Regrettably, this is not a review of the excellent David
Walliams’ book, which my children adore, but some reflections on the bizarre situation
in which Tony Blackburn has found himself with the BBC, which was
affectionately known in years gone by, as Auntie. Right now, however, amongst the public,
media, and Tony’s fellow broadcasters, there is about as much affection for the
BBC as a Rottweiler would have for someone who tried to touch his food. I apologise to all Rottweilers for mentioning
the BBC in the same sentence as them.
“There once was a DG called Hall;
Who needed someone to take a fall;
He picked on poor Tony;
But the public were moany;
Now DG has no job at all.”
Oh how I’d love for the above to come true!
How convenient for the BBC, that just as the Dame Janet Smith
Savile report, surprise surprise, concluded that top level management at the
BBC did not know about Savile’s atrocities (Come on, did you really expect any
other finding? Really? If so, then you’re
very naïve.), that our focus should be taken off the actual conclusion by the bizarre
sacking of a legendary broadcaster.
Tony and the BBC are at odds regarding whether or not he was
interviewed in 1971 regarding Claire McAlpine by BBC management staff. He says he wasn’t; they say he was. From what I know of the man, I believe that
he would have answered honestly, whatever questions were put to him. I can easily imagine pressure being put on
him to change his answers so that they tallied with the BBC’s version, but he
was adamant that the interviews did not take place. Even if it were to turn out
he was mistaken (and somehow I think he’d remember something as important at
the time as that), I still don’t believe that would be a good enough reason to
sack him.
As much of a fan of Tony’s as I’ve always been, even I have
been surprised at just how much outpouring of support there has been for
him. There’ll always be a few morons who’ll
spout accusatory, poorly-spelled comments, but they really have been few and
far between. The vast majority see the
situation as outrageous and totally unjust.
“Civilians” and celebrities alike have been united in expressing their
utter disgust and disbelief.
The allegations made in 1971 were not the issue, but it is
worth mentioning that even memos from that year show that the BBC felt it would
have been totally out of character (doubt they ever felt that about Jimmy
Savile) for him to have behaved in the way the allegations said he did, and
that it was highly unlikely there was any substance to the claims. The internet
has also been rife, since the revelation of his sacking, with people who’ve spent
time in his presence when younger, saying how safe they felt with him, and that
he didn’t act in a sleazy manner. In his
autobiography “Poptastic” (highly recommended by the way), I distinctly
remember him mentioning how he used to prefer to date people closer to his age
and didn’t bother with much younger women.
Tony Blackburn had been one of the celebrities helping
publicise the campaign to “Save Our BBC”.
He could be forgiven right now for wishing for the complete
opposite. Between Radio 2, Radio
Berkshire and Radio London, three BBC stations had the benefit of listeners
drawn in by Tony. He had made a
phenomenal success of “Pick of the Pops” .
It’s very hard to see how the BBC think they will recover listenership figures
which will inevitably go down, at least for those time slots, first of all
simply because Tony won’t be on those stations with his second-to-none DJ-ing
skills, but also because fans have sworn they will now boycott these stations.
The BBC have made themselves a laughing stock and scored a
spectacular own goal with this action.
They have shown themselves to be completely out of touch with the
public. Tony Blackburn elicits much
respect and affection which the other Tony, BBC Director General Mr Hall, never
has, and never will. “Awful Auntie” has seriously messed up, and will pay
dearly for this mistake. They failed
regarding Savile, the serial sex offender and possibly worse (google Thomas
Sheridan’s writings on Savile – that’s all I’ll say), and have been floundering
in the dark desperately trying to rectify their image ever since. Sorry Mr Hall, it’s too late. No-one else from the celebrity stable can or
should pay for Savile, and especially not Tony Blackburn. There will no doubt be a smear campaign by the BBC to make Tony look guilty. It's started already. But that will give Tony even more ammunition to get them with in court, and the smart amongst us won't fall for the propaganda. Go get ‘em Tony xx
