Alan Yentob
{{Short description|English television executive and presenter (1947–2025)}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Alan Yentob
| honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}}
| image = Alan Yentob 2017.jpg
| caption = Yentob in 2017
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1947|3|11}}
| birth_place = Stepney, London, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2025|5|24|1947|3|11}}
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| spouse = {{marriage|Philippa Walker|2020}}
| children = 2
| education = University of Leeds
| occupation = {{hlist|Television executive|presenter}}{{force singular}}
| employer = BBC
| years active = 1968–2025
| known_for = Controller of BBC2 (1987–1993)
Controller of BBC1 (1993–1996)
}}
Alan Yentob (11 March 1947 – 24 May 2025) was an English television executive and presenter. He held senior roles at the BBC, including head of music and arts, controller of BBC1 and BBC2, and was the corporation's creative director from 2004 until 2015. He was also chairman of the board of trustees of the charity Kids Company from 2003 until its collapse in 2015.
Early life
Yentob was born into an Iraqi Jewish family in Stepney, London, the son of Flora Esther (née Khazam) and Isaac Reuben Yentob.{{Cite web|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U41305|title=Yentob, Alan |year=2007|journal=Who's Who|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u41305 |url-access=registration}} Soon after he was born, his family moved to Manchester where his father was in business with his wife's family, the Khazams. One example of this collaboration were sales of shares in Haighton Holdings in 1951 involving his mother, father and uncle Nadji Khazam.{{cite news |title=Haighton Holdings |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33423612/nadji_khazam_and_flora_yentob_sell/ |access-date=7 July 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=15 November 1951 |archive-date=1 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701172300/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33423612/nadji_khazam_and_flora_yentob_sell/ |url-status=live}} Together they were involved in the UK with various other textile manufacturers plus wholesalers such as Spencer, Turner & Boldero and Jeremiah Rotherham & Co.{{cite news |title=Shares in Anglo-African Finance and Dewhurst-Dent |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33416097/khazam_and_yentob_families/ |access-date=7 July 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=28 June 1983 |archive-date=7 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707132432/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33416097/khazam_and_yentob_families/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=Spencer Turner & Boldero and Jeremiah Rotherham |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33303371/anglo_african_has_interests_in_both/ |access-date=7 July 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=24 January 1967 |archive-date=2 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190702091213/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33303371/anglo_african_has_interests_in_both/ |url-status=live }} The families also had dealings in South Africa with their holding company Anglo-African Investments.Don Wilkinson [https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA346221/page/n119 Local takeover of Khazam Yentob group rumoured] The Citizen, Johannesburg, DTIC ADA346221: Sub-Saharan Africa Report, No. 2830, P.111' 28 June 1983 The public companies were eventually shed and a few consolidated into Dewhurst Dent, in which Alan Yentob still owned a 10% share.{{cite news |title=Maverick Child of Auntie |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33597094/ |access-date=7 July 2019 |work=The Observer |date=28 April 1985 |archive-date=13 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913195139/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33597094/the-observer/ |url-status=live }}{{Citation| title= BBC Declaration of personal interests|url=http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/managementstructure/biographies/pdf/2011_12/dopi/alan_yentob_DOPI_2011.pdf#zoom=100| format= PDF| access-date= 22 December 2011| archive-date= 24 March 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324142123/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/managementstructure/biographies/pdf/2011_12/dopi/alan_yentob_DOPI_2011.pdf#zoom=100| url-status= live}}
Yentob grew up in Didsbury, a suburb of Manchester and returned to London with his family when he was 12 to live in a flat on Park Lane.{{cite news |title=Profile: Alan Yentob: The insider's extrovert |first=David |last=Lister |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/profile-alan-yentob-the-insiders-extrovert-1096476.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100209045752/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/profile-alan-yentob-the-insiders-extrovert-1096476.html |archive-date=2010-02-09 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |newspaper=Independent |date=29 May 1999 |access-date=22 December 2011 |location=London}} He was a boarder at the independent school King's Ely in Cambridgeshire. He passed his A-levels in French, English and History, getting Bs, and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and spent a year at the University of Grenoble. He went on to study Law at the University of Leeds, where he became involved in student drama. He graduated with a lower second class degree (2:2) in 1968.{{cite news |title=He's in control: Alan Yentob decides what you will see on both BBC channels. He is far from a Corporation man, but then he's only been there for 26 years |first=Hunter |last=Davies |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/interview-watch-it-hes-in-control-alan-yentob-decides-what-you-will-see-on-both-bbc-channels-he-is-far-from-a-corporation-man-but-then-hes-only-been-there-for-26-years-1496565.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311074223/http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/interview-watch-it-hes-in-control-alan-yentob-decides-what-you-will-see-on-both-bbc-channels-he-is-far-from-a-corporation-man-but-then-hes-only-been-there-for-26-years-1496565.html |archive-date=2012-03-11 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |newspaper=The Independent |date=9 March 1993 |access-date=22 December 2011 |location=London}}
Career
Yentob joined the BBC as a trainee in the BBC World Service in 1968 as its only non-Oxbridge graduate of that year. Nine months later he moved into BBC Television to become an assistant director on arts programmes.
