72-517: Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg (born 6 October 1939) is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is the editor and presenter of The South Bank Show (1978–2010, 2012–2023), and the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 documentary series In Our Time . Earlier in his career, Bragg worked for the BBC in various roles including presenter, a connection that resumed in 1988 when he began to host Start
144-745: A life peer as Baron Birt , of Liverpool in the County of Merseyside . He took his seat in the House of Lords in March 2000 as a crossbencher . Birt is an active cross-bencher in the House of Lords, speaking out in 2011 and 2012 in favour of government's proposed Health and Social Care Bill. Birt's special interests include the Media/ Broadcasting/ Communications Industry, Climate Change/ Environment, Criminal Justice and Education In 2013 Birt voiced his opinion to
216-529: A third-class degree in engineering. From 1966 to 1971, Birt worked for Granada Television , where he devised and produced the magazine programme Nice Time before joining Granada's World in Action current affairs series. Birt persuaded Mick Jagger , who had just spent three nights in Brixton prison for possession of drugs, to participate in a 1967 edition of World in Action in which Jagger conversed with
288-487: A "private" report on crime irritated Jack Straw and the Home Office . In 2002, he proposed a second network of motorways operated as tolls to counter the problems of traffic congestion. Many saw Birt's role in government as controversial, since as a special advisor, rather than a civil servant, he was not formally obliged to face questions from House of Commons select committees . In October 2002 it emerged that
360-535: A BBC employee. He had to sell his shares in LWT , losing out on a windfall of what would have been several million pounds when it was bought by Granada in 1994. The Sunday Times later revealed that Birt had been a member of the Labour Party at the time of his appointment, a concern to Conservatives who had already expressed concerns about alleged left-wing bias at the organisation. As Director-General, Birt
432-445: A camera crew. Such an argument, was not universally accepted. Years later, in 2006, Alasdair Milne , the former BBC Director-General, said he thought Birt's "bias against understanding" argument was nonsense. In the mid-1970s, he took a break from LWT to produce David Frost 's The Nixon Interviews with the disgraced former US President Richard Nixon . In the 1977 interviews, watched by 45 million people, Nixon admitted his part in
504-577: A cross between The South Bank Show and the American cartoon South Park , set in the South Bank of London. In these sketches, Melvyn Bragg is Stan Marsh , Alan Yentob is Kyle Broflovski , Mark Lawson is Eric Cartman and Kenneth Branagh is Kenny McCormick . A sketch in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer featured Vic Reeves as Melvyn Bragg (with felt-tip marks on his face) presenting
576-561: A feature on fictional folk singers Mulligan and O'Hare. Reeves depicts Bragg as an unlikely A-Team obsessive. Harry Enfield 's TV film Norbert Smith - a Life is a parody edition of The South Bank Show . Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant 's second series of Extras featured a reference to a fictional episode of The South Bank Show focused on madcap children's television presenters Dick and Dom . Private Eye tends to parody Melvyn Bragg's name, and Spitting Image would rather accentuate his nasal accent. As Spitting Image
648-619: A five-part series on BBC Radio 4 examining the meaning of culture, expanding on Matthew Arnold 's landmark (1869) collection of essays Culture and Anarchy . In June 2013 Bragg wrote and presented The Most Dangerous Man in Tudor England , broadcast by the BBC . This told the dramatic story of William Tyndale 's mission to translate the Bible from the original languages to English. In February 2012, he began Melvyn Bragg on Class and Culture ,
720-445: A focus on the public sector and its Telecom, Media and Entertainment practice. Birt served as chairman of Lynx New Media (subsequently Lynx Capital Ventures) from 2000 to 2004. He was chairman of Waste Recycling Group and subsequently non-executive director of Infinis , a generator of renewable power. He also served chairman of Maltby Capital from 2007 to 2010. Birt was chairman of PayPal Europe between 2010 and 2014, having joined
792-415: A new arrangement of The South Bank Show theme. Sky Arts revived The South Bank Show with a new series starting 27 May 2012. Since 2012 most series only have around 4–6 episodes. The theme music is taken from Andrew Lloyd Webber 's Variations composed in 1977 for his brother, the cellist Julian Lloyd Webber . This is based on the theme from Paganini 's " 24th Caprice ". The brand image of
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#1732783842259864-515: A number of Labour donors given peerages. This led to accusations of cronyism from the defeated Conservative Party . In the Lords he takes a keen interest in the arts and education. According to The Guardian in 2004, he voted 104 times out of a possible 226 in the 2002/3 session, only once against the government, on the Hunting Act . He campaigned against it on the grounds that it could affect
