I have explained how I had witnessed the accelerated departure of Michael Checkland and the coronation of John Birt. Having seen one Director General already selected take office, I would now be involved in the selection of another who would succeed Birt after my departure from the Board.

Christopher Bland, who had been involved in various capacities over the years in appointments to senior positions, had a very clear view of how he wanted to proceed. There would, very properly, be open advertising for the post, allowing all-comers inside or outside the Corporation to be considered. To advise on the process and promote interest in application for the position a leading firm of head-hunters, Heidrick and Struggles, would be involved. There would be an initial selection panel to advise on the shortlisting of candidates for interview by the full Board. All of this was, on the face of it, fair and objective. There would be no mere coronation, as in the choice of Birt to succeed Checkland. I now believe, though, that although we would go through the appropriate motions, Bland had been quite determined from the outset to have Greg Dyke.

Looking back on it I should – as the most senior Governor then serving – have smelled a rat in my frankly rather insulting exclusion from the ‘selection panel’ chosen by Bland, on which he would be joined by the Vice Chairman Baroness Young; Roger Jones, the National Governor for Wales; Richard Eyre, the former Director of the National Theatre; and Pauline Neville-Jones a retired diplomat of great experience.