The BBC has been an essential companion throughout my life. From Blue Peter to Blue Planet it has entertained, educated and amazed.

I also owe it personal thanks. It was watching Neil Mudie, the BBC’s equitable and objective newsman in Dundee for decades, that gave youthful me impetus to pursue a job in journalism. If that ex-Harris pupil could do it, so could this one.

For its enduring relationship with David Attenborough alone, the BBC secures national treasure status. Together they’ve done more than anyone to bring irrefutable evidence into our livingrooms of the precarious future facing humanity, our planet and the diversity of flora and fauna we share it with.

And to millions around the globe living in closed or war-torn societies, the BBC has been a window to the outside world, a beacon providing rare shafts of truth and light to their darkest hours.

For all its imperfections, it remains a broadcasting exemplar. Without it, the horizons of our world would be greatly reduced.

It should be cherished yet its future is in jeopardy. Last year 539,000 licence fees were cancelled, an annual high. Over three years more than a million fees have been cancelled and the rate of non-payment in Scotland is greater than the UK........

© The Courier