[4] As Controller, he played a key role in changing the BBC's reputation from being a producer of stodgy, didactic programming in the tradition of Lord Reith to a more creative broadcaster.
His tenure saw the launch of innovative programming such as on the police drama Z-Cars, the satire That Was the Week That Was and the influential science fiction programme Doctor Who, as well as the appearance of the first female newscaster, Nan Winton.
[8] In 1988, he hosted an edition of After Dark called "What Do Women Want" and featuring among others James Dearden, Mary Whitehouse, Joan Wyndham, Naim Attallah and Shere Hite.
[9] He also translated Erich Fried, Aldo Busi, Dario Fo, Dino Buzzati, Goffredo Parise and Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Pebbles from My Skull, about the time he spent with partisans in war-time Italy, was published in 1963 (Hutchinson) and revised in 1985 (Carcanet).