Tributes have been paid to Alan Yentob, the former BBC executive and “towering figure in British broadcasting”, who has died at the age of 78.
Yentob, who died on Saturday, was described as a “creative force and a cultural visionary” by BBC director-general Tim Davie, who added that “he shaped decades of programming at the BBC and beyond, with a passion for storytelling and public service that leave a lasting legacy”.
“Alan Yentob was a towering figure in British broadcasting and the arts,” he said.
During his tenure at BBC Two, Yentob was credited with the revitalisation of the channel with commissions such as Absolutely Fabulous, starring Jennifer Saunders and Dame Joanna Lumley, arts series The Late Show and Have I Got News For You.
He also launched CBBC and CBeebies.
Davie added that Yetob “championed originality, risk-taking and artistic ambition” and commissioned “groundbreaking drama to giving emerging voices a platform”.
Alan Yentob was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by King Charles in 2024 (Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA)Yentob’s wife Philippa Walker said: “For [our children] Jacob, Bella and I every day with Alan held the promise of something unexpected. Our life was exciting, he was exciting.
“He was curious, funny, annoying, late and creative in every cell of his body. But more than that, he was the kindest of men and a profoundly moral man. He leaves in his wake a trail of love a mile wide.”
University Challenge and Today programme presenter Amol Rajan, paid tribute to Yentob with a video on Instagram and a caption that described him as “such a unique and kind man: an improbable impresario from unlikely origins who became a towering figure in the culture of post-war Britain”.
“Modern art never had a more loyal ally. His shows were always brilliant, often masterpieces, sometimes seminal. So much of Britain’s best TV over [five] decades came via his desk. That was public Alan. In private, he was magnetic, zealous, and very funny, with a mesmerising voice and mischievous chuckle.”
He added: “He had his foibles and failures, but Alan Yentob was one of the most generous, influential, singular, passionate, supportive, creative and loved men of his generation.”
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