The BBC’s under-fire chairman Richard Sharp has resigned following a report that said he breached appointment rules by not fully discovering his role in a loan given to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Sharp had faced months of pressure to quit and created a serious headache for the broadcaster after it emerged that, prior to his appointment, he had helped Johnson — who was involved in his selection process — access to a loan facility reportedly worth around $1 million. This story would gather steam following the BBC’s handling of the impartiality row over Match of the Day host Gary Lineker, when major question marks over the government influence over the BBC were raised, particularly surrounding Sharp, a former banker who had worked with current prime minister Rishi Sunak at Goldman Sachs and previously donated more than £400,000 ($486,000) to the Conservative Party.
The chairman’s resignation comes a month after the former...
Sharp had faced months of pressure to quit and created a serious headache for the broadcaster after it emerged that, prior to his appointment, he had helped Johnson — who was involved in his selection process — access to a loan facility reportedly worth around $1 million. This story would gather steam following the BBC’s handling of the impartiality row over Match of the Day host Gary Lineker, when major question marks over the government influence over the BBC were raised, particularly surrounding Sharp, a former banker who had worked with current prime minister Rishi Sunak at Goldman Sachs and previously donated more than £400,000 ($486,000) to the Conservative Party.
The chairman’s resignation comes a month after the former...
- 4/28/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The BBC’s appointment of Chair Richard Sharp “should not stand” and the process was “fatally flawed,” according to former Director General John Birt.
The embattled Sharp, who is awaiting the result of a government inquiry into his appointment, was described by Birt as “a person of obvious weight and consequence but an unsuitable candidate in one vital respect.”
“I don’t think the appointment should stand,” Birt told the UK’s influential Dcms Committee (Dcmsc) this afternoon. “This isn’t about political connections because governments of all kinds have appointed BBC Chairs who enjoy their confidence. But having known every BBC Chair for decades, governments have tended to have a good record for appointing people with an independent cast of mind, who will protect the BBC’s independence.”
Deadline revealed last week that the BBC had raised concerns about the way the government was going about appointing its new...
The embattled Sharp, who is awaiting the result of a government inquiry into his appointment, was described by Birt as “a person of obvious weight and consequence but an unsuitable candidate in one vital respect.”
“I don’t think the appointment should stand,” Birt told the UK’s influential Dcms Committee (Dcmsc) this afternoon. “This isn’t about political connections because governments of all kinds have appointed BBC Chairs who enjoy their confidence. But having known every BBC Chair for decades, governments have tended to have a good record for appointing people with an independent cast of mind, who will protect the BBC’s independence.”
Deadline revealed last week that the BBC had raised concerns about the way the government was going about appointing its new...
- 3/28/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Matthew Macfadyen is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in Pride & Predudice, Succession and Stonehouse.
Matthew MacFadyen Biography: Age, Early Life, Family, Education
Matthew Macfadyen was born on October 17, 1974 (Matthew Macfadyen: age 48) in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. His parents are Meinir and Martin Macfadyen, a drama teacher and an oil engineer respectively. He attended schools in England, Scotland and Indonesia before being accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London when he was 17. He finished his schooling in 1995 before taking to the British theatre.
Matthew MacFadyen Biography: Career
Macfadyen started his career on the stage with the company Cheek by Jowl where he had roles in The School for Scandal, Much Ado About Nothing and The Duchess of Malfi. He then went on to play roles in television, such as Hareton Earnshaw in a TV adaptation of Wuthering Heights (1998), Daniel Symon in Perfect Strangers (2001) and...
Matthew MacFadyen Biography: Age, Early Life, Family, Education
Matthew Macfadyen was born on October 17, 1974 (Matthew Macfadyen: age 48) in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. His parents are Meinir and Martin Macfadyen, a drama teacher and an oil engineer respectively. He attended schools in England, Scotland and Indonesia before being accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London when he was 17. He finished his schooling in 1995 before taking to the British theatre.
Matthew MacFadyen Biography: Career
Macfadyen started his career on the stage with the company Cheek by Jowl where he had roles in The School for Scandal, Much Ado About Nothing and The Duchess of Malfi. He then went on to play roles in television, such as Hareton Earnshaw in a TV adaptation of Wuthering Heights (1998), Daniel Symon in Perfect Strangers (2001) and...
