]]'', ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]'', ''[[American Dad!]]'', ''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air]]'', ''[[The Ren & Stimpy Show]]'', ''[[Moonlighting (TV series)|Moonlighting]]'', ''[[The Tracey Ullman Show]]'' and ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]''.

In January 2013, BBC Two ceased to show children's programmes and replaced the weekday morning schedule with repeats of the previous BBC One daytime schedule, children's programmes was returned in 2017 and 2022 in Saturday morning. It also began showing ''Sign Zone'' in the early hours; prior to 2013, this had been broadcast by BBC One. This was the only channel that broadcast Sign Zone in the early hours until the relaunch of [[BBC Three]] as a television channel in 2022.

From October 2013, BBC Two has shown classic programmes like ''[[Bergerac (TV series)|Bergerac]]'', ''[[Cagney and Lacey]]'', ''[[The Rockford Files]]'', ''[['Allo 'Allo!]]'', and ''[[Are You Being Served?]]'' on weekday afternoons, with the retro logos from 1970s and 1980s, between the current programmes.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

In October 2014, ''[[Russell Howard's Good News]]'' and ''[[Backchat (2013 TV series)|Backchat]]'' moved to BBC Two from BBC Three.

In 2014, BBC Two commissioned Britain's first transgender sitcom, ''[[Boy Meets Girl (BBC TV series)|Boy Meets Girl]]'', which follows the developing relationship between Leo, a 26-year-old man, and Judy, a 40-year-old transgender woman.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/bbc2-commissions-britains-first-transgender-sitcom-boy-meets-girl-9683788.html |title=BBC2 commissions Britain's first transgender sitcom Boy Meets Girl |work=[[The Independent]]|date=22 August 2014 }}</ref>

From 7 April 2015, the morning ''Sign Zone'' was shown before ''[[Victoria Derbyshire (TV programme)|Victoria Derbyshire]]'' 8:00am-9:00&nbsp;am including ''[[See Hear]]'' on Wednesday morning.

BBC Two is also known for broadcasting some news and [[Current affairs (news format)|current affairs]] programmes. It broadcasts BBC News updates every morning at 9 am, simulcasting [[BBC News (British TV channel)|the BBC News channel]] after it stops simulcasting ''[[BBC Breakfast]]'' on BBC1. This includes an edition of ''[[BBC Business Today]]'' at 11:30 and ''[[Sport Today|Sportsday]]'' at 11:45, then fifteen minutes of ''[[BBC News Now]]'', this had previously been between 2006-2010 an edition of ''[[World News Today]]'' and 2010-2011 ''[[GMT (TV programme)|GMT]]''. At 12:15 pm during the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament session]], [[policy debate|political debate]] programme ''[[Politics Live]]'' is broadcast on BBC Two. On Wednesdays, due to the [[Prime Minister's Questions]], the programme is broadcast at the earlier time of 11:15am. The programme is not broadcast on Fridays or when Parliament is on a holiday break, so the simulcast of ''[[BBC News Now]]'' continues until 1:00pm for the ''[[BBC News at One]]'' on BBC One. At 10:30pm, current affairs programme ''[[Newsnight]]'' provides reports and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. BBC Two does not broadcast any news and current affairs programming at the weekend.

From 2017 until 2019, it broadcast the UK selection show for the [[Eurovision Song Contest]], [[United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest|''Eurovision: You Decide'']]. The channel stopped broadcasting the show after the 2019 edition due to the fact that the BBC opted for an internal selection in collaboration with [[BMG Rights Management]].

In 2020, it was reported that the programme ''Victoria Derbyshire'' would end, owing to the BBC's £80m cuts.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51214425 |title=Derbyshire tells viewers 'we don't give up' |date=23 January 2020 |work=BBC News |access-date=16 April 2020}}</ref> Since the beginning of the [[Coronavirus pandemic]], [[Victoria Derbyshire]] has been presenting the first hour of BBC News, which continues until 13:00.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

BBC Two is also known for broadcasting some BBC One programmes in a change to the schedules when that channel is broadcasting a BBC News Special. For example; during the Coronavirus pandemic, BBC1 aired [[press conferences]] from the [[Government of the United Kingdom|UK government]] about major developments from the pandemic and the scheduled BBC One programming during those News Specials was broadcast on BBC Two. However, on 9 April 2021 – the day of the [[death and funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh|death]] of [[Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh]] – BBC Two and BBC One both simulcast BBC News for the whole day. The same would happen on both 8 and 19 September 2022, following the [[death and state funeral of Elizabeth II|death and state funeral respectively]] of [[Elizabeth II]].