Liberal leader Jo Grimond was generally a civilised and low-key politician, who only occasionally lashed out. One such spasm was aimed at the Dimbleby dynasty. He said the BBC was run by a cosy group of people who "think the same thoughts...live in the same circles, and even it seems if one dies, a successor is better to have the same name. How many more Dimblebys have been employed by the BBC ? ... unless you are one of the dinner gongs to which the Pavlov's dogs of the media respond, you have little chance of being on it".
In 1970, David was presenting 24 Hours, Jonathan was presenting The World This Week on Radio 4, and Sally was employed as a BBC researcher. 43 years on, David is in the third year of a five year BBC contract, and still at the helm of Question Time after nine years. Jonathan Dimbleby has been chairing Any Questions ? on Radio 4 since 1987. Sally went on from the BBC to be company secretary for a number of Dimbleby firms, and was last reported in the press failing to complete the Dittisham Regatta in 2012, finding the shallows of Tea Leaf Bay on the River
David's children are Liza, an artist; Henry, co-founder of fast food chain Leon, Government advisor on school dinners, author of a weekly food column in The Guardian, and contributor to Woman's Hour on Radio 4; and Kate, a jazz and folk singer, who featured on Woman's Hour last June. Henry Dimbleby had a brief tv acting career at the age of 13 as Tom Dudgeon in BBC adaptations of Arthur Ransome's Coot Club and The Big Six.
Jonathan's son Dan trained as a chef, then had a career in tv, moving up from sound on Jamie's Kitchen, to producer on Masterchef. He now runs an ice-cream van company. Jonathan's daughter, Kitty, writes occasionally for the Daily Mail, and has penned a book about being an army wife.
No comments:
Post a Comment