Alastair Osborne (II)

I've updated what I wrote about Alastair at the request of BBC house magazine Ariel.... more about him, less about me......

Alastair Osborne died in hospital in Birmingham on July 29^th, after battling a brain tumour. He was 74. He worked at the BBC from the early sixties to the late 1980s, in the "current affairs" bit of Radio News - and was an oasis of calm, civility, common sense and wry, gentle humour.

He moved up from deputy to Editor of Today in 1974 – inheriting presenter John Timpson, and looking for a new sidekick. Barry Norman, Des Lynam, Gillian Reynolds, Michael Aspel, James Burke and Melvyn Bragg all had short or longer spells. A future presenter, Libby Purves, joined under Alastair as a trainee. His time at Today ended late in 1975 when he was said to oppose orders - the suits wanted to broadcast from London and Manchester (“pointless two-centre presentation” – copyright L. Purves). History proved his stand right.

Alastair moved to the editorship of the oddly-named Evening Sequence (essentially The World Tonight). He boasted a 4th floor Broadcasting House office with comfy chairs, a drinks cabinet and fridge. Hospitality was on offer after the programme, and in the days of pubs nearby closing at 10.30p.m., this room became known as The Osborne amongst senior colleagues - as in, "I think I'll finish off with one in The Osborne".

From The Osborne, Alastair nurtured a motley crew of highly intelligent presenters, output editors and reporters; some urbane, some eccentric, all making thoughtful radio in a laid-back way – with a number going on to positions of influence elsewhere in the media.

Radio News in the 80s invented more strange job titles, and Alastair finished his BBC career as MECAR - Managing Editor, Current Affairs, Radio - dispensing sage advice to all, and directly producing the odd weekly programme. This brought occasional Friday panics (if Jenny Abramsky, his boss at that time, hadn't started one already that Friday) - usually solved by Alastair's estimable PA Elaine, also known as Head of Gin and Tonics. Alastair assembled great teams of presenters and producers who made great radio programmes - a life worth celebrating. At his memorial, friends and family sang along to a version of “Don’t Fence Me In” by Clint Eastwood.