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Sunday 14 November 2021

BBC Plans Documentary Chronicling Its Own Controversy

The BBC is planning a major new documentary series that will highlight its own scandal and controversy over the years.

The series, rumoured to be presented by David Dimbleby, is one of several special commissions to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the national broadcaster.

BBC Director General Tim Davie is said to have taken the view that the broadcaster needs to "drain the swamp" in order to survive into the future.

It would appear that the first part of the healing process will be the BBC taking a good hard look at itself in the mirror.

The documentary is likely to highlight BBC controversies including its handling of the Jimmy Savile and Stuart Hall sex abuse scandals.

It is also likely to feature Martin Bashir's Panorama Special interview of Princess Diana, in which the crooked presenter fed the Princess a load of bullshit in order to secure her participation.

The so-called Sachsgate scandal, where BBC presenters Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand left an obscene voicemail for Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs, will also get a mention.

The BBC received more than 18,000 complaints in relation to an October 2008 episode of Radio 2's The Russell Brand Show. On that occasion Jonathan Ross joined Brand to co-present the show, which was scheduled to include an interview with Andrew Sachs.

Unable to reach Sachs on his home number, Brand tried to call him on his mobile. The pair then conducted a puerile one-sided dialogue with Sachs' voicemail which included Ross shouting out "he (Brand) fucked your granddaughter".

Astonishingly the segment was broadcast without the permission of Sachs or his granddaughter, Georgina Baillie, despite it having been pre-recorded and reviewed by the show's production team.

In the furore that followed Ross and Brand were suspended by the BBC, leading to Brand resigning from the Corporation the very same day.

The Controller of Radio 2 at the time, Lesley Douglas, also resigned from her position and broadcast regulator Ofcom fined the BBC £150,000.

The BBC was forced to issue a grovelling apology in which it acknowledged that the segment had been grossly offensive and a serious breach of editorial guidelines.

Describing the new series, a BBC spokesman said: "It will be a history of the BBC, exploring its role at major moments of political and cultural change, its conflicts with governments over the years, and its own public controversies."

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