I think that there are two things going on here. There is now a mission that listeners must hear from the people who are more closely connected to the experience or geography of the film; a sort of critical levelling-up which expunges London-centric critics. And, more importantly (and more dangerously), it fits in with a growing trend across broadcast media (not just the BBC) where everyone must be a cheerleader for the work of art under discussion.

This is not my imagination. I have heard from several critics within the industry who have told me they have been dropped from BBC shows for talking about a particular play or film or TV programme because they have been less than kind about a director or actor’s work in the past (conversely, they are often hired when they have been very positive). What this creates is an unhealthy distortion where everything is apparently brilliant. Sadly, this is not the case.

I don’t entirely blame the BBC for this move away from pure arts criticism. I realise they must be under pressure from too-powerful publicists for whom dissenting voices are the enemy. Annoy them, and you may not bag an interview with a Hollywood A-lister; such is the petty way in which these people operate.

Incidentally, the situation on television is even worse. As a (possibly quite odd) teenager in the 90s, much of my cultural knowledge came from watching Late Review (subsequently Newsnight Review), the weekly panel show hosted by Mark Lawson and featuring our own Allison Pearson among its number. I wouldn’t say Allison, Tom Paulin, Ekow Eshun et al told me what to think, but they taught me a lesson in how to form an opinion, for which I remain grateful. 

However, the show is long gone, and there is currently no arts discussion show on the BBC (nor, as far as I know, has the new head of arts and classical music, Suzy Klein, made any overtures in that direction). Instead, we have Sara Cox presiding over the patronising Between the Covers, a book club for the lobotomised where everything is brilliant. Books are brilliant. I love books, don’t you? Yeah, reading is cool.