Excellent TV show, obeying all the rules of "is it a good story?".
Deliberately avoided ever asking "could these allegations be true or might they be adapted to fit the cameras?" as that would have ruined the story.

Deliberately didn't openly say "the police and CPS are useless for not prosecuting him" because then one or two viewers might have thought "why didn't the police believe the accusers?".

Deliberately didn't touch the Mail letter because that would have been a very good reason for a responsible editor to say "something fishy is going on - do we want to give airtime to people who may be involved in forging police letters?". Which would have ruined the better story - crowds of influential BBC bosses crushing a story because they don't want the appalling truth to emerge.

Mind you, they are clearly calling the Mail liars or they would have included this dynamite piece of evidence and discredited it. Very brave of them to allow this obvious omission not to ruin a "good story".

But the hack in charge did admit, at the end, that the real reason it should have been broadcast was quite simply because it was "a good story".

True or not? Who cares. It's a GREAT story.

But with distrust in The Police (Hillsborough, Orgreave coking plant) at such high levels, if the BBC are going to fill the nation's airtime with the trivial Newsnight/Panorama charade instead of what WERE the police and CPS doing or not doing and why, the UK as a whole can't take more "hits" like this. People are convinced everything pretty much stinks and that's when people take matters into their own hands.

I was amazed to read a story obviously designed to scare The Scots away from voting for independence by Crispin Black.

If this is how our bunch of Lord Snooties intend to keep the UK together, they are terrifyingly out of touch .... "we'd like you all to listen to this nice ex-army chap Crispin so please be good plebs and let him speak"

Clueless. Charmless. Patronising. The Tories will cause the break up of the oblivious to hoe they're hated in vast swathes of the UK.

Today in Parliament was a shocker. Tories cheering the idea of leaving the EU completely as Cameron tries to have some influence on a boat he isn't even on. An opt out for Britain's banks ... sorry, "bust" banks will the Eurozone miss them?

In 5 years we could be just England, Wales and Northern Ireland, out of Europe, Scotland will be IN Europe, maybe using the Euro ... it's mad.