936-517: A number of television and film screenplays. Some of his early television work was in collaboration with Ken Russell , for whom he wrote the biographical dramas The Debussy Film (1965) and Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World (1967), as well as Russell's film about Tchaikovsky , The Music Lovers (1970). Most of Bragg's novels are autobiographical fictions , set in and around
1008-460: A range of public service and defence areas. Birt remained at Number 10 as an unpaid adviser until December 2005, when he left to join private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners as an adviser. The Financial Times reported at the beginning of July 2005 that Birt's office ceiling at 10 Downing Street had fallen in. However, Birt was not injured. From 2006 to 2010, he was an adviser for consulting firm Capgemini on strategic issues, with
1080-426: A review of his professional life as a broadcaster, he also criticised the "tabloidisation" of intellectual concerns. He argued that Channel 4 should receive financial help, in order to preserve "public service broadcasting", which was taken as advocacy of the BBC sharing its licence fee with Channel Four, so called "top slicing". He also mentioned that his long-standing feud with Michael Grade had been resolved, but
1152-399: A series of three articles to The Times on the topic of television journalism. They argued that most television news and current affairs contained a "bias against understanding": pictures had taken precedence over analysis. Instead they advocated "a mission to explain". Makers of news and documentary programmes were required to outline their finished product in writing before setting out with
1224-612: A three-part series on BBC2 examining popular media culture, with an analysis of the British social class system. Bragg appeared on the Front Row "Cultural Exchange" on May Day 2013. He nominated a self-portrait by Rembrandt as a piece of art which he had found especially interesting. In 2015, Bragg was appointed as a Vice President of the Royal Television Society . Having produced unpublished short stories since
1296-641: Is "unable to cross the River of Jordan which would lead me to the crucial belief in a godly eternity." In 2012, Bragg criticised what he claimed to be the "Animus and the ignorance" of the atheism debate. In August 2016, Bragg publicly accused the National Trust of "bullying" in its "disgraceful purchase" of land in the Lake District, which could threaten the Herdwick rare breed of sheep as well as
1368-420: Is a British television executive and businessman. He is a former Director-General (1992–2000) of the BBC . After a successful career in commercial television, initially at Granada Television and later at London Weekend Television , Birt was appointed Deputy Director-General of the BBC in 1987 for his expertise in current affairs . The forced departure of Director-General Alasdair Milne after pressure from
1440-465: Is regularly cited as one of the most moving and memorable television moments ever. His interest in popular as well as classical genres is credited with making the arts more accessible and less elitist. He was Head of Arts at LWT from 1982 to 1990 and Controller of Arts at LWT from 1990. He has made many programmes on BBC Radio 4 , including Start the Week (1988 to 1998), The Routes of English (mapping
1512-609: The Edinburgh International Television Festival . The BBC's post-production department made a Christmas tape casting Birt as Davros , the head of the Daleks, which was alluded to many years later on a BBC DVD commentary for Genesis of the Daleks by former director David Maloney . Journalist Mark Lawson wrote at the time that Potter's "tendency towards unfocused vitriol and noisy self-examination made his contribution easily swattable by
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#17327838422591584-572: The Lake District National Park . His eldest daughter, Marie-Elsa, a priest, conducted the service. His second daughter, Alice, read a lesson, while his son, Tom, was an usher. Guests included Cumbrian mountaineer Chris Bonington and the ceremony featured the premiere of music specially written by Bragg's friend, composer Howard Goodall . Bragg has publicly discussed two nervous breakdowns that he has suffered, one in his teens and another in his 30s. His first breakdown began at
1656-498: The Thatcher government required someone near the top, preferably from outside the BBC, with editorial and production experience (Milne had been summarily replaced by Michael Checkland , an accountant ). During his tenure as Director-General, Birt restructured the BBC, in the face of much internal opposition. However, others have credited him with saving the corporation from possible government privatisation, and say he prepared for
1728-415: The 2014 Scottish referendum, Bird argued that Scottish independence would have a devastating impact on the BBC. In 2015, he led criticism of the decision for the BBC to start funding TV licences for over-75s, calling it a "deeply shocking announcement". Returning to his earlier career on 26 August 2005, Birt delivered his second MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh International Television Festival . Partly
