Uneasy lies the head that wears the BBC crown. Tim Davie, the beleaguered director general (DG), must be checking in the mirror to see if he is still wearing it and fearing the phone call which will summon him to the chair’s office for an urgent word.

Many BBC leaders have been made to fall on their sword, usually as the result of animosity from political leaders and a media furore. The stress is largely believed to have caused Ian Trethowan (1977-82) to have a heart attack. His successor, Alasdair Milne (1982-87), resigned rather than be sacked on the orders of Margaret Thatcher. Greg Dyke (2000-04), pursued by Labour’s Alastair Campbell, had to walk the plank over the coverage of the Iraq war (his chair, Gavyn Davies, accompanied him). And in 2012 George Entwistle lasted only a few weeks in the building before he was ruthlessly grilled by Today’s John Humphrys over Newsnight’s coverage of a child abuse scandal, then left the building.

And the past can come back to haunt you. Entwistle’s successor, Tony Hall (2013-20), has been relentlessly pursued by Earl Spencer over the astonishing BBC........

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