Robin Day

Sir Robin Day, OBE (24 October 1923 – 6 August 2000) was a British political broadcaster and commentator. His obituary in The Guardian states that: " 'he was the most outstanding television journalist of his generation. He transformed the television interview, changed the relationship between politicians and television, and strove to assert balance and rationality into the medium's treatment of current affairs' "cite web|title = The Guardian Obituary by Dick Taverne, 8th August 2000|url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2000/aug/08/guardianobituaries1|accessdate = 2008-09-01] .

Personal life

He was the son of a telephone engineer who became telephone manager at Gloucester. In 1965, he married Katherine Ainslie, an Australian law don at St Anne's College, Oxford, and had two sons. The marriage was dissolved in 1986. One of the tragedies of his life was that his elder son never fully recovered from the effects of multiple skull fractures he sustained in a childhood fall.

In the 1980s, Day had a coronary bypass, and he suffered from breathing problems that were often evident when he was on the air. He had always fought against a tendency to put on weight. As an undergraduate, he weighed 17 stone, and claimed that, in the course of his life, he had succeeded in losing more weight than any other person.

Day had problems relating to women. The broadcaster Joan Bakewell recalled that while he was professional while in the office:

" 'socially="" he="" was="" a="" menace.="" there="" no="" subtlety="" in="" his="" manner:="" at="" office="" parties="" would="" attack="" head="" on.="" "do="" the="" men="" you="" interview="" fancy="" you?="" do="" they="" stare="" your="" legs?="" breasts?="" sleep="" with="" many="" of="" them?"="" ...="" whenever="" loomed="" sight,="" i="" made="" myself="" scarce.="" [Joan Bakewell "The Centre of the Bed: An Autobiography", 2003, Sceptre, p234-5.] ' "Later, broadcaster Anna Ford pushed Day into a bush as a result of his unwanted advances.

Education

Day briefly attended The Crypt School, Gloucester and later Bembridge School on the Isle of Wight. Day attended St Edmund Hall, Oxford and, while a student, was elected president of the Oxford Union debating society. Day also took part in a debating tour of the United States run by the English-Speaking Union.

War Service

He served with the army East Africa, where he reached the rank of Captain but was demoted to Lieutenant as part of a cull of rear-echelon jobs,

Barrister

He was called to the Bar in 1952, but practised only briefly. In his memoirs he recorded that he secured the acquittal of a lorry-driver accused of indecent exposure by persuading the magistrates that the man had been "shaking the drops from his person" after urinating, and by getting the man's young wife to testify, wearing a tight sweater, that she and her husband enjoyed a healthy love life.

Media

Day spent almost his entire career in journalism. He rose to prominence on the new Independent Television News (ITN) from 1955, when he was the first British journalist to interview President Nasser of Egypt after the Suez Crisis.

On television, he presented "Panorama" and chaired "Question Time" (1979–89), and on radio was presenter of "The World at One" from 1979 to 1987. His incisive and sometimes - by the standards of the day - abrasive interviewing style, together with his heavy-rimmed spectacles and trademark bow tie, made him an instantly recognisable and frequently impersonated figure over five decades.

He became known in British broadcasting as " 'the Grand Inquisitor' " for his abrasive interviewing politicians, a style out of keeping with the British media's culture of deference to authority that prevailed during the early days of his career.

In 1958 he interviewed Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, in what the Daily Express called: " 'the most vigorous cross-examination a prime minister has been subjected to in public' ". The interview turned Macmillan into a television personality, and was probably the first time that British television became a serious part of the political process.

In the early 1970s, Day was involved on BBC Radio, where he proved an innovator with " 'It's Your Line' " from 1970- 76. This was a national phone-in programme that enabled ordinary people, for the first time, to put questions directly to the prime minister and other politicians (it later spawned " 'Election Call' "). He also presented The World At One, from 1979-87. In 1981, he was knighted for his services to broadcasting.

In October 1982, during an interview with the Conservative Secretary of State for Defence John Nott, pursuing cuts in defence expenditure, he posed the question: "But why should the public, on this issue, as regards the future of the Royal Navy, believe you, a transient, here-today and, if I may say so, gone-tomorrow politician, [a reference to Nott's announcement that he was to stand down at the next General Election] rather than a senior officer of many years?" Nott rose, removed his microphone, and said "I'm sorry, I'm fed up with this interview. Really, it's ridiculous" and walked off the set. Nott's autobiography in 2003 was called "Here Today Gone Tomorrow: Recollections of an Errant Politician".

For 25 years he campaigned tirelessly, and eventually successfully, for the televising of parliament - not in the interests of television, but of parliament itself. He claimed that he was the first to present the detailed arguments in favour, in a Hansard Society paper in 1963.

"Monty Python's Flying Circus" often used Day as a reference, including the " 'Eddie Baby" ' sketch in which John Cleese turns to the camera and states: " 'Robin Day's got a hedgehog named Frank.' " In another sketch, Eric Idle said he was able to return his " 'Robin Day tie' " to Harrod's. He was also spoofed (as "Robin Yad") on "The Goodies'" episode " 'Saturday Night Grease' ".

Day published two autobiographies; " 'Day by Day' " in 1975 and " 'Grand Inquisitor' " in 1989.

Politics

In the 1959 General Election he stood as a Liberal Party candidate for Hereford but failed to win.

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/870103.stm Sir Robin Day: 1923–2000] from the BBC
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/870214.stm Tributes to Sir Robin Day] from the BBC