In 1973, Yentob became a producer and director, working on the high-profile documentary series Omnibus, for which, in 1975, he made a film called Cracked Actor about the musician David Bowie.{{Cite web |title=Cracked Actor |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150150995 |access-date=25 August 2024 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}{{cite web|title=Omnibus: Cracked Actor – BBC One London – 26 January 1975 |url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/3beec0490c734c238f9eb95a6ab4dd43|website=BBC Genome |date=26 January 1975 |publisher=BBC|access-date=1 May 2017}} In 1975, he helped initiate another BBC documentary series, Arena, of which he was editor from 1978 until 1985.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/may/25/he-is-the-bbc-alan-yentob-the-eternally-curious-creative-who-made-tv-no-one-else-could-have-dreamed-up|title='He is the BBC!' Alan Yentob, the eternally curious creative who made TV no one else could have dreamed up|first=Mark|last=Lawson|work=The Guardian |date=25 May 2025}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3L50jQp6rhlCC9HVz5pLcyS/arena-at-40|title=BBC Four - Arena - Arena at 40|website=BBC}} The series returned, for semi-regular editions, until the present day.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2023/arena-archive-bbc-four-bbc-iplayer/|title=BBC Arena: award-winning archive of films released alongside new films on Caroline Aherne and Noel Coward|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006pn88|title=BBC Four - Arena|website=BBC}}
Yentob left Arena to become the BBC's head of music and arts, a position he occupied until 1987, when he was promoted to controller of BBC2, one of the youngest channel controllers in the BBC's history. Under Yentob's six-year stewardship he introduced programmes such as The Late Show, Have I Got News for You and Absolutely Fabulous.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdr5y3lxrmlo|title=Alan Yentob obituary: Creative giant of BBC TV, on screen and off|date=25 May 2025|website=BBC News}}https://www.itv.com/news/2025-05-25/broadcaster-and-former-bbc-executive-alan-yentob-dies-aged-78
In 1993, Yentob was promoted to controller of BBC1, responsible for the output of the BBC's premier channel. During his tenure he commissioned the dramas Middlemarch, Pride and Prejudice and Ballykissangel, and cancelled the soap opera Eldorado.{{cite web | url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/alan-yentob-influential-bbc-executive-120339917.html?| title=Alan Yentob: Influential BBC executive undone by Kids Company scandal | work=Yahoo! | first=Hannah | last=Robert | date=25 May 2025 | access-date=26 May 2025}} He remained in the post until 1996, when he was promoted again to become BBC Television's overall director of programmes. This appointment was only a brief one, before a re-organisation of the BBC's executive committee led to the creation of a new post, filled by Yentob, of director of drama, entertainment and children's."[https://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/managementstructure/biographies/yentob_alan/ Alan Yentob, Creative Director] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212095801/https://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/insidethebbc/managementstructure/biographies/yentob_alan/ |date=12 February 2019 }}", BBC. Retrieved 4 January 2018. This placed Yentob in overall supervision of the BBC's output in these three genres across all media – radio, television and Internet. He occupied this post until June 2004, when new BBC director-general Mark Thompson re-organised the BBC's executive committee and promoted Yentob to the new post of BBC creative director, responsible for overseeing BBC creative output across television, radio and interactive services.
