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Suspended Ross warned 'never again'
Evening Standard 31 Oct 2008
The BBC was hoping today that a three-month ban for star presenter Jonathan Ross and the resignation of Radio 2's boss would draw a line under the obscene phone calls furore.
Ross has been suspended from his TV and radio shows without pay until mid-January, and told he would not be able to bring the BBC into disrepute again. As the corporation's highest-paid star on £6 million a year, the move will cost him around £1.5 million.
Highly-regarded Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas also stepped down after taking ultimate responsibility for the broadcasting of prank calls to Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs.
BBC director-general Mark Thompson said Ross's contribution to the Russell Brand show was "utterly unacceptable" and there would be "tight discipline" in future.
He said: "A 12-week suspension is an exceptional step, but I believe it is a proportionate response to Jonathan's role in this unhappy affair.
"We agree that nothing like this must ever happen again and that tight discipline will be required for the future."
Further slips by Ross would not be tolerated, Mr Thompson added.
"I believe Jonathan absolutely overstepped the mark. It doesn't mean that Jonathan can't, in future, continue to broadcast for the BBC. But he and everyone else should accept this is a final warning."
Commenting on the loss of Ms Douglas, Mr Thompson said that "ultimate responsibility" for such incidents lay with "executive producers, producers and controllers".
"The consequences of errors of judgment are therefore more serious for managers," he said.
Ms Douglas, who has revived Radio 2 by attracting a new audience of 30-somethings, said it was right that she took "responsibility" for the phone calls and the decision to resign was hers alone.
The controller said: "It is a matter of the greatest possible sadness to me that a programme on my network has been the cause of such a controversy."
She was a popular figure and her resignation will disappoint many people within the BBC.
Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans was visibly upset last night as he described Douglas as "the best boss in the world".
Her resignation and Ross' suspension came after Mr Thompson met with the BBC Trust yesterday to discuss the crisis over the phone calls made to actor Andrew Sachs during Russell Brand's Radio 2 programme on October 18.
Ross and Brand left messages saying Brand had slept with Sachs' granddaughter, Georgina Baillie, and that the actor might kill himself after finding out about the encounter.
More than 35,000 complaints have since flooded into the BBC, and the DJs have both apologised to Sachs.
The BBC Trust, which represents licence-fee payers, said editorial controls must be strengthened.
It was "dismayed" by the "offensive comments" which "fell so far short of audiences' legitimate expectations" and represented "an abuse of the privilege given to the BBC to broadcast to its audiences".
The trust has ordered Radio 2 to broadcast an on-air apology, and said the BBC had fallen "way short of the public's overall expectations".
Brand quit his Radio 2 show on Thursday, saying he took "complete responsibility" for the calls which he blamed on getting "caught up in the moment".
Mr Thompson insisted the BBC had "moved very, very quickly in the last 72 hours".
He said: "The BBC is broadcasting tens of thousands of hours of output every year, the overwhelming majority of which absolutely meets some very high standards that the public expect of the BBC.
"From time to time a programme happens that completely oversteps the mark."
Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans said there was no anger among employees of the station about how the situation had been handled by the media.
"No, absolutely not, and we understand the severity of what's gone on," the drivetime star said.
"I'm aware of what went on and it shouldn't have happened.
"Andrew Sachs doesn't want to be 78 years old and remembered for this, he wants to be remembered for what he did brilliantly.
"We don't feel like we've been picked on undeservedly. It was a huge mistake and we all wish it hadn't happened."
