BBC chairman makes the Grade today

Michael Grade, the new chairman of the BBC, began his first day at work today.

Grade, who pledged to put the BBC “back on track” when he was appointed last month, will fill the vacancy left by Gavyn Davies, who resigned after the Hutton Report into the death of Dr David Kelly.

The former Channel 4 boss has been broadly welcomed by staff and politicians alike.

In an email to BBC staff, Mr Grade said “it was a thrill to walk into the building” today.

He admitted to having “moments of feeling slightly daunted” but thanked staff for their warm welcome.

Mr Grade said one of his “first priorities” was to meet as many BBC staff as possible.

A colourful figure, Grade was once dubbed Britain’s “pornographer-in-chief” for introducing programmes like The Word to Channel 4.

When he accepted the job he told staff: “The BBC has been through a battering. How much of it was of its own making and how much of it from outside, history will tell.

“An organisation as committed as this one could not have gone through what it has been through without feeling very bruised.

“The period of private anguish inside the BBC is over now. We can put it behind us.”

One of his first tasks will be to appoint a new BBC director general following Greg Dyke’s resignation in the wake of the Hutton scandal.