Alasdair David Gordon Milne (born 1930) was Director-General of the BBC from July 1982 until a forced resignation, under intense pressure from the Conservative government and a Board of BBC Governors dominated by Conservatives, in January 1987. The Director-General is chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC. The position is appointed by Board of Governors of the BBC. Sir John Reith (1927-1938) Sir Frederick Ogilvie (1938-1942) Sir Cecil Graves and Robert W. Foot (joint Director-Generals, 1942-1943) Robert W. Foot (1942... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Conservative Party is the largest political party on the centre-right in the United Kingdom. ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Career

Milne's background was in current affairs and he was a founder producer of the BBCs Tonight programme in 1957, becoming its editor in 1961. Milne was later Controller of BBC Scotland and Managing Director, Television. 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

He became Director General at a difficult time for the BBC, following the Falklands War when the government had criticised Newsnight presenter Peter Snow for using the phrase "if you believe the British" and news broadcasts referring to the opposing forces impartially as "the British forces" and "the Argentine forces" rather than "us" and "the enemy". The Falklands War or the Malvinas War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas), was an armed conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands, also known in Spanish as the Islas Malvinas, between March and June of 1982. ... Newsnight is a British daily news analysis, current affairs and politics programme broadcast between 22. ... Peter Snow (born April 20, 1938) is a British television and radio presenter. ...

Shortly after he took office, another public service broadcaster, Channel 4, was launched. Public broadcasting (also known as public service broadcasting or PSB) is the dominant form of broadcasting around the world, where radio, television, and potentially other electronic media outlets receive funding from the public. ... Channel 4 is a television broadcaster in the United Kingdom (see British television). ...

During his era a number of BBC programmes caused outrage among Conservatives, not least the Panorama documentary "Maggie's Militant Tendency", broadcast in January 1984, which suggested that a number of Conservative MPs had had connections with far-right groups (drawing analogies in its title with Militant, a far-left group within the Labour Party which was causing great worries for Neil Kinnock at the time). In a situation which now seems to have prefigured the Hutton Inquiry, the BBC's reporting was criticised in a court case brought against the Corporation by Neil Hamilton, one of the MPs named in the documentary, who would later be publicly disgraced and lose his seat to the independent candidate Martin Bell, himself a former BBC reporter. Panorama is a long-running current affairs documentary series on BBC television, launched in 1953 and focusing on investigative journalism. ... The word militant can refer to any individual engaged in warfare, a fight, combat, or generally serving as a soldier. ... The Labour Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom (see British politics), and one of the United Kingdoms three main political parties. ... Rt. ... Lord Hutton led the inquiry that concluded that Dr. David Kelly had taken his own life. ... This page is about Neil Hamilton, former MP and media personality. ... Martin Bell (born August 31, 1938) is a British former broadcast news reporter and politician. ...

In August 1985, when the BBC caved in to government pressure and banned a Real Lives documentary "At the Edge of the Union", profiling and interviewing the Sinn Fein politician (and alleged senior IRA figure) Martin McGuinness and Peter Robinson, the deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party. The National Union of Journalists called a one-day strike in support of the principle of BBC independence from government control; an amended version was shown later that year. Note: as an adjective (stressed on the second syllable instead of the first), august means honorable. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sinn Féin (in the Irish language ourselves or we ourselves; not as sometimes incorrectly translated, ourselves alone) is an Irish political party. ... There are several paramilitary groups which claim or have claimed the title Irish Republican Army (IRA) and advocate a unitary Irish state with no ties to the United Kingdom. ... James Martin Pacelli McGuinness (born May 23, 1950) is an Irish nationalist politician. ... Several notable people are called Peter Robinson: For the Northern Ireland politician Peter David Robinson, see Peter Robinson (politician) For the English-born Canadian-based detective novelist, see Peter Robinson (novelist) For Ronald Reagans former speechwriter see Peter Robinson (speechwriter) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which... The Democratic Unionist Party is a hardline Unionist party in Northern Ireland led by Ian Paisley. ... The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union for journalists in Britain and Ireland. ...

Later that month, the left-leaning Observer newspaper revealed the full extent of MI5 vetting of BBC employees, the so-called Christmas Tree list, which earlier that year Milne had been denying (something he later regretted). It was subsequently agreed that MI5 influence should be reduced, which could not have pleased many Conservatives. Nor could the highly-praised 1985 series Edge of Darkness have pleased those of a Conservative bent who supported nuclear power and the presence of the US military in the UK. A Panorama programme in 1986 about the US bombing of Libya caused a storm of accusations from the Right, most vociferously from Norman Tebbit, that the BBC had become inherently anti-American. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Current MI5 headquarters in Thames House, London MI5—officially called the Security Service—is one of the British secret service agencies. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government Official website of the United States government - Gateway to governmental sites White House - Official site of the US President Senate. ... Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit, PC (born March 29, 1931), is a right-wing British Conservative politician and former MP for Chingford. ... Anti-American sentiment is a hostility towards or disapproval of the government, culture, history, and/or people of the United States of America. ...