1800-463: The BBC ever since. In 1998, Birt imposed a ban on BBC output mentioning the private life of Peter Mandelson . This order followed an edition of Newsnight , during which Matthew Parris had said that Mandelson was homosexual. Peter Ainsworth , the Conservative shadow Culture Secretary, questioned whether this was a generic ban on mentioning private issues or specific to Mandelson. Birt
1872-420: The BBC hastened the departure of executive Bill Cotton , who described his tenure as a "nightmare" for the BBC. Marmaduke Hussey , who appointed Birt to his BBC role, later claimed to have regrets. Some of Birt's changes were partially dismantled by his successors Greg Dyke and Mark Thompson . However, producer Tony Garnett claimed in 2009 that Birt's legacy of "totalitarian micro management" has existed at
1944-467: The BBC's damage controllers". Birt himself did not agree with his critics' portrait of the BBC of the time, but did allow that drama was a source of concern. "The originality is not there as it was in the Sixties", he said. One of Birt's predecessors, Alasdair Milne, said Birt did little good for the BBC apart from establishing its internet service and criticised him for paying consultants large fees for
2016-403: The BBC. Birt's success at LWT prompted the BBC's governors to appoint him Deputy Director-General in 1987 under Michael Checkland . Birt also served as the BBC's director of news and current affairs at this time. Birt's promotion to Director-General in 1992 caused controversy when it was revealed he was employed on a freelance consultancy basis. Under political and public pressure, Birt became
2088-788: The Carlisle United Supporters Club London Branch. Bragg is a relative of William Henry Bragg and his son Lawrence Bragg , who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1915 for their work in x-ray crystal structure analysis. He presented a Radio 4 programme on the subject in August 2013. The South Bank Show The South Bank Show is a British television arts magazine series originally produced by London Weekend Television and broadcast on ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new version of
2160-473: The House of Lords on the Gay Marriage bill stating "this bill goes the whole hog and rightly allows gay couples, if they wish, to make the powerful statements of love and commitment that marriage proclaims. If gay couples want that option, they should have it." In 2014 Birt showed his support for the assisted dying legislation, in the House of Lords debate, in which participants were evenly split. Before
2232-633: The ITV series, including unaired footage, is housed at the University of Leeds . ITV had 33 series with 743 episodes, from 1978 until 2010. In July 2010, it was revealed that Bragg had bought the rights to the brand and had first right of access to The South Bank Show archives. Sky Arts broadcasts South Bank Show archive editions and hosted the South Bank Sky Arts Awards on 25 Jan 2011, presented by Melvyn Bragg, accompanied by
Melvyn Bragg - Misplaced Pages Continue
2304-504: The Lake District's historic farming system, for which the region was nominated as a Unesco World Heritage site. In 1961 Bragg married his first wife, Marie-Elisabeth Roche b. 1939), and in 1965 they had a daughter, Marie-Elsa Bragg . Roche was a French viscountess studying painting at Oxford. In 1971, Roche died by suicide. In an interview with The Guardian in 1998, Bragg said, "I could have done things which helped and I did things which harmed. So yes, I feel guilt, I feel remorse." This
2376-659: The Third Term Plan. This included the overall policy programme, machinery of government changes and the legislative timetable. A special project team to develop the third term was led by Birt and Turnbull and reported regularly to the prime minister. Birt's team produced detailed proposals with a precise grid on how to implement policy. Concurrently, Birt served as an advisor at McKinsey & Company 's Global Media Practice from 2000 to 2005. His relationship with government and McKinsey caused some controversy as McKinsey were increasingly working with UK government departments in
2448-535: The Week on BBC Radio 4 . After his ennoblement in 1998, he switched to presenting the new In Our Time , an academic discussion radio programme, which has run to more than one thousand broadcast editions and is also a podcast. He served as Chancellor of the University of Leeds from 1999 until 2017. Bragg was born on 6 October 1939 in Carlisle , the son of Stanley Bragg, a stock keeper turned publican, and Mary Ethel (née Park), who worked alongside her husband in
2520-473: The age of 13. Inspired by a passage in Wordsworth's The Prelude , he found ways to cope, including exploring the outdoors and the adoption of a strong work ethic, as well as meeting his first girlfriend. The second followed his first wife's suicide. He traces the origin of a lifelong nervousness of public speaking to the experience of giving a reading from the lectern as a choirboy at the age of six. At
2592-459: The age of 19, Bragg had decided to become a writer after university. He recognised that writing would not, initially at least, earn him a living, and he took the opportunity at the BBC that arose after he had applied for posts in a variety of industries. While at the BBC, he continued writing. Publishing his first novel in 1965, he decided to leave the BBC to concentrate full-time on writing. A novelist and writer of non-fiction, Bragg has also written
