Host of Top of the Pops and My Top Twelve among other shows was one of last people to interview John Lennon
Andy Peebles, the former Radio 1 DJ and presenter who was one of the last people to interview John Lennon, has died aged 76, his family has confirmed.
Peebles began his radio career in Manchester in 1973 and joined Radio 1 in 1978, where he was a familiar voice for 14 years.
Continue reading...The document contains a series of previously unpublished claims, including 22 from members of the public
The independent inquiry into what the BBC knew about the former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood’s conduct has been published almost three years after a joint investigation by the Guardian and BBC News.
The investigation told the stories of a number of women who accused the 67-year-old of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour.
“Hounded” a 17-year-old Black woman with phone calls and texts.
Invited a girl who was 15 or 16 back to his home following an under-16 night, after she had added him on Blackberry to get information about the event.
Contacted a woman who had shared her business card, and appeared agitated when she did not want to meet late at night.
“Hurled” a can of drink at a woman who was serving in a club.
A former BBC staff member told the corporation their son had witnessed Westwood propositioning a 15-year-old girl in a night club in around 2007. The BBC reported the complaint to the Metropolitan police, who took no action.
A BBC employee said in 2022 that a guest on Radio 1 had described potential sexual assault by Westwood between 2004 and 2007. They said they had reported it to a more senior employee, but White found no evidence the complaint had been documented. Westwood’s lawyers said he was never spoken to about the incident.
A student told the review about Westwood referring to her breasts during a 1Xtra DriveTime show in 2010, calling her “cuddly” and miming grabbing her breasts, which his lawyers say he strongly denies.
A Sun journalist contacted Radio 1 in November 2012 saying they had been given tipoffs about Westwood and “inappropriate relations with young girls”. A senior figure flagged allegations made about Westwood on Twitter to HR and the corporate investigations team, which decided that no action would be taken without further evidence.
White concluded that senior BBC staff did not think Westwood had had sexual contact with 15-year-old girls, but that the issue “ought to have been formally raised with him” and the online allegations should have been examined further.
“Many” BBC employees “perceived there to be a close relationship between the controllers and Tim Westwood”.
Witnesses felt they were unable to complain because of the “feeling that … senior management were likely to side with presenters”.
Westwood made repeated comments about guests and staff members’ bodies, particularly about women’s breasts.
Until Westwood was removed from the 1Xtra DriveTime show in 2012, “the approach appears to have been to raise issues informally … and, when the situation did not improve, to move BBC staff working on the 1Xtra DriveTime show to other programmes”.
Continue reading...Corporation apologises as inquiry finds it missed opportunities that could have led to action over former Radio 1 DJ’s behaviour
The BBC has admitted it “fell short and failed people” – including its own staff – and apologised after finding evidence of “bullying and misogynistic” behaviour by its former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood.
A £3.3m external inquiry published on Tuesday found the broadcaster “missed opportunities” during the DJ’s two decades at the organisation that could have led to action. The inquiry was triggered by a 2022 Guardian and BBC News joint investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and predatory behaviour by the DJ.
Continue reading...An independent standards authority says the industry must learn from recent scandals and create safer working environments
New guidelines will be issued this week for the UK’s creative industries after a series of scandals including reports of inappropriate behaviour by Gregg Wallace and Gino d’Acampo, and bullying allegations on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.
The Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) will set new standards with the aim of stamping out bullying, harassment and discrimination, and address “power imbalances”.
Continue reading...Show removed from iPlayer as ‘further due diligence’ carried out and critics ask if any Hamas members were paid for filming
A BBC documentary about Gaza has been pulled from its iPlayer service while the broadcaster deals with intensifying accusations that the film was biased because it failed to make clear the father of its child narrator was a Hamas deputy minister.
BBC sources indicated the intention was to make the documentary available to watch again once a “due diligence” exercise had taken place, but the decision reflects a frustration that the filmmakers did not inform the broadcaster of the situation before transmission.
