Controller’s glittering career cut short

UNTIL the current furore broke, Lesley Douglas’s tenure as BBC Radio 2 controller had been marked with success.

Taking up the post in January 2004, the station received the prestigious Sony UK Radio Station of The Year the following year, and the equivalent accolade at the Music Week Awards in 2006 and 2007.

After her resignation, BBC director-general Mark Thompson described her as being one of the station’s “most successful, most trustworthy” controllers.

Her departure will bring an end to a career at the BBC that has spanned some 22 years.

Born in Newcastle in 1963 and educated at Manchester University, Douglas joined the corporation in 1986 as a production assistant.

In 1988 she moved to the music department as a producer, working on programmes such as the Gloria Hunniford Show.

Having been made managing editor of Radio 2 in 1997, she was promoted to head of programmes in 2000.

Following her elevation to controller of the station, Douglas was awarded with the top prize at the Music Industry Woman of the Year Awards in 2004.

Terry Wogan, who presents Radio 2’s weekday breakfast show, described the resignation of the station’s controller, Lesley Douglas, as a “sacrifice”.

He told BBC News: “I just hope that at least her sacrifice will bring everything back down to earth a little bit and will give a sense of proportion.”

Wogan also said he hoped the furore would not “detract from Children in Need”. The BBC charity appeal show will be screened on November 14.

The former head of BBC Radio, Liz Forgan, said that the BBC had “lost its wits” in accepting Douglas’s resignation.

She told BBC Radio 4’s World At One: “This was an ugly, revolting and infantile incident. It should never have been broadcast and certainly it requires suspensions and financial penalties. But it was a mistake, not a crime.

“Lesley Douglas is one of the outstanding broadcasters of her generation. I don’t see how licence payers can possibly be served by her resignation.”