I can't pretend to have been a fan of Alan Yentob - as Controller he cancelled both my Entertainment USA and No Limits shows when they were top of the ratings in order to steal the budgets for his friend Janet Street Porter, a talentless idiot whose programmes rightly sank without trace. Then, later, when he took over BBC1, he was furious that I saved Eurovision, which he wanted to drop, by choosing hits as our UK entries which meant massive ratings and, indeed, a win. But it's always sad to see someone die - and to discover that he was younger than me! It was Private Eye that brilliantly nicknamed him BOTNEY.

Just to clarify - I do not believe that MY way is right for anybody else. If Botney felt a show about some obscure HUndarian painter was more worthy of a spot on Prime Time BBC1 than Eurovision - he was the man in the job. If he felt the appalling Janet Street Walker was more able to make programmes that appealed than I was - that was his decision. If I wanted to be the man in a position to do things I could always take on the job - as I did with Eurovision.