Yentob also began to present BBC programmes, which included a series on the life of Leonardo da Vinci and, from 2003, a new regular arts series, Imagine. One episode of Imagine had Yentob explore the World Wide Web, blogging, user-created content, and even the use of English Wikipedia, exploring people's motives and satisfaction that can be had from sharing information on such a large scale. In 2007, Yentob appeared as the 'host' of the satirical Imagine a Mildly Amusing Panel Show, a spoof Imagine... episode focused on the comedy panel game show Never Mind the Buzzcocks.{{Cite web |title=Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Buzzcocks... Imagine a Mildly Amusing Panel Show |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qyk4 |access-date=2025-05-25 |website=BBC Two |language=en-GB}}
According to The Times, Yentob's reputation was affected when it was revealed that his participation in some of the interviews for Imagine had been faked. In 2007, it was reported that the programme inserted noddies featuring Yentob into interviews that he did not conduct, creating the impression that he had been present.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/sep/07/bbc.television1|title=BBC's Alan Yentob in 'noddy' controversy|first=Ben|last=Dowell|date=7 September 2007|work=The Guardian}} Yentob was warned not to do this again, but otherwise not disciplined, much to the disgruntlement of some who had seen more junior staff lose their jobs for lesser misdemeanours.{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article2511762.ece | location=London | work=The Times | first1=Fiona | last1=Hamilton | first2=Sam | last2=Coates | first3=Michael | last3=Savage | title=BBC row as Alan Yentob is let off for fakery – Times Online | access-date=26 September 2007 | archive-date=15 June 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615080004/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article2511762.ece | url-status=dead }} This controversy was covered in some newspapers as Noddygate.{{Cite news |last=Hewlett |first=Steve |date=2007-10-08 |title='It's all my fault' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/oct/08/mondaymediasection |access-date=2025-05-25 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web |date=2012-04-12 |title=BBC executive Alan Yentob escapes unpunished for misleading viewers |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/bbc-executive-alan-yentob-escapes-unpunished-for-misleading-viewers-6616087.html |access-date=2025-05-25 |website=The Standard |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2025-05-25 |title=Alan Yentob, inspired TV executive behind BBC hit shows from Arena to Have I Got News for You |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2025/05/25/alan-yentob-bbc-one-television-arena-imagine/ |access-date=2025-05-25 |work=The Telegraph |issn=0307-1235 |url-access=subscription}}
On 17 March 2010, Yentob and Nigella Lawson opened the Jewish Museum London in Camden Town.{{Cite web|url=https://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/art77118|title=Nigella Lawson and Alan Yentob open transformed Jewish Museum in London|last1=Evans|first1=Kathryn|date=16 March 2010|website=Culture24|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109044030/https://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/art77118|archive-date=9 January 2020|access-date=8 January 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2010-03-17-london-jewish-museum_N.htm|title=London's Jewish Museum reopens after major facelift|last1=Lawless|first1=Jill|date=17 March 2010|work=USA Today|access-date=8 January 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171218230406/https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2010-03-17-london-jewish-museum_N.htm|archive-date=18 December 2017|agency=Associated Press}}
In July 2009, Yentob was revealed to have accumulated a pension worth £6.3m, giving an annual retirement income of £216,667 for the rest of his life. This was one of the biggest pensions in the public sector.{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6638318.ece |location=London |work=The Times |first1=Fiona |last1=Hamilton |first2=Sam |last2=Coates |first3=Michael |last3=Savage |title=Licence payers fund BBC chief's £8m pension|date=5 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510022000/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6638318.ece |archive-date=10 May 2011 |access-date=3 August 2013}} He earned £200,000 – £249,999 as a BBC contributor and presenter.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/live/2017/jul/19/bbc-publishes-salaries-of-highest-earning-stars-live-updates|title=BBC accused of discrimination as salaries reveal gender pay gap – as it happened|first1=Matthew|last1=Weaver|first2=Rachel|last2=Obordo|date=19 July 2017|access-date=24 January 2019|work=The Guardian|archive-date=9 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809133929/https://www.theguardian.com/media/live/2017/jul/19/bbc-publishes-salaries-of-highest-earning-stars-live-updates|url-status=live}} He was paid a declared salary of £183,000 by the BBC, but additional income from the BBC for presenting and other roles was reputed to earn him an extra £150,000, bringing his BBC income to an estimated £330,000.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/alan-yentob-paid-two-salaries-by-the-bbc-8647217.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609141342/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/alan-yentob-paid-two-salaries-by-the-bbc-8647217.html |archive-date=2013-06-09 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Alan Yentob paid two salaries by the BBC|author=James Legge|date=6 June 2013|work=The Independent}}
Yentob was on the board of trustees of the Architecture Foundation. He was involved with several charities, including the posts of chairman and trustee of Kids Company.{{cite web |url=http://kidsco.org.uk/download/Annual_Report_2013.compressed.pdf |title=Kids Company {{!}} Annual Report and Accounts Year Ending 331 Dec 2013 |access-date=6 August 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805181629/http://kidsco.org.uk/download/Annual_Report_2013.compressed.pdf |archive-date=5 August 2015 }}
Yentob resigned as the BBC's creative director on 3 December 2015 in the wake of allegations that he had sought to influence the BBC's coverage of the Kids Company scandal.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34993979|title=Alan Yentob steps down as BBC creative director|work=BBC News|date=3 December 2015|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=1 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190301010738/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34993979|url-status=live}}
Kids Company
Yentob's role as chairman of the board of trustees for Kids Company, as well as the founder Camila Batmanghelidjh, came under close scrutiny following the collapse of the charity in early August 2015. He was accused of multiple shortcomings in oversight and financial management and of failing to ensure that he avoided a conflict of interest with his position at the BBC. It was alleged that he intervened there in an attempt to deflect criticism of Kids Company and its founder Batmanghelidjh. Yentob vigorously defended his actions and stated in August 2015 that he was "not remotely considering" resigning over his behaviour. However, he resigned on 3 December 2015.