- 3/8/2023
- by Hailey Schipper
- Uinterview
Exclusive: Prasanna Puwanarajah said he jumped at the opportunity to appear in The Crown portraying infamous television journalist Martin Bashir, pummeled by a BBC inquiry that condemned the “deceitful” methods he used to obtain the controversial 1995 Panorama TV interview with Princess Diana, because ”roles like that just don’t really exist for Asian actors.”
Related Story Belfast Film Festival World Premiere For ‘Ballywalter’, Actor Prasanna Puwanarajah's First Feature; Seána Kerslake And Patrick Kielty Star Related Story Theo James Set To Lead Guy Ritchie's Netflix TV Series 'The Gentlemen' Related Story David Letterman Interviews Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy In Kyiv On Netflix's 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction'
The actor’s comments come as the UK print media continue to whip itself into a frenzied state over the Emmy-winning Netflix and Left Bank Pictures series, which takes a looking-through-the-keyhole approach to events that involved the late Queen Elizabeth II,...
Related Story Belfast Film Festival World Premiere For ‘Ballywalter’, Actor Prasanna Puwanarajah's First Feature; Seána Kerslake And Patrick Kielty Star Related Story Theo James Set To Lead Guy Ritchie's Netflix TV Series 'The Gentlemen' Related Story David Letterman Interviews Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy In Kyiv On Netflix's 'My Next Guest Needs No Introduction'
The actor’s comments come as the UK print media continue to whip itself into a frenzied state over the Emmy-winning Netflix and Left Bank Pictures series, which takes a looking-through-the-keyhole approach to events that involved the late Queen Elizabeth II,...
- 11/3/2022
- by Baz Bamigboye
- Deadline Film + TV
Some 25 years after Martin Bashir’s bombshell interview with Princess Diana on BBC’s “Panorama” program, the scandal continues to rage on.
On Tuesday, a U.K. parliament House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee interviewed at length former BBC director generals Tony Hall and John Birt, current director general Tim Davie and current chair Richard Sharp.
An independent investigation commissioned by the BBC concluded that Bashir obtained the “Panorama” interview using deceitful means. Giving evidence to the committee first, Hall admitted that he knew that Bashir was lying.
“We were lied to, and our trust was misplaced and, bluntly, Bashir took us all in, from the director general down to the program editor,” Hall deposed.
Referring to the 1996 BBC enquiry into the matter, Hall said, “We have not tried to conceal from the public or anyone any of the conclusions we came to around this 25 years ago.
On Tuesday, a U.K. parliament House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee interviewed at length former BBC director generals Tony Hall and John Birt, current director general Tim Davie and current chair Richard Sharp.
An independent investigation commissioned by the BBC concluded that Bashir obtained the “Panorama” interview using deceitful means. Giving evidence to the committee first, Hall admitted that he knew that Bashir was lying.
“We were lied to, and our trust was misplaced and, bluntly, Bashir took us all in, from the director general down to the program editor,” Hall deposed.
Referring to the 1996 BBC enquiry into the matter, Hall said, “We have not tried to conceal from the public or anyone any of the conclusions we came to around this 25 years ago.
- 6/15/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
BBC director general Tim Davie and two of his predecessors, Tony Hall and John Birt, have eaten large helpings of humble pie under intense questioning from British lawmakers over the Princess Diana scandal.
The three men appeared in front of British Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Dcmsc) on Tuesday to discuss John Dyson’s inquiry into the BBC’s 1995 Panorama interview with Princess Diana, which concluded that former reporter Martin Bashir forged documents in order to secure the scoop.
Hall, who only stepped down as director general last year, said he was “sorry for the hurt caused” by the affair, which has been savaged by Prince William and Prince Harry, the latter of whom said it was part of a “culture of exploitation and unethical practices” that ultimately took his mother’s life in 1997.
Hall led the BBC’s news operation at the time of the bombshell...
The three men appeared in front of British Parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee (Dcmsc) on Tuesday to discuss John Dyson’s inquiry into the BBC’s 1995 Panorama interview with Princess Diana, which concluded that former reporter Martin Bashir forged documents in order to secure the scoop.
