One lady called Diana Gould asked questions about the Belgrano, which was steaming away from the Falklands when it was sunk, with the loss of more than 1,000 lives, and Mrs Thatcher maintained stoutly this wasn’t the case. “Not because of nepotism, but because, like most children of a family in business, you grow up having no fear of the trade.” Which augurs well for the careers of a growing number of mini-MagnussonsMeg Carter. I went to Liverpool University in 1964, and at the beginning of 1967, the BBC sent people round to talk about the jobs that were available. They said we could apply to be studio managers, but told us not to bother with the general trainee scheme, because only people from Oxbridge got on that.

But I thought: “Bugger that – I’ll have a go”, and they offered me a general traineeship. I went first of all to Bush House, where I remember interviewing someone about the introduction of giant rabbits into Australia for food. I then worked on Late Night Line-Up, with Joan Bakewell, and on a religious programme with Malcolm Muggeridge called The Question Why?, before ending up in current affairs.
I was first on The Money Programme, then on Panorama, and in 1978 I was asked to edit a nightly show called Tonight, which was when my troubles with Ireland began. We thought our job at the BBC was to explain to the British people what the facts were about Northern Ireland, but we ran up against Mrs Thatcher, who was just coming to power. Some months after Airey Neave was killed by the INLA, we interviewed a member of the INLA, trying to find out what they believed and why on earth they had done such an appalling thing, and Mrs Thatcher did not approve.Subsequently, when I became editor of Panorama later in 1979, I attempted to make an in-depth programme about the IRA with Jeremy Paxman, but in the course of filming there was a dreadful row and I got fired. But Mr Grade is keen to prove he can turn around the group which owns a diverse set of leisure attractions from the Blackpool Tower to Brannigans music bars.He has already announced a wide-ranging shake-up of the troubled bingo division by installing new management from Rank.

He is also looking to expand its health and fitness division following the acquisition of the Riverside chain of clubs.Bass declined to comment on the market speculation but is thought to be keen to pull off an acquisition after the Government blocked its bid for Carlsberg-Tetley, which would have made it the UK’s largest brewer. It is also still in the running to buy bookmaker William Hill from Brent Walker. Analysts believe the bookie could fetch more than pounds 650m. Bass has reached the final bid stages but is facing stiff competition from CinVen, the venture capitalist.If Bass is unsuccessful in acquiring either business it is likely to concentrate on its international operations.