Alan Yentob: The man who steered creativity at BBC until controversy struck

In 1987 he was promoted to controller of BBC2 where he revitalised the channel by commissioning hugely successful shows such as Absolutely Fabulous, starring Jennifer Saunders and Dame Joanna Lumley, arts series The Late Show and comedy quiz show, Have I Got News For You.

In 1993 he became the official controller of BBC1. His drama commissions ranged from Middlemarch and Pride And Prejudice – which made actor Colin Firth a heartthrob – to Ballykissangel, while wielding an axe to the failing Spain-set soap Eldorado.

He also presented shows for the BBC, including a series on the life of artist Leonardo da Vinci, starring Sir Mark Rylance, and a regular arts series, Imagine, from 2003.

Artist Marina Abramovic, novelist Bernardine Evaristo and Oscar-winning actor Marlon Brando were among the famous faces who had episodes devoted to their lives and careers. As was his style, Yentob appeared on camera almost as much as his subjects.

Born into an Iraqi Jewish family in Stepney, London, Alan Yentob was the son of Flora Esther (née Khazam) and Isaac Yentob. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Manchester where his father was in the textiles business with his wife’s family.

Alan grew up in Didsbury, south of Manchester and returned to London at 12 before becoming a boarder at King’s Ely School in Cambridgeshire. He studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and the University of Grenoble before going on to study Law at Leeds University, from where he graduated. He joined the BBC immediately thereafter as the only non-Oxbridge alumnus in that year’s university intake.

His first jobs as a programme maker, from 1973, were on the arts documentary strand Omnibus, for which in 1975 he made a film called Cracked Actor about the musician David Bowie. Also that year he helped originate Arena, the successor to Omnibus.

His life outside Television Centre was as colourful as some of his programmes. In 2004, a year before he was made creative director for the entire Corporation, he began to serve as chairman of the board of trustees for Kids Company, founded by Camila Batmanghelidjh, a role he held until the collapse of the charity in 2015. He faced scrutiny over his position, as well as claims he tried to influence coverage at the corporation of its troubles.

He always insisted there was no conflict of interest in his decision to call Newsnight about its investigation into Kids Company and had not “abused my position at the BBC”.

He is said to have phoned the BBC Two programme in July 2015 as it prepared to broadcast a report suggesting the government would withhold further funding unless its founder, Ms Batmanghelidjh, stood down.

The charity folded on August 5 2015 just six days after receiving a £3m grant in a final bid to keep it afloat.

In December that year Yentob stepped down from his job at the BBC, saying the speculation over his conduct had been “proving a serious distraction”.

Also in 2015, Yentob was awarded £85,000 in phone-hacking damages from Mirror Group Newspapers.

In spite of the Kids Company controversy, he continued to present programmes for the BBC, interviewing figures including Sir Stephen Fry and Bob Geldof.

In a BBC Two programme in 2024 he spoke to author Sir Salman Rushdie about the devastating effects of the onstage knife attack that left him blind in one eye.

Yentob was married to TV producer Philippa Walker and they had two children together.

He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters from De Montfort University, Leicester, in 2005 and in 2024 he was made a CBE by the King for services to the arts and media.