Hall, who only stepped down as director general last year, said he was “sorry for the hurt caused” by the affair, which has been savaged by Prince William and Prince Harry, the latter of whom said it was part of a “culture of exploitation and unethical practices” that ultimately took his mother’s life in 1997.
Hall led the BBC’s news operation at the time of the bombshell...
- 6/15/2021
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Wearing produced Boys from the Blackstuff, Pride and Prejudice, Edge of Darkness and many more.
Michael Wearing, producer of iconic television dramas including Boys from the Blackstuff and Edge of Darkness, has died aged 78 (reports Broadcast).
Wearing (right), who held a number of senior positions across drama at the BBC, died on Friday 5 May following a stroke. Wearing is survived by his three children, Sadie, Ella and Ben.
After studying anthropology at Newcastle University and a short career in the theatre, Wearing joined the BBC’s English regions drama department as a script editor in 1976.
Reporting to David Rose, who went on to become founder of Film 4, at the BBC’s Pebble Mill base in Birmingham, Wearing worked with writers including Alan Bleasdale and Ron Hutchinson on a number of Play for Today scripts.
He also worked on series including Stephen Davis’ Trouble With Gregory, which aired as part of BBC2’s Playhouse strand, Hutchinson’s six-part...
Michael Wearing, producer of iconic television dramas including Boys from the Blackstuff and Edge of Darkness, has died aged 78 (reports Broadcast).
Wearing (right), who held a number of senior positions across drama at the BBC, died on Friday 5 May following a stroke. Wearing is survived by his three children, Sadie, Ella and Ben.
After studying anthropology at Newcastle University and a short career in the theatre, Wearing joined the BBC’s English regions drama department as a script editor in 1976.
Reporting to David Rose, who went on to become founder of Film 4, at the BBC’s Pebble Mill base in Birmingham, Wearing worked with writers including Alan Bleasdale and Ron Hutchinson on a number of Play for Today scripts.
He also worked on series including Stephen Davis’ Trouble With Gregory, which aired as part of BBC2’s Playhouse strand, Hutchinson’s six-part...
- 5/9/2017
- ScreenDaily
Ron Howard's account of David Frost's post-Watergate TV interviews isn't always faithful to fact, but then neither was Richard Nixon
Frost/Nixon (2008)
Director: Ron Howard
Entertainment grade: A–
History grade: C+
In 1974, the Watergate scandal brought down Richard Nixon's presidency in the United States. He eventually confessed his guilt to the late Sir David Frost in 1977.
Journalism
David Frost (Michael Sheen) is hosting an Australian talk show, all cheesy jokes and cheesier ties. He is gripped by the broadcast of Richard Nixon's (Frank Langella) farewell speech. Back in London, he approaches producer John Birt (Matthew Macfadyen) to pitch an interview with Nixon. Birt laughs. "Come on, don't look like that," says Frost. "Well, how do you expect me to look?" replies Birt. "I spent yesterday evening watching you interview the Bee Gees." Frost replies, earnestly: "Weren't they terrific?" Peter Morgan's delicious screenplay, adapted from his own stage play,...
Frost/Nixon (2008)
Director: Ron Howard
Entertainment grade: A–
History grade: C+
In 1974, the Watergate scandal brought down Richard Nixon's presidency in the United States. He eventually confessed his guilt to the late Sir David Frost in 1977.
Journalism
David Frost (Michael Sheen) is hosting an Australian talk show, all cheesy jokes and cheesier ties. He is gripped by the broadcast of Richard Nixon's (Frank Langella) farewell speech. Back in London, he approaches producer John Birt (Matthew Macfadyen) to pitch an interview with Nixon. Birt laughs. "Come on, don't look like that," says Frost. "Well, how do you expect me to look?" replies Birt. "I spent yesterday evening watching you interview the Bee Gees." Frost replies, earnestly: "Weren't they terrific?" Peter Morgan's delicious screenplay, adapted from his own stage play,...
- 9/3/2013
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
Cuz causes a buzz
BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas's colleagues really made sure his leaving party at Broadcasting House was memorable on Tuesday night, thanks to a video montage of his career and 24 years at the BBC, concluding with a tribute clip from Michael Douglas saying: "nobody has done more for the media than my cousin, Torin". And, no, it wasn't some clever virtual reality trick. The recording was provided by the enterprising Mark Savage, producer for BBC arts editor Will Gompertz, who persuaded the star to play along and make the sound bite at last month's Cannes film festival, where he was promoting his new movie.
