Analysis Ian McIntyre returned to the BBC as a freelancer making documentaries around the world, initially for
Radio 3. At the tail end of the 1960s, his old friend and colleague
Tony Whitby – then controller of
Radio 4 – asked him to present a new series of current affairs programmes. McIntyre stated in 1999 that Tony Whitby proposed a remit to provide "serious current affairs broadcasting...that...should be a sort of demonstration of good faith to the listener that there were going to be serious things done".
Radio 4 In 1976 Ian McIntyre was appointed Controller of
BBC Radio 4. According to BBC producer Simon Elmes, he gained the nickname "
Mack the Knife" due to his programme of cuts and abrasive style of governance, described by producer Piers Plowright as "ruthless". At one meeting, the head of radio drama Ronald Mason was said to have become so infuriated that he "threw his chair across the room and stalked off." As part of the cuts, McIntyre halved the length of
PM and the
Today Programme, in the latter case filling the spare air time with the short-lived lighter breakfast news programme
Up to the Hour. In 1978 he commissioned
Fritz Spiegl to produce the
Radio 4 UK Theme, an arrangement of traditional British melodies to signify Radio 4 as a service which, from its move from medium wave to 1500 metres/200 kiloHertz long wave on 23 November 1978, would for the first time broadcast a unified service to the whole United Kingdom (i.e. without the regional opt-outs which it had inherited from the old
Home Service in 1967).
Radio 3 McIntyre was moved sideways to become controller of Radio 3 in 1978. According to his colleague,
Howard Newby, this was "to create smoother waters at Radio 4". He remained at Radio 3 for nine years. During his tenure, relations with several departments, especially the Music Division became uncomfortable; financial cuts at the BBC hit Radio 3 hard in 1980 and an internal paper recommended the disbandment of several of the BBC orchestras. Industrial action by musicians delayed the start of
the Proms after redundancies in the Music Division. In 1987 a decision was taken to merge the positions of Controller, Music (held by
John Drummond who had also been running the Proms), and Controller, Radio 3 (held by McIntyre). Drummond was appointed and McIntyre left the BBC shortly afterwards. == Later life ==