And now he is gone, we can see what a gap he leaves. British cultural life has lost a great champion, the BBC a founding father.
The critical mob was at the gate, and the monopoly of the BBC was about to be trampled. But Yentob was steadfast and his recent arts series, Imagine, showed his absolute command of television based on integrity and curiosity.
square NEWS Tributes paid to Alan Yentob after 'visionary' broadcaster dies aged 78
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Alan Yentob had a sense of public good which could make him seem naïve. He had faith in charismatic figures, including Camilla Batmanghelidjh, the CEO of Kids Company, which fell short of due diligence. When she first came under fire he tried to whip up support for her from all those who had previously feted her and was wounded when her public friends melted away.
Yentob did not quite fit into the determined journey of inclusivity at the BBC. He was metropolitan and he believed in the high arts. I tried to introduce more arts onto the Today programme and it encountered institutional antibodies. Elite sportsmen and women are somehow not elite in the sense the BBC fears, but the arts make some BBC folk nervous, unless it is Glastonbury. And yet, the Proms is the reputational flag ship of the BBC.
Sarah Sands is a former editor of Radio 4’s Today programme
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