Bogof

You get more than just Richard Sharp as chair of the BBC. You get his mum, 90-year-old Lady Marion Sharp, who watches telly with him, and who is one of his lodestars in judging the appropriateness of public spending. 

Mr Sharp appeared this afternoon in front of the Culture Select Committee seeking to confirm his appointment. He dealt patiently with the naughty boys of the Lower Sixth, Julian Smith and John Nicolson.

Revelations ? He'd applied for the job once before and failed. He grew up with Listen with Mother, Andy Pandy and The Woodentops. He was inspired by Raymond Baxter on Tomorrow's World. He broke his nose playing rugby. "Much of my life has been spent watching sport". More recently, he talked of 'inhaling dramas'. He watched Fleabag uncomfortably with his mum, and worried after he recommended she watch Industry. 

He donated £400k to the Tory party between 2001 and 2010. In January last year, he donated £2,500 to Jesse Norman, Tory MP for Hereford. He intends to donate his BBC salary to charity. He says he recently donated money to the Quilliam think tank because he was impressed by the thinking of LBC presenter Maajid Nawaz. He says he stood up to then Chancellor Philip Hammond when he was at the Bank of England. He's not in favour of de-criminalisation of non-payment of the licence fee. "Our public service broadcasting is a precious thing for the world".