"Hacker, I don't know if you remember but you once met my little boy and made him cry," Nandy told the troublesome terrier at the BBC's Salford studios last month.
"So I'm afraid I am announcing today that I am shutting the BBC down." "Hooray! It worked!" replied the dastardly dog.
Watching this exchange between the two Wiganers was the BBC's director general, Tim Davie, who will be hoping for a slightly different outcome from his future negotiations with Nandy.
He faces the single challenge that will define his legacy at the corporation: whether he can strike a deal with the government over a long-term financial future for the BBC.
Negotiations over the future of the licence fee - and whether it is retained in its current form or replaced with a subscription model or funded by a new tax - are expected to begin in January and last two years, with a deal needing to be in place by the end of the current royal charter in 2027.
Labour's election victory - and Keir Starmer's vague commitment to the licence fee - suggested the clouds might be parting for the BBC after 14 years of Tory-led government.
This story is from the August 31, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the August 31, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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