[on the death of
Bill Cotton] Under his leadership in the '70s the BBC commissioned and produced a raft of entertainment and comedy which set a benchmark for these genres which has rarely been surpassed. From Monty Python (
Monty Python's Flying Circus ; Absurde, n'est-il pas? (1969)) to Morecambe And Wise (
The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968)), from The Generation Game (
Bruce Forsyth and the Generation Game (1971)) to
Dad's Army (1968), these shows and others like them have helped to define not just a genre but a generation.
Bill Cotton was always there to remind us that the BBC mission to entertain could be just as ambitious and aspirational as our commitment to inform and educate.
