It is hardly surprising that many books have been published about that unique national institution and treasure, the BBC. One thinks of the painstaking and invaluable historical work of Asa Briggs; of the books produced in relatively recent times by such protagonists as Duke Hussey, John Birt, Greg Dyke and Will Wyatt; of the analytical insights offered by Georgina Born or the polemical approach adopted by Chris Horrie and Steve Clarke in Fuzzy Monsters.

What, then, are the reasons, other than narcissistic self-importance, for my decision to offer the perspective and the views which follow? I hope to offer a distinctive point of view at a particularly sensitive time. Of the large number of men and women who have served on the Board of the BBC I was amongst those fortunate enough to be offered a second term. This enabled me to form judgements over a relatively long period. It takes time to get a reliable feeling for so complex an organisation. Too often one's term comes to an end just as one achieves some degree of confidence in understanding systems, personalities and events. I was, as it happens, the only Governor to serve throughout the time from Birt's accession to the Director Generalship until the choice of his successor, Greg Dyke. I was thus witness both to that significant period of change and upheaval at the BBC termed ‘Birtism’ and to the appointment of a most able but flawed successor about whom I had profound misgivings.