Shirley they can't be serious
Director general Tony Hall's contribution, which was introduced by a clip of Douglas interviewing a fresh-faced Hall rhapsodising about the joys of News 24 back in 1996, also produced a wave of laughter when he rather clumsily noted that...
BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas's colleagues really made sure his leaving party at Broadcasting House was memorable on Tuesday night, thanks to a video montage of his career and 24 years at the BBC, concluding with a tribute clip from Michael Douglas saying: "nobody has done more for the media than my cousin, Torin". And, no, it wasn't some clever virtual reality trick. The recording was provided by the enterprising Mark Savage, producer for BBC arts editor Will Gompertz, who persuaded the star to play along and make the sound bite at last month's Cannes film festival, where he was promoting his new movie.
Shirley they can't be serious
Director general Tony Hall's contribution, which was introduced by a clip of Douglas interviewing a fresh-faced Hall rhapsodising about the joys of News 24 back in 1996, also produced a wave of laughter when he rather clumsily noted that...
- 6/5/2013
- by Monkey
- The Guardian - Film News
There was a terrific reminder last night of the brilliant investigative and campaigning journalism of Granada TV's World In Action in the 35 years from 1963 until 1998.
ITV1 screened a 90-minute documentary showing a variety of the highlights from the series with contributions from past editors - such as Ray Fitzwalter, John Birt, Leslie Woodhead, Steve Boulton and Ian McBride - plus a former editor, Paul Greengrass, cameraman George Jesse Turner, researcher Michael Apted and Granada's ex-chairman Sir Denis Forman.
Among about the programmes they spoke about, with understandable pride, were those that helped to effect genuine changes, such as the release of the innocent Birmingham Six, the reuniting of Anwar Ditta with her three children and the exposures of John Poulson and Reginald Maudling.
As Greengrass pointed out, it was the mixture of journalism and film-making that made the programmes so popular and so successful. It is fair to say World In Action...
ITV1 screened a 90-minute documentary showing a variety of the highlights from the series with contributions from past editors - such as Ray Fitzwalter, John Birt, Leslie Woodhead, Steve Boulton and Ian McBride - plus a former editor, Paul Greengrass, cameraman George Jesse Turner, researcher Michael Apted and Granada's ex-chairman Sir Denis Forman.
Among about the programmes they spoke about, with understandable pride, were those that helped to effect genuine changes, such as the release of the innocent Birmingham Six, the reuniting of Anwar Ditta with her three children and the exposures of John Poulson and Reginald Maudling.
As Greengrass pointed out, it was the mixture of journalism and film-making that made the programmes so popular and so successful. It is fair to say World In Action...
- 1/8/2013
- by Roy Greenslade
- The Guardian - Film News
"30 Rock" producer Lorne Michaels is to be honored at the 2010 International Emmy Awards gala for his work on star-studded U.S. comedy sketch show "Saturday Night Live". The SNL creator and executive producer is to receive the Directorate Award at the 38th annual event in New York on November 22.
The late night variety show has featured celebrity hosts including Tom Hanks, Betty White and Steve Martin during its 35 years on air. International Academy president & CEO Bruce Paisner says: "With Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels opened the door to a new kind of comedy on television and since then nearly everyone has walked through it. He has changed our entertainment, affected our politics and shaped the way we view the world."
In addition to his work in television, Michaels has also produced films including "Baby Mama", "Mean Girls" and "Wayne's World". Previous winners of the Directorate Award include media mogul Ted Turner...
The late night variety show has featured celebrity hosts including Tom Hanks, Betty White and Steve Martin during its 35 years on air. International Academy president & CEO Bruce Paisner says: "With Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels opened the door to a new kind of comedy on television and since then nearly everyone has walked through it. He has changed our entertainment, affected our politics and shaped the way we view the world."
In addition to his work in television, Michaels has also produced films including "Baby Mama", "Mean Girls" and "Wayne's World". Previous winners of the Directorate Award include media mogul Ted Turner...
- 6/16/2010
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
30 Rock producer Lorne Michaels is to be honoured at the 2010 International Emmy Awards gala for his work on star-studded U.S. comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live.
