- Alan Yentob has held many of the most prestigious positions at the BBC. He joined as a general trainee in 1968. After working on arts programmes such as Omnibus (1967) and Arena (1975), he was made Head of Music and Arts at the BBC (1985 - 1988), Controller of BBC Two (1988 - 1993), Controller of BBC One (1993 - 1997), BBC Director of Programmes in Production (1997 - 1998), BBC Director of Television (1998 - 2000), Director of Drama, Entertainment and CBBC (2000 - 2004) and Creative Director of the BBC (2004 - present).
As well as his role at the BBC, he is on the Board of The South Bank and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He is also Chairman of the Institute of Contemporary Art and the charity Kids Company.- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous
- SpousePhilippa Walker(? - May 24, 2025) (his death, 2 children)
- Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks are godparents of his children.
- He attended King's School, Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.
- He was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to television culture.
- He is regarded as a supporter of science-fiction. He brought Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) to British television as controller of BBC Two, screened repeats of Doctor Who (1963) and while running BBC One he made efforts to restore Doctor Who (1963) to the channel despite antipathy towards it from other BBC executives at the time. This eventually led to the production of the Doctor Who: The Movie (1996) film starring Paul McGann, which was a ratings hit in the UK but failed to take off in America.
- He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours List for his services to the Arts and Media. He is a Broadcaster and Television Executive in London, England.
- [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 (1969)) to Morecambe And Wise (The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968)), from The Generation Game (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.
- [on the frustrating complications of programme commissioning] You know what these things are like. You know there is endless discussions, negotiations. You know what the American networks are like, you know what Hollywood is like, you know what the BBC is like. You can't trust anyone, believe me. These things take a while.
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