2664-567: The age of 75, he was profiled in the BBC Two television programme Melvyn Bragg: Wigton to Westminster , first broadcast on 18 July 2015. He lives in Hampstead , London, but still owns a house near his home town of Wigton . He is a member of the Garrick and Chelsea Arts clubs. He also takes an interest in football, supporting both Carlisle United and Arsenal . He is the vice president of
2736-399: The board in 2004. He later served periods as chairman of Host Europe Group (2013–2017) and CPA Global (2015–2017). He is currently Vice-Chairman of Eutelsat , having joined the board as an independent director in 2006. Birt received an Emmy in 1995, for his "outstanding contribution" to international television. Birt was awarded a knighthood , and on 11 February 2000 he was created
2808-413: The corporation's restructuring. Many others opposed Birt, his methods and his reforms, including the journalists John Tusa , Mark Tully and Charles Wheeler , and news correspondent Kate Adie . Radio broadcaster John Dunn believed morale was bad under Birt, while David Attenborough commented that producers spend too much time worrying about money as a result of Birt's reforms. Birt's arrival at
2880-631: The editor of The Times ( William Rees-Mogg ) and the Bishop of Woolwich ( John A. T. Robinson ), among others. It was hailed as a "dialogue between generations." With Gus Macdonald , Birt became joint editor of World in Action in 1969. Birt moved from Granada to London Weekend Television in 1971. At LWT he was the founding editor and executive producer of the current affairs programme Weekend World . He became head of current affairs at LWT and, later, controller of features and current affairs. With Weekend World presenter Peter Jay , Birt contributed
2952-577: The era being given a path to university through the grammar school system. He read Modern History at Wadham College, Oxford , in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Bragg began his career in 1961 as a general trainee at the BBC . He was the recipient of one of only three traineeships awarded that year. He spent his first two years in radio at the BBC World Service , then at the BBC Third Programme and BBC Home Service . He joined
Melvyn Bragg - Misplaced Pages Continue
3024-644: The era of digital broadcasting . After leaving the BBC, Birt was Strategic Advisor to Prime Minister Tony Blair from 2001 to 2005. He was appointed Chairman of CPA Global in 2015. Birt was born in Liverpool to a Catholic father, a manager at the Firestone tyre company, and a Protestant mother. He was raised as a Catholic, and educated at the direct-grant grammar school St. Mary's College, Crosby, near Liverpool and read engineering at St Catherine's College, Oxford , graduating from Oxford University with
3096-527: The former Labour Party leaders Tony Blair and Neil Kinnock , and former deputy leader Roy Hattersley . He was one of 100 donors who gave the Labour Party a sum in excess of £5,000 in 1997, the year the party came to power under Blair in the general election . The following year he was appointed by Blair to the House of Lords as the life peer Baron Bragg , of Wigton in the County of Cumbria , one of
3168-417: The government had specifically asked him not to appear in front of the transport select committee, at a time when he was in charge of long-term transport strategy. Blair asked Birt to help him define his main domestic policy priorities so he could develop precise plans for the period after the 2005 election. Birt had first proposed the idea of the "five-year plans" in 2003 and was now responsible for overseeing
3240-686: The history of the English language), and In Our Time (1998 to present), which in March 2011 broadcast its 500th programme. Bragg's pending departure from the South Bank Show was portrayed by The Guardian as the last of the ITV grandees, speculating that the next generation of ITV broadcasters would not have the same longevity or influence as Bragg or his ITV contemporaries John Birt , Greg Dyke , Michael Grade and Christopher Bland . In 2012 he brought The South Bank Show back to Sky Arts 1 . In December 2012, he began The Value of Culture ,
3312-403: The interviews from the show, including extra material not included in the broadcast editions. The programme has been awarded more than 110 awards (including 12 BAFTAs , 5 Prix Italia and 4 RTS Awards ). Pat Gavin's animated title sequences have won two BAFTAs. The comedy series Dead Ringers often parodied The South Bank Show . It does this in a series of sketches called South Bank ,
3384-401: The journalists John Lloyd , John Simpson and Polly Toynbee . Birt's use of impenetrable jargon became known as "Birtspeak", a phenomenon mocked in the satirical magazine Private Eye , complete with a miniature Dalek caricature of Birt. The comparison originated from playwright Dennis Potter , who labeled Birt a "croak-voiced Dalek" in his MacTaggart Lecture delivered in August 1993 at
3456-552: The livelihoods of Cumbrian farmers. In August 2014, Bragg was one of 200 public figures who signed a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue . Bragg has defended Christianity, particularly the King James Bible , although he does not claim to be a believer, seeing himself in Albert Einstein 's term as a "believing unbeliever", adding that he
