Sir Peter Bazalgette on abolishing the DCMS, the economic case for the arts and why he’s worried about cuts to local authorities.
Whenever Sir Peter Bazalgette’s obituaries come to be written, at the very top will be two words: Big Brother. Unfair? Probably. He has enjoyed a career in the television world which has spanned four decades, chaired the English National Opera, been president of Royal Television Society, and was knighted for his services to the arts. But Baz – as he is known to friends and colleagues alike – will forever be the man who brought the pioneering (yes, it really was once) reality television show to Britain.
The stench, harsher critics might say, is still in the air, and with his great great grandfather Sir Joseph Bazalgette famously creating London’s sewer system over a century before it was a matter of time before someone spotted the joke. Stephen Fry got there first, wryly noting that Peter was undoing Sir Joseph’s good work by pumping the shit back into our homes... Keep reading on Total Politics
Whenever Sir Peter Bazalgette’s obituaries come to be written, at the very top will be two words: Big Brother. Unfair? Probably. He has enjoyed a career in the television world which has spanned four decades, chaired the English National Opera, been president of Royal Television Society, and was knighted for his services to the arts. But Baz – as he is known to friends and colleagues alike – will forever be the man who brought the pioneering (yes, it really was once) reality television show to Britain.
The stench, harsher critics might say, is still in the air, and with his great great grandfather Sir Joseph Bazalgette famously creating London’s sewer system over a century before it was a matter of time before someone spotted the joke. Stephen Fry got there first, wryly noting that Peter was undoing Sir Joseph’s good work by pumping the shit back into our homes... Keep reading on Total Politics