=Interventions at the BBC=
Yentob acknowledged that he had stood in the studio of the Today programme while Batmanghelidjih was being interviewed in July, later saying that he had wished to hear what she had to say and had not been attempting to intimidate staff. He also telephoned a senior member of staff at Newsnight, asking the programme to "delay a report critical of financial management at Kids Company", and telephoned the Radio 4 presenter Edward Stourton before a report in The World at One. The BBC Trust, under chairwoman Rona Fairhead, investigated these interventions, although senior BBC management were reported to have reassured the Trust that they had not compromised editorial independence at the BBC.
="Descent into savagery"=
Yentob acknowledged signing an email from Kids Company to the government which sought millions in further funding by suggesting certain communities in London might "descend into savagery" if Kids Company ceased its operations. The email, which was subsequently leaked to BuzzFeed News and the BBC's Newsnight programme, spoke of "looting, rioting and arson attacks on government buildings" and warned of possible sharp spikes in "starvation and modern-day slavery". It said that these concerns were "not hypothetical, but based on a deep understanding of the socio-psychological background that these children operate within". Yentob said this email "was not intended in any way as a threat".
=Appearance before Select Committee=
On 15 October 2015, Yentob and Batmanghelidjh made a joint appearance before a parliamentary Select Committee investigating the charity's collapse. Their performance was widely described as disastrous. In the New Statesman, the political commentator Anoosh Chakelian said they were a "duo of epically proportioned egos" who made "as little sense – and as many accusations – as possible" before the panel of MPs. In The Daily Telegraph, the parliamentary sketch writer Michael Deacon called their appearance the "single weirdest event in recent parliamentary history" and wrote of "three solid hours of bewildering excuses, recriminations and non-sequiturs".
=Criticism from PACAC=
The Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee report heavily criticised Yentob. He was described as someone who condoned excessive spending and lacked proper attention to his duties. The BBC was also accused of poor leadership for failing to take action against him when he tried to make suggestions about the BBC's reporting of Kids Company.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35455157|title='Catalogue of failures' hit Kids Company|date=1 February 2016|work=BBC News|access-date=24 January 2019|archive-date=20 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190120165701/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35455157|url-status=live}}
Later career
Yentob was the Creative Director and Board Director of Two Daughters Entertainment at the time of his death.{{cite web | title=Alan Yentob, face of BBC arts coverage, dies aged 78 | website=The Telegraph | date=2025-05-25 | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/05/25/alan-yentob-face-of-bbc-arts-coverage-dies-aged-78/ | access-date=2025-06-01}} As Executive Producer on the upcoming animated feature The Land of Sometimes, Yentob brought in Mel Brooks{{cite web|first=Naman|last=Ramachandran|title=Mel Brooks, Asa Butterfield Join Ewan McGregor in 'The Land of Sometimes' Animated Feature (EXCLUSIVE)|date=August 30, 2025 |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/global/mel-brooks-asa-butterfield-ewan-mcgregor-the-land-of-sometimes-1236124958//publisher=Variety|access-date=May 27, 2025}} and songwriter Sir Tim Rice.{{cite web|first=Naman|last=Ramachandran|title=
The Lion King, Aladdin Lyricist Tim Rice Returns to Animated Films With 'Land of Sometimes' (EXCLUSIVE)|date=May 6, 2025 |url=https://variety.com/2025/music/news/lion-king-lyricist-tim-rice-animated-film-land-of-sometimes-1236388036///publisher=Variety|access-date=May 27, 2025}}
Personal life
Yentob's was in a relationship with Philippa Walker, a television producer, for over 40 years. The couple had a son and a daughter. They married in 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/may/26/alan-yentob-obituary|title=Alan Yentob obituary|first=Stephen|last=Bates|work=The Guardian |date=26 May 2025}}{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/best-law-firms/profile-legal/article/bbc-chiefs-son-is-stabbed-by-robber-at-family-home-2nlb76h9mwz |location=London |work=The Times |first1=Fiona |last1=Hamilton |first2=Sam |last2=Coates |first3=Michael |last3=Savage |title=BBC chief's son is stabbed by robber at family home – Times Online |date=13 September 2006 |access-date=15 August 2022 |archive-date=13 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220913195140/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bbc-chiefs-son-is-stabbed-by-robber-at-family-home-2nlb76h9mwz |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/the-alan-yentob-experience-533322.html |work=The Independent |title=The Alan Yentob Experience |date=15 November 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090810102300/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/the-alan-yentob-experience-533322.html |archive-date=10 August 2009 }} In September 2006, his son was stabbed during a robbery on the doorstep of the family's four-storey home in Notting Hill.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1528754/Yentob-son-knifed-in-home-robbery.html|title=Yentob son knifed in home robbery|date=13 September 2006|work=The Telegraph}}