Continue reading...Civil servant Josie Stewart found to have been unlawfully dismissed in 2022 after she told BBC about failures
A civil servant who blew the whistle about the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and Boris Johnson’s involvement in a decision to evacuate a pet charity from Kabul has won her case for unfair dismissal against the government in a legal first.
An employment panel of three judges unanimously found the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) unfairly dismissed Josie Stewart in 2021 after she leaked information in the public interest.
Continue reading...BBC Two’s Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone gathers intimate footage of three children surviving in the besieged strip
“Have you ever wondered what you’d do if your world is destroyed?” asks 13-year-old Abdullah, speaking at the beginning of an intimate BBC Two documentary, Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, that airs on Monday night. “Most important, could you stay alive? After all this, you could say we’re experts.”
Abdullah, now 14 and heading back to his prewar home in the north of the shattered territory, is the English-speaking narrator – one of three children whose stories of hope and endurance are at the heart of an hour-long film, a distinctive and deliberate choice intended to make the film resonate after 15 months of war.
Continue reading...Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky also among UK broadcasters making cuts as Netflix, Disney and Amazon pile on pressure
UK broadcasters slashed their spending on big-budget TV shows to the lowest level in almost a decade last year, even as their US rivals Netflix, Disney and Amazon ploughed hundreds of millions more into British-made premium content.
In a sign of the increasing competitive pressures of the streaming era, the amount spent on high-end TV shows costing more than £1m an hour to make by domestic operators such as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky, plunged by a quarter last year to £598m.
Continue reading...A number of people believed comedian ‘would always get his way and therefore they stayed silent’, review finds
The BBC has apologised to staff after a review into the conduct of Russell Brand during his time with the broadcaster found a number of people “felt unable to raise” concerns about his behaviour .
Peter Johnston, the BBC director of editorial complaints and reviews, said on Thursday he had investigated eight complaints about Brand during his review, with only one of those formally made to the BBC.
Continue reading...After 12 episodes, eight ‘murders’ and 14 banishments, winner or winners revealed on BBC One show
Warning: this article contains spoilers
After 12 episodes, eight “murders” and 14 banishments, the winners of The Traitors were revealed after a nail-biting finale.
Project manager Jake Brown and former soldier Leanne Quigley will share a prize pot of £94,600.
Continue reading...Inaccurate notices branded with broadcaster’s logo sent to iPhone users but tech firm works on improvements
Apple is suspending an artificial intelligence feature that made inaccurate summaries of news headlines.
The tech company received a complaint from the BBC after the AI-generated service issued a news alert branded with the corporation’s logo falsely telling some iPhone users that Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, Brian Thompson, had shot himself.
Continue reading...Parents of murdered schoolboy say prison rehabilitation does not seem to have made any difference to Jake Fahri
The parents of murdered schoolboy Jimmy Mizen have said prison does not “seem to have made a blind bit of difference” to their son’s killer, who is reportedly now a rapper whose songs have been promoted by the BBC.
Jake Fahri, then 19, was given a life sentence in 2009 with a minimum term of 14 years for killing Mizen by throwing an oven dish at him. The glass dish shattered and severed blood vessels in the 16-year-old’s neck in a south London bakery.
Continue reading...Trio will present football highlights show after Gary Lineker steps down, BBC says
The new hosts of Match of the Day have promised to “evolve” the TV institution when they take the reins this summer, after the BBC confirmed that three people will replace Gary Lineker at the end of the current season.
Gabby Logan, Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman are to share presenting duties on the football highlights show, which celebrated its 60th anniversary last year. The trio have all previously worked together on the BBC and are each established broadcasters with decades of experience between them.
Continue reading...Protesters planned to gather outside BBC HQ, which is near a synagogue, on the Jewish holy day
Mark Rylance, the star of the BBC’s Wolf Hall, has joined the singer Charlotte Church and actor Juliet Stevenson to condemn a decision by the police to ban a pro-Palestine protest outside the corporation’s Broadcasting House headquarters.
