After showing a passion for drama at Leeds, television executive and presenter Alan Yentob went on to change the course of broadcasting over nearly six decades at the BBC.
There are very few hit BBC shows that Alan Yentob (Law 1968, Hon LLD 2010) didn’t influence during his career at the corporation.
From his breakthrough documentary Cracked Actor with David Bowie, to various senior commissioning roles – bringing to life the likes of Strictly Come Dancing, The Great British Bake Off, The Office, The Thick of It, Dragon’s Den, and Life on Mars – Alan has been described by The Guardian as “the most influential broadcaster in Britain over the last 50 years”.
Alan worked across many positions of significant influence at the BBC – including Creative Director from 2004 to 2015 – but programme making was his true passion. Prior to his death on 24 May 2025, he returned to making and presenting the Imagine series with celebrities from the worlds of art, film, music, literature and dance.
There is a pleasure in helping others to realise what they want to do. But I enjoy making things better.
Alan arrived at Leeds to study law, but when he spoke about his time at the University, he was most nostalgic for the student drama society. He was a talent on stage and performed in Max Frisch’s “The Chinese Wall” with Leeds Theatre Group for a week-long stint at London’s Garrick Theatre, winning the Sunday Times Cup for best full-length play.
On returning to Leeds to give an alumni lecture entitled ‘The Secret Life of the BBC’ in 2004, Alan said: “It was here that my passion for movies and broadcasting was developed. In those days it was a powerhouse for drama.”
When he graduated, Alan joined the BBC as a trainee – the only non-Oxbridge candidate of his intake. He wrote in his application: “My dramatic debut at the age of nine as Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor was greeted with a gratifying critique by one of my contemporaries: ‘You ought to be a film star 'cos you've got smashing legs.’ Whether it was those smashing legs that tipped the balance will never be known.”
Alan worked for the BBC World Service before becoming an assistant director on arts documentary programme Omnibus – where he would make his name in painting a picture of Bowie’s struggles with drug addiction. The programme was described by The Rolling Stone magazine as "greatest rockumentary ever". He went on to take over BBC Arts programme Arena, which was voted one of 50 most influential programmes of all time.
In 1987 Alan became channel controller for BBC2, and in 1993 for BBC1 – and he was one of the youngest ever to hold the roles. In 2004, the year he became BBC Creative Director, Alan outlined in his speech to Leeds alumni that the corporation could thrive with the arrival of the digital age if they created television that would inform, educate and entertain, but “with flair, with imagination and with intelligence”. Against the backdrop of a continually changing media landscape, Alan was true to his mantra across the decades, ushering in countless hit shows – including Absolutely Fabulous, Have I Got News For You, and Wallace and Gromit – and launching children’s channels CBBC and CBeebies.
After stepping down in 2015, Alan continued to pursue his true passion – working in front of the camera as a presenter and interviewer. He fronted Imagine, and over his career he profiled the likes of Charles Saatchi, Maya Angelou, Grayson Perry, Toni Morrison, Bob Geldof and Kazuo Ishiguro.
In 2010 he was awarded an honorary degree by the University, and in 2024 a CBE for services to the arts and media. As the the congregation heard at his honorary graduation ceremony, such accolades are deserved recognition for one of the most “creative and influential individuals working in the cause of public service broadcasting”.
Further information
For more information, email Ed Newbould, Digital Communications Officer at the University of Leeds, at e.w.newbould@leeds.ac.uk.