In 2005, Yentob was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from De Montfort University, Leicester.{{Cite web |title=De Montfort University Graduation Brochure |url=https://specialcollections.catalogue.dmu.ac.uk/records/DE/I/A/045 |access-date=2025-05-25 |website=specialcollections.catalogue.dmu.ac.uk |language=en-gb}} He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2024 Birthday Honours for services to the arts and media.{{cite news |title=Birthday honours: Mark Cavendish, Strictly's Amy Dowden and Alan Bates recognised |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c511l0j4l2po |work=BBC News |access-date=14 June 2024 |date=14 June 2024}}
Yentob was a friend of Salman Rushdie and spoke to him for the 2024 BBC programme Salman Rushdie: Through a Glass Darkly, which featured Rushdie's account of being stabbed multiple times by an attacker in New York State.{{cite web|date=14 May 2024|title=Salman Rushdie: Through a Glass Darkly|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001z2fw|website=bbc.co.uk|publisher=BBC Two|access-date=26 May 2025}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2024/05/07/salman-rushdie-through-a-glass-darkly-bbc-two-review-yentob/|title=Salman Rushdie: Through a Glass Darkly, review: testament to the author's staggering strength|first=Anita|last=Singh|date=7 May 2024|newspaper=The Telegraph}}
Death and tributes
Yentob died on 24 May 2025, aged 78.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/may/25/alan-yentob-former-bbc-executive-tv-presenter-dies|title=Alan Yentob, former BBC executive and TV presenter, dies aged 78 |first=Nadia |last=Khomami|author-link=Nadia Khomami |date=25 May 2025|work=The Guardian}}{{cite news |title=Alan Yentob: BBC arts broadcaster dies aged 78 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy8dp75gw8lo |access-date=25 May 2025 |work=BBC News |date=25 May 2025}}
BBC director-general Tim Davie paid tribute, calling Yentob "a creative force and a cultural visionary" and saying he "shaped decades of programming at the BBC and beyond, with a passion for storytelling and public service that leave a lasting legacy". BBC Radio 4 Today presenter Amol Rajan described him as "such a unique and kind man: an improbable impresario from unlikely origins who became a towering figure in the culture of postwar Britain". Comedian David Baddiel described him as a "king of TV" and Pet Shop Boys said he was "a legend in British TV, responsible for some of the BBC's finest programmes."
In popular culture
Yentob was portrayed by Omar Ebrahim in the 2017 operetta Committee, about parliamentary committee hearings into the events surrounding Kids Company, with music by Tom Deering and text by Josie Rourke and Hadley Fraser.{{cite news |last1=Clapp |first1=Susannah |title=Committee: (A New Musical) review – Kids Company crisis lacks drama |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/jul/09/committee-kids-company-donmar-observer-review |access-date=27 May 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=9 July 2017}}{{cite news |last1=Lawson |first1=Mark |title='He is the BBC!' Alan Yentob, the eternally curious creative who made TV no one else could have dreamed up |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/may/25/he-is-the-bbc-alan-yentob-the-eternally-curious-creative-who-made-tv-no-one-else-could-have-dreamed-up |access-date=27 May 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=25 May 2025}}
References
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External links
- {{IMDb name|0947496}}
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/imagine/ BBC Imagine site]
- {{discogs artist|Alan Yentob}}
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{{s-media}}
{{succession box
| title = Controller of BBC1
| before = Jonathan Powell
| after = Michael Jackson
| years = 1993–1996
}}
{{succession box
| title = Controller of BBC2
| before = Graeme MacDonald
| after = Michael Jackson
| years = 1987–1993
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yentob, Alan}}
Category:20th-century English Jews
Category:21st-century English Jews
Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds
Category:BBC television presenters
Category:BBC television producers
Category:Businesspeople from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:English people of Iraqi-Jewish descent
Category:Grenoble Alpes University alumni