How the BBC’s Flawed Approach to Impartiality Scuppered a Podcast About a Heating System

Former BBC producer and reporter Patrick Howse explores the latest worrying sign of the corporation’s approach to subjects it deems politically controversial

How many regular BBC listeners will have known that Evan Davis (pictured), presenter of Radio 4’s PM programme, had been hosting a non-BBC podcast about heat pumps since 2024?

It is likely that the first many heard of this side-line was the news that the BBC had told him he couldn’t do it any more.

Davis hosted 20 Happy Heat Pump podcast episodes, having originally been given permission to do so by his BBC managers. They explored how heat pumps work, their advantages and drawbacks, and the contribution they can make to reaching net zero by 2050 – the UK’s drive towards the long-term reduction of carbon emissions.