I turned down a graduate contract in London for £30k, going up to £40k after two years, to be at the BBC. If you want to work at BBC D&E, you accept that you're not going to get a competitive salary. But in return, you get very relaxed and laid back working conditions. (Or so people tell me. I haven't worked at any other large software org to compare.)

Someone I know, who is now a principal dev, was previously a contractor for the BBC. He decided to leave contracting and join the corporation permanently. He's one of the most amazingly clever developers I have ever met.

(But yes, we'd all still appreciate it if we could be paid more.)