[2] Collins left the British education system aged eighteen, and began his career as an editorial assistant at the Oxford University Press in London.
The series, broadcast in the early evening just after the main news bulletin, was phenomenally popular and drew 15 million listeners at its peak, being fondly remembered and occasionally revived for many years afterwards.
Collins left the BBC with a strong desire to see the establishment of a televisual competitor to the corporation, which since the 1920s had held a complete monopoly on broadcasting in the UK, both radio and television.
However, when they won only the London weekend and Midlands Monday to Friday licences, their backers withdrew and the ITA prohibited Collins and his colleagues accepting extra funding from the Daily Express newspaper.
An answer was found in the form of a merger with Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment, which had failed to win a franchise of its own as the ITA was afraid such a powerful organisation would dominate the other network companies.
Collins took on the role of Deputy Chairman of ATV, but was effectively sidelined by the force of personality of the company's other senior directors, Prince Littler and Lew Grade.