In a temperature-controlled(恒温控制的) room in a suburb of Reading, the basis of the BBC’s existence is kept in a flat, square, faded navy case, the size of a large pizza box. Inside is a stack of vellum(犊皮纸，上等皮纸) – calfskin, pounded until it forms a milky and translucent(半透明的) paper that is supposed to last for thousands of years. The queen’s red wax seal(火漆印章) is secured to its base with red and gold cord. The pages are strapped down with two strips of white elastic, more PE kit than Buckingham Palace(更像体育课装备，而非白金汉宫).
在雷丁郊区一间恒温房间里，BBC赖以存在的基础被保存在一个扁平、方正、褪色的深蓝色盒子里，大小相当于一个大号披萨盒。里面是一叠犊皮纸——小牛皮经过捶打，变成一种乳白色半透明的纸张，据说可以保存数千年。女王的红色火漆印章用红金两色绳带固定在底部。纸页被两条白色松紧带勒住，看上去更像体育课的装备，而非白金汉宫的气派。
The document is unique. Like hundreds of other British organisations, the BBC was founded via a Royal Charter(皇家特许状), granted by the monarch of the day. But unlike Oxford colleges, the British Film Institute, or the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards(伦敦敬拜的扑克牌制造商行会), the BBC was given an expiry date(到期日，有效期截止日). When the British Broadcasting Corporation was founded, in the 1920s, radio was seen as such an uncertain, risky technology that the government only gave it a 10-year guarantee, after which it would have to seek a new charter.
这份文件独一无二。和英国数百家机构一样，BBC是凭借当朝君主授予的皇家特许状成立的。但与牛津各学院、英国电影协会或“敬拜的扑克牌制造商行会”不同，BBC被设定了一个到期日。20世纪20年代英国广播公司成立时，无线电被视为一种极不确定、风险极高的技术，政府只给了它10年保障，之后它必须重新申请特许状。
Ever since, the BBC has been forced to repeatedly regenerate(重生，再生), much like the lead character in its beloved series Doctor Who(英国科幻剧《神秘博士》). Most governments have granted decade-long charters, with some variation. (The 2017 charter was set at 11 years to unhook it from the five-year British general election cycle.) Like the Doctor, in each iteration(版本，迭代) the BBC retains the same name, the same job, and does many of the same things. Yet at midnight on the night of its renewal, it disappears, and is replaced by a new version of itself. If the charter is not renewed, the BBC would cease to exist as a legal entity(法律实体): it could no longer employ its staff, broadcast or publish, and its assets would automatically pass to the state.
自那以后，BBC被迫不断“重生”，就像它深受喜爱的剧集《神秘博士》中的主角一样。多数政府给予的是十年期特许状，偶有变化。（2017年的特许状定为11年，以避开英国五年一次的大选周期。）和“博士”一样，每一次轮回中BBC都保留同样的名字、同样的职责，做许多同样的事。然而在续期之夜的午夜，它消失，被一个新的自己取代。如果特许状未能续期，BBC将不再作为法律实体存在：它不能再雇用员工、播出或出版，其资产将自动归国家所有。