Protesters were planning to gather in Portland Place in central London on Saturday 18 January before marching to Whitehall. A ban was imposed on Thursday by the Met, with officers citing the risk of “serious disruption” to a nearby synagogue on the Jewish holy day, as congregants attend Shabbat services.
Continue reading...Scotland Yard imposes Public Order Act owing to proximity of Broadcasting House to a nearby synagogue
Scotland Yard has banned a pro-Palestine march from gathering outside the BBC’s London headquarters next week, owing to its proximity to a synagogue.
Protesters were planning to gather outside Broadcasting House in Portland Place on Saturday before marching to Whitehall. On Thursday evening, police said they had imposed the Public Order Act to prevent the rally from gathering in the area as it risked causing “serious disruption” to a nearby synagogue on the Jewish holy day, as congregants attend Shabbat services.
Continue reading...Partnership ‘a long time coming’ and is latest expansion of Australian-made animated series
The global hit children’s TV show Bluey is to make its Lego debut with the first sets due to hit shelves later this year.
The world of Bluey, which has proved such a small-screen hit a film is to be made for global release in 2027, is to be brought to life in plastic brick form with six sets to be revealed this spring before going on sale later this year.
Continue reading...Pioneering presenter was best known for hosting Sounds of the 70s and the Radio 2 Rock Show
The veteran BBC DJ Johnnie Walker has died at the age of 79, it has been announced.
Walker, who hosted Radio 2’s Sounds of the 70s and the Radio 2 Rock Show, began his career as a pirate DJ in the 60s on the offshore station Swinging Radio England, then Radio Caroline, before joining Radio 1 in 1969. He left the station after causing controversy by describing the Bay City Rollers as “musical garbage” and clashing with his bosses over an insistence on playing album tracks.
Continue reading...Change in festive schedule comes after Wallace stepped away from hosting cookery show amid allegations about his behaviour
Two MasterChef celebrity Christmas specials have been pulled from the BBC’s schedule after Gregg Wallace stepped away from hosting the cookery show, a BBC spokesperson said.
The broadcaster had previously announced a Celebrity MasterChef Cook-Off and a Strictly Festive Extravaganza as part of its festive schedule, both billed as hour-long programmes for BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Continue reading...A slew of accusations have emerged of inappropriate remarks and behaviour dating back as far as 19 years
Gregg Wallace has been accused of making sexualised jokes and other inappropriate remarks towards a range of women dating back nearly two decades.
The 60-year-old MasterChef presenter announced last week that he was stepping back from the BBC show amid an investigation into his conduct. Wallace’s lawyers have said it is entirely false to suggest he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.
Continue reading...Row over issue continues with questions likely at PMQs as Angela Rayner faces shadow minister Alex Burghart
Good morning. Keir Starmer is travelling back from the G20 summit in Brazil, but he won’t be in the Commons in time for PMQs, and so Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, will be taking questions on his behalf. In line with recent practice, Kemi Badenoch, the new Conservative leader, won’t go up against a deputy, and she will miss the session too. The Tories don’t have a deputy leader, but Badenoch is getting Alex Burghart, the shadow Cabinet Office minister, to stand in for her.
The PM might not be answering, but that does not mean the questions get any easier. The situation in Ukraine is looking increasingly perilous, inflation is going up, and figures out yesterday have reignited the row about the government’s decision to cut the winter fuel payment. But the Conservatives may also want to ask about farmers, and the plan to extend inheritance tax to some farms. Traditonally the Tories have liked to think of themselves as a pro-countryside, pro-farming party, and they will have been reassured by the fact that, when they lined up alongside farmers at yesterday’s rally, they did not just have Jeremy Clarkson with them; the Liberal Democrats, the Green party, Greenpeace and even Just Stop Oil were on the farmers’ side too.
The job of BBC Verify is to do exactly that but they’ve failed on their own terms.
The government is refusing to say how many family farms are subject to their tax raid, only offering partial and out of date statistics which fail to account for the full scale of their reforms.
Continue reading...