The SNL creator and executive producer is to receive the Directorate Award at the 38th annual event in New York on 22 November.
The late night variety show has featured celebrity hosts including Tom Hanks, Betty White and Steve Martin during its 35 years on air.
International Academy president & CEO Bruce Paisner says: "With Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels opened the door to a new kind of comedy on television and since then nearly everyone has walked through it. He has changed our entertainment, affected our politics and shaped the way we view the world."
In addition to his work in television, Michaels has also produced films including Baby Mama, Mean Girls and Wayne's World.
Previous winners of the Directorate Award include media mogul Ted Turner and the BBC's John Birt.
The SNL creator and executive producer is to receive the Directorate Award at the 38th annual event in New York on 22 November.
The late night variety show has featured celebrity hosts including Tom Hanks, Betty White and Steve Martin during its 35 years on air.
International Academy president & CEO Bruce Paisner says: "With Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels opened the door to a new kind of comedy on television and since then nearly everyone has walked through it. He has changed our entertainment, affected our politics and shaped the way we view the world."
In addition to his work in television, Michaels has also produced films including Baby Mama, Mean Girls and Wayne's World.
Previous winners of the Directorate Award include media mogul Ted Turner and the BBC's John Birt.
- 6/15/2010
- WENN
Marvin Minoff, who produced the famed Richard Nixon interviews with David Frost, numerous telefilms and the 1998 film "Patch Adams," died Nov. 11 at his Los Angeles home with family and friends at his bedside. He was 78.
Minoff, the husband of actress Bonnie Franklin and the longtime business partner of writer-actor Mike Farrell, left the agency business after 15 years to become president of Frost's David Paradine Television in 1974.
There, he executive produced with the talk-show host and John Birt the interviews with Nixon that were broadcast in syndication in 1977, three years after the disgraced U.S. president resigned. The interviews were the basis of "Frost/Nixon," the Broadway play that was adapted into the 2008 film that was a best picture Oscar nominee. Keith MacKechnie played Minoff in the film.
Paradine also did subsequent interview sessions with Nixon's Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the Shah of Iran.
A Brooklyn native and the...
Minoff, the husband of actress Bonnie Franklin and the longtime business partner of writer-actor Mike Farrell, left the agency business after 15 years to become president of Frost's David Paradine Television in 1974.
There, he executive produced with the talk-show host and John Birt the interviews with Nixon that were broadcast in syndication in 1977, three years after the disgraced U.S. president resigned. The interviews were the basis of "Frost/Nixon," the Broadway play that was adapted into the 2008 film that was a best picture Oscar nominee. Keith MacKechnie played Minoff in the film.
Paradine also did subsequent interview sessions with Nixon's Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the Shah of Iran.
A Brooklyn native and the...
- 11/13/2009
- by By Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- Former BBC director general John Birt has quit as strategy adviser to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, it was announced Thursday by Downing Street. Birt, hired to be Blair's "blue-skies thinker," has, since 1999, advised Blair on a range of issues including the role of the BBC, the future of transport and Britain's future energy supply. He will take up a position with private equity vehicle Terra Firma, which owns a number of companies, including the U.K.'s Odeon and UCI Cinemas and the German motorway service operator Autobahn Tank & Rast.
- 12/15/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- Former BBC director general John Birt on Friday warned that British television faces a bleak future if public service broadcasting does not continue to be properly funded. Delivering the James MacTaggart Memorial lecture that kicks off the annual three day Edinburgh International Television Festival, Birt surprised many of his former colleagues by praising television output across all the main terrestrial channels, singling his successors at the BBC for plaudits rather than the criticism many had predicted. But he warned that new media competitors including software companies, wireless and mobile phone giants would "threaten policy makers and public service broadcasters alike."...
- 8/26/2005
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- Former BBC director general John Birt will deliver the keynote MacTaggart Memorial lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival it was announced Monday. Birt, who left the BBC's top post in 2000, will make his first public speech in some years after recently being appointed by Prime Minister Tony Blair to review broadcasting policy. He is expected to use the speech -- traditionally a platform for controversial and agenda-setting debate -- as a forum to reiterate his recent advice to culture secretary Tessa Jowell that the BBC license fee should be shared with other public service broadcasters. The Edinburgh Television Festival runs Aug. 26-29.
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