3528-504: The organisation for the new landscape shaped by digitalisation – preparations that were "far in advance of the BBC's terrestrial rivals", according to the academic Georgina Born . At the 1996 Edinburgh Television Festival, Birt said that without the resources to prepare for the digital age, the BBC would be "history". Birt asserted that the changes made the BBC more agile, more competitive and allowed it to expand beyond its traditional broadcasting services, but remaining licence-fee funded. He
3600-419: The power to buy services from outside the BBC. This theoretically reduced the cost to licence-payers of the BBC's historic resource base. Faced with high rental fees from the BBC's record library, producers found it cheaper to buy records from local record shops. In-house facilities were closed or stood idle, allegedly as a result of Birt's "creative accounting" methods. Above all, Birt is credited with preparing
3672-497: The production team of Huw Wheldon 's Monitor arts series on BBC Television . He presented the BBC books programme Read All About It (and was also its editor, 1976–77) and The Lively Arts , a BBC Two arts series. He then edited and presented the London Weekend Television (LWT) arts programme The South Bank Show from 1978 to 2010. His interview with playwright Dennis Potter shortly before his death
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#17327838422593744-412: The programme has always focused predominantly on art of the 20th and 21st centuries. For much of its life, the show was produced by London Weekend Television (LWT) for the ITV network. In May 2009, ITV announced that the show was to come to an end. Although it was originally reported that the show was ending due to Bragg's retirement, Bragg later made it clear that he decided to leave after they ended
3816-454: The programme is an animated version of a detail from Michelangelo 's Sistine Chapel ceiling painting, specifically the image of the Hand of God giving life to Adam . It shows the two hands meeting, generating a lightning bolt. There have been many subjects of the show, including: Directors who have made editions of the programme include: From 18 September 2006, ITV released podcast of
3888-513: The pub. Both the Braggs and Parks, Cumberland families, were agricultural labourers, also working at collieries and in domestic service. He was given the name Melvyn by his mother after she saw the actor Melvyn Douglas at a local cinema. He was raised in the small town of Wigton , where he attended the Wigton primary school and later The Nelson Thomlinson Grammar School , where he was Head Boy. He
3960-482: The public. Media commentator Steve Hewlett , Birt's former colleague and friend, suggested in 2012 that it might be time for the BBC "to bring in Birt 2.0". Hewlett acknowledged that many of Birt's reforms were unpopular, but said that without them, "it is questionable whether the BBC would exist in anything like its present capable and competitive form, or indeed would have retained the huge affection of audiences". Birt
4032-471: The scandal which had led to his resignation. Birt returned to LWT as director of programmes in 1982. During this period he revived the career of his old friend, the Liverpool singer Cilla Black , who in due course became the highest-paid female performer on UK television. Birt formed a close working relationship with his boss at LWT, Michael Grade , although this would later sour when both were working at
4104-449: The series began 27 May 2012 on Sky Arts . Conceived, written, and presented by former BBC arts broadcaster Melvyn Bragg , the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience. In 2023, the series came to an end when it was announced that Bragg would be leaving the series after 45 years. The programme was a replacement for Aquarius , the arts series which had been running since 1970. Presenter Melvyn Bragg
4176-620: The show, and thought ending it was a mistake; according to him, "they've killed the show, so I thought, I'll go as well." On Monday 28 December 2009 the final ITV edition of The South Bank Show was broadcast, featuring The Royal Shakespeare Company as its subject. Melvyn Bragg announced on this programme that, after ITV's last South Bank Show Awards in January 2010, there would be a series of ten The South Bank Show Revisited programmes transmitted in early 2010, featuring updates on previous South Bank Show subjects. The production archive for
4248-517: The speech as a whole was not admired by many figures in the industry. Following Director-General George Entwistle 's resignation in November 2012, James Purnell argued that the new Director-General "should learn from the Birt era" stating that it was Birt's "boldness" that saved the BBC. Instead of playing it safe and avoiding mistakes, he said, Birt transformed output and embraced the internet, and rebuilt relationships with government, business and
4320-453: The town of Wigton during his childhood. In 1972, he co-wrote the script for Norman Jewison 's film Jesus Christ Superstar (1973). Although Bragg published several works, he was unable to make a living, forcing a return to television by the mid-1970s. Bragg received a variety of reviews for his work, some critics declaring it outstanding and others suggesting it was lazy. Many suggested that splitting his time between writing and broadcasting
