Alan Yentob, BBC arts broadcaster, has died aged 78
Alan Yentob, long-serving BBC arts broadcaster and documentary-maker, has passed away aged 78.
Yentob had many friends in high places, as a professional profiler and interviewer for series such as Omnibus, Arena and Imagine. David Bowie, Charles Saatchi, Maya Angelou and Grayson Perry are among many creative figures who were interviewed by Yentob.
In particular, the Yentob 1975 Omnibus feature, Cracked Actor, showed David Bowie opening up to him in the back of a limousine at an “intensely creative time”, the filmmaker later recalled. Bowie was also at his most “fragile and exhausted”, trusting only Yentob to deliver the interview so gracefully.
In another vintage BBC Four documentary hosted by Alan Yentob, Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour discussed at great length the archetypal Pink Floyd sound. “It’s a very hard thing to puzzle out myself how these things happen. What combination of personalities, sounds and four individual’s tastes come together to make something that’s got space and atmosphere, theatre and god knows what else to it,” the guitarist mused to Yentob.
He wasn’t just celebrated by musicians. In a scene from W1A, a sitcom that satirised life at the BBC, viewers saw Yentob engage in an arm wrestle with Salman Rushdie while listening to opera.
Yentob became controller of BBC Two in 1988. This made him one of the youngest channel controllers in the corporation’s history. After success in the role, he was promoted to controller of BBC One from 1993 to 1997, before a stint as BBC television’s overall director of programmes. He was announced as the corporation’s creative director in 2004.
In reaction to the news, pop group The Pet Shop Boys described Yentob as “a legend in British TV, responsible for some of the BBC’s finest programmes”. Wife Philippa Walker described her late husband as “curious, funny, annoying, late and creative in every cell of his body” and added that he was “the kindest of men”.
Yentob continued to make many more programmes for the broadcaster, and was subsequently appointed a CBE in 2024 for services to the arts and media. He is survived by his wife, TV producer Philippa Walker, and their two children.
Never Miss A Scene
The Far Out Film Newsletter
All the latest film news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.