Board of Governors

The Thatcher government had been deliberately appointing Conservatives to the BBC Board of Governors in an attempt to undermine Milne's influence, but Stuart Young (brother of a Conservative Tory cabinet minister), appointed chairman in 1983, had "gone native" and become a defender of the BBC's independence. After his sudden death in 1986 from cancer aged 52, the government appointed Marmaduke Hussey, a former chairman of Times Newspapers before the company's sale to Rupert Murdoch in 1981, as chairman, with the specific agenda of "get Milne". In September 1986, as Hussey took over, there was outrage in the right wing sections of the press after BBC1 controller Michael Grade passed a press release claiming that Alan Bleasdale's series The Monocled Mutineer was historically accurate — in reality it was an account of the First World War seen from a distinctly left-leaning perspective. Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch (born March 11, 1931), Australian-born American media proprietor, is the major shareholder and managing director of News Corporation, one of the worlds largest and most influential media corporations. ... Michael Grade CBE (born March 8, 1943) is a British businessman and a distinctive figure in the field of broadcasting. ... Alan Bleasdale (born March 23, 1946 in Liverpool, England, UK) is a British television dramatist, best known for several powerful social drama serials based around the lives of ordinary people. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...

Simultaneously, the first series of Casualty was viewed by many Conservatives as Left-Wing propaganda in favour of the National Health Service, and even the recovery in BBC1's ratings after a low point in 1983-84 did not please the government; the Conservative position argued that the BBC's pursuit of mainstream, populist broadcasting encroached on the territory of ITV. Besides, the BBC's top-rating series, EastEnders, was also viewed by many Conservatives as immoral, especially when it introduced the first gay character in a British soap. Casualty is a long-running BBC television drama serial, first broadcast in 1986 and transmitted on BBC One. ... North Korean propaganda showing a soldier destroying the United States Capitol building. ... The National Health Service (NHS) is the publicly-funded healthcare system of the United Kingdom. ... // Introduction EastEnders is a popular BBC television soap opera which was first broadcast on February 19, 1985. ... Gay - Wikipedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television...

Pressure on the BBC increased still further after Michael Lush was killed while attempting a stunt for Noel Edmonds' Late Late Breakfast Show, which revealed inadequate safety procedures, and in late 1986 Dennis Potter's series The Singing Detective caused moral outrage on the Right. Noel Edmonds is gunged on his show, Noels House Party. ... Dennis Christopher George Potter (May 17, 1935 – June 7, 1994) was a controversial British dramatist who is best known for several widely acclaimed television dramas which mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. ... The Singing Detective The Singing Detective was a 1986 BBC television miniseries, written by Dennis Potter, starring Michael Gambon. ...

Secret Society and Milne's fall

The opportunity to destroy Milne came in early 1987 after police had raided the headquarters of BBC Scotland in Glasgow, removing research material for a programme in the Secret Society series, presented by the Left-wing journalist Duncan Campbell, concerning the secret Zircon reconnaissance satellite. This was condemned strongly by Douglas Hurd, who was emerging as one of the less Thatcherite and more pro-BBC members of the government, but Milne was still effectively sacked (the idea that he resigned was always more spin than anything else). Duncan Campbell is a freelance investigative journalist and television producer who has specialised in intelligence issues, was prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act in the ABC Trial in 1978 and made the controversial series Secret Society for the BBC in 1987 (see Zircon affair). ... Zircon was the codename for a British signals intelligence satellite, intended to be launched in 1988, before being cancelled. ... A spy satellite (officially referred to as a reconnaissance satellite or recon sat) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. ... Douglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, PC (born March 8, 1930), is a British politician in the Conservative Party, and a patron of the Tory Reform Group. ...

Most of the Secret Society series was eventually transmitted, although an episode concerning Cabinet secrecy in government was banned, and when Channel 4 wanted to show it in 1991 as part of their "Banned" season they were turned down, and had to reconstruct the programme themselves.

Alasdair Milne was replaced as Director-General by Michael Checkland, who along with his deputy (and eventual successor) John Birt, set about making the BBC conspicuously less radical and more amenable to the Conservatives, not least in the form of Birt's market-driven reforms of the Corporation's internal structure during the 1990s. Sir Michael Checkland (born 1936) was Director-General of the BBC from 1987 to 1992, having been appointed after the forced resignation of Alasdair Milne. ... John Birt, Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944), served as the Director-General of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) from 1992 to 2000, having previously been deputy director-general since 1987. ...

Such is Milne's antipathy to the contemporary BBC that he now regards himself as its last Director General, and regrets the marginalisation of programme makers at the organisations more senior levels. Controversially, in October 2004, he argued that the BBCs alleged "dumbing down" is the responsibility of the corporations growing number of women executives[1]. Adherents of the "dumbing down" argument might, in any case, point out that this has been a long drawn out process.

His son and daughter are the journalists Kirsty and Seumas Milne.

Sir is an honorary title. ... Sir Ian Trethowan (October 20, 1922 - December 12, 1990) was Director-General of the BBC from October 1, 1977 to July 31, 1982, having previously been Managing Director of BBC Network Radio from 1970 to 1976. ... 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Director-General is chief executive and editor-in-chief of the BBC. The position is appointed by Board of Governors of the BBC. Sir John Reith (1927-1938) Sir Frederick Ogilvie (1938-1942) Sir Cecil Graves and Robert W. Foot (joint Director-Generals, 1942-1943) Robert W. Foot (1942... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sir is an honorary title. ... Sir Michael Checkland (born 1936) was Director-General of the BBC from 1987 to 1992, having been appointed after the forced resignation of Alasdair Milne. ... 1987 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

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