The BBC's Centenary Specials Include King Charles Visiting 'The Repair Shop'

It's been 100 years since the formation of The British Broadcasting Company Ltd. The original company was initially a commercial broadcasting company and a joint effort between British and American companies. It wasn't until four years later, on December 31, 1926, that the nascent network was dissolved and reborn as the non-commercial and crown-chartered British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). But as the oldest media company still in business, it is the first to reach the centenary mark; the British public (and government) are proud to celebrate its original inception.

The BBC has not had an easy time of it this last decade. The rise of streaming and the attrition of viewership from broadcast since 2014 has been a remarkably swift shift in the entertainment business; one most networks were ill-prepared to handle. Here in America, where the "Big Four" networks are commercial, this attrition was seen as capitalism at work, business as usual. But in the U.K., where broadcast is government-funded, it has been viewed as a full-blown crisis, one the Tory leadership has been happy to take advantage of in its long-held quest to dismantle essential social services.

That makes this moment slightly ironic, as the people trying to destroy the BBC are out there praising its longevity and programming. Moreover, this post itself is just as incongruous, as we break down the centenary specials on offer from the BBC's most notable titles and most popular series and how to watch them... in America on streaming.