4392-571: The town owing to the stigma of her daughter being born illegitimately. From the age of 8 until he left for university, his family home was above a pub in Wigton, the Black-A-Moor Hotel, of which his father had become the landlord. Into his teens he was a member of the Scouts and played rugby in his school's first team. Encouraged by a teacher who had recognised his work ethic, Bragg was one of an increasing number of working-class teenagers of
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#17327838422594464-512: The way that John was willing to get right down into the data and understand the evidence, and come up with a real sense that you could do things in a totally different way." Birt supervised the development of long-term strategy on drugs, health, crime reduction, education, transport and London. His 2004 report on drug policy recommended making heroin use a criminal offence on par with possession. However, Birt's recommendations made him unpopular with some ministers and Blair's decision to ask Birt for
4536-421: Was already well known for his arts broadcasting on BBC television, notably Monitor and BBC Two 's The Lively Arts . It first aired on 14 January 1978, covering many subjects, including Germaine Greer , Gerald Scarfe and Paul McCartney . It is the longest continuously running arts programme on UK television. From the beginning the series' intent was to mix high art and popular culture. This has remained, and
4608-447: Was an idea originally conceived by Birt. Birt was made unpaid Strategy Adviser to Blair in 2001, appointed for what was termed " blue skies thinking " and claimed by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to be "worth every penny"; Blair wanted advice from outside the traditional Whitehall mindset – he had known Birt since the 1980s and approved of his analytical approach. Jeremy Heywood, Blair's principal private secretary, said: "He liked
4680-465: Was an only child, born a year after his parents married. His father was away from home serving with the Royal Air Force for four years during the war. His upbringing and childhood experiences were typical of the working-class environment of that era. When he was a child, he was led to believe that his mother's foster mother was his maternal grandmother. His grandmother had been forced to leave
4752-579: Was detrimental to the quality, and that his media profile and his known sensitivity to criticism made him an easy target for unjust reviews. The Literary Review ' s prize mocking his writing of sex in fiction, according to The Independent , was awarded not on readers' nominations, but simply because it would be good PR. From 1996 to 1998 he also wrote a column in The Times newspaper; he has also occasionally written for The Sunday Times , The Guardian and The Observer . Bragg's friends include
4824-412: Was in part a reference to his infidelities which included Cate Haste , whom he married in 1973. She was also a television producer and writer, whose literary work includes editing the 2007 memoir of Clarissa Eden , widow of Anthony Eden , and collaborating with Cherie Booth , wife of Tony Blair , on a 2004 book about the wives of British prime ministers. They had a son and a daughter. In June 2016 it
4896-463: Was often aired immediately before The South Bank Show , episodes would often end with a send-up of Bragg, most notably in one episode having him advise viewers to switch off their televisions to avoid watching it. Benny Hill once parodied Bragg in a 1978 episode of The Benny Hill Show as Melvyn Dragg. The name of the show was also parodied, and it was called "The South Blank Show." John Birt John Birt, Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944)
4968-426: Was one of the driving forces behind the launch of continuous news output and he took much money from traditional services to fund the 24-hour news channel and advance on the internet. However, such ventures were criticised by many as being clearly detrimental to BBC core programming. Birt has argued that without his changes, the BBC's operating charter might not have been renewed in the 1990s. Birt's advocates include
5040-587: Was reported that Bragg and Haste had separated amicably, and that Bragg now shared a home with former film assistant Gabriel Clare-Hunt, with whom he had an affair that began in 1995. She is 16 years younger than him. The marriage between Haste and Bragg was dissolved in 2018 and Haste died in April 2021. Another reported affair was with Lady Jane Wellesley between 1979 and 1987. In September 2019 he married Clare-Hunt at St Bega's Church in Bassenthwaite , part of
5112-409: Was succeeded as Director-General by Greg Dyke who also had ties to the Labour Party. Birt was brought into Number 10 to lead the development of long-term strategy for the government on key areas of public policy. Tony Blair asked him to produce a report on solutions to crime, and he served as advisor on Criminal Justice from 2000 to 2001. The establishment of a Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA)
5184-402: Was tasked with securing the BBC's future at a time of rapid technical, cultural and economic changes in world broadcasting. In seven years, Birt restructured and modernised the corporation which he wanted to make "the best managed public sector organisation". Birt imposed a policy of radical change to deliver efficiency savings. In April 1993 he introduced Producer Choice, giving programme makers
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