Alasdair Milne

Alasdair Milne

Infobox Person
name = Alasdair Milne


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nationality = British
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employer = BBC
occupation = television producer,
title = Programme Editor, Controller BBC Scotland, BBC Director of Programmes, BBC Director-General
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Alasdair David Gordon Milne (born 8 October 1930) was a producer at the BBC who rose through management (Controller BBC Scotland and BBC Director of Programmes) before becoming Director-General of the BBC in July 1982. His resignation was forced under intense pressure from the BBC Governors in January 1987. Following the actions of his successors, Alasdair Milne regards himself as the last Director-General of the BBC.

Early life

Milne was educated at New College, Oxford.

Career

Milne joined the BBC in September 1954 as a general trainee. He was taken under the wing of Grace Wyndham Goldie who recruited, trained, guided and encouraged many well-known broadcasters at the BBC. Milne was one of the so-called 'Goldie Boys', a group of producers and presenters, which included Huw Wheldon, Robin Day, David Frost, Cliff Michelmore, Ian Trethowan and Richard Dimbleby.

The first television producer to become Director-General, Alasdair Milne had an unrivalled programme record. His background was in current affairs and he was a founder producer of Tonight, and became the programme's Editor in 1961. He also worked on programmes such as That Was The Week That Was one of the most controversial programmes of the 1960s and the The Great War. He was instrumental in bringing the entire Shakespeare canon to television, as well as one of the BBC's most acute and best loved comedies, Yes, Minister.

Landmark broadcasting events during his time as Director-General included Live Aid, the massive music event precipitated by a BBC news report on famine in Africa. The BBC's new Breakfast Time programme went on air on 17 January 1983, presented by Frank Bough and former ITN news reader Selina Scott. Milne, was full of praise for the show saying: "It was a terrific start. The first Tonight programme was not as good as this." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/january/17/newsid_2530000/2530363.stm BBC ON THIS DAY | 17 | 1983: BBC wakes up to morning TV ] ]

As Director-General, Milne stood up to the British government. He defended the BBC and it's editorial independence in a series of public rows in the face of increasingly hostile relations with the establishment. Some BBC programmes were thought to step beyond the existing deferential consensus which had prevailed since the BBC's conception. Contentious programme making included the impartial reporting of the Falklands War on Newsnight, the miners' strike, the "Real Lives" fracas, the Panorama libel action and its reporting of US bombing of Libya, and the controversy surrounding the programme "Secret Society", which took place in light of MI5's vetting of BBC employees. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/02/nspy02.xml Revealed: how the BBC used MI5 to vet thousands of staff - Telegraph ] ]

On top of this Milne had to defend the very existence of the BBC to the Peacock Committee, which was considering the future of the BBC. The licence fee survived the negotiations and future satellite broadcasting opportunities were considered.

In 1986 Lord Hussey was appointed Chairman of the BBC Governors to steer the Corporation through a period of perceived left-wing bias in the BBC. In an unprecedented step Lord Hussey convinced the Board of Governors that a change of direction was needed. Hussey carried the governors with him and they forced the resignation of the DG. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/keyfacts/stories/director_generals.shtml BBC - Press Office - Director-Generals ] ]

Milne wrote:"Patricia Hodgson, the Secretary, asked me if I would go and see the Chairman. I thought it odd that she addressed me by my Christian name; everybody else did, but for some reason she had never done so before. When I walked into Hussey's office, Barnett and he were both there. I remember the blinds were drawn against the sun which was brilliant that morning. Hussey's lip trembled as he said: 'I am afraid this is going to be a very unpleasant interview. We want you to leave immediately. It's a unanimous decision of the Board"." [Pg 201, DG: The Memoirs of a British Broadcaster.]

Alasdair Milne stood down in 1987.

In October 2004, he argued that the BBC's alleged "dumbing down" is the result of the corporation's growing number of female executives. Milne defended his statement, saying he was not biased against women in general. "I have nothing against women - I've worked with them all my life"." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3725954.stm BBC NEWS | Entertainment | TV and Radio | Ex-BBC boss slates 'dumb' shows ] ]

References

Publications

"DG: The Memoirs of a British Broadcaster", 1988

ee also

* British Broadcasting Corporation
* Board of Governors of the BBC
* Politics of the United Kingdom


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