Sir

Richard Francis

KCMG
Richard Francis in 1984
Born(1934-03-10)10 March 1934
Harrogate, Yorkshire, England
Died26 June 1992(1992-06-26) (aged 58)
Roehampton
Alma materUniversity College, Oxford
Occupations
  • BBC executive
  • Director-General of British Council
Years active1958–1992
EmployerBritish Broadcasting Corporation
TelevisionPanorama
Spouses
  • Beate Ella Paula Stientje Ohlhagen
  • Elizabeth Penelope Anne Fairfax-Crone
Children4
Parents
  • Eric Roland Francis (father)
  • Esther Joy Todd (mother)

Sir Richard Trevor Langford Francis KCMG (10 March 1934 - 26 June 1992)[1] was a British broadcaster and public servant. His BBC career as director included for Panorama before he was promoted to Controller Northern Ireland and subsequently Director News and Current Affairs and, later, Managing Director BBC radio.[2]

After his dismissal from the BBC, he was appointed Director-General of the British Council.[3]

Early life and education

Richard Francis was born on 10 March 1934 in Harrogate, Yorkshire to Esther Joy Todd and Eric Roland Francis. He was educated at Malsis School and Uppingham School before completing a degree at University College, Oxford.[2][4]

Career

After two years' service with the Royal Artillery,[4] he joined BBC Television in 1958[5] and, starting in 1963, was the director of its Panorama programme of current affairs and news.[2] covering many topics including British general elections, the Congo Crisis and the Vietnam War.[6] In 1969, Francis headed the European Broadcasting Union's "Apollo" project which was based at Cape Kennedy and provided support to the television commentators who reported on NASA's Apollo 11 Moon landing.[7] As a result of all his experience, Sir Michael Checkland said he became known as "the man for the big event".[5]

In 1973 he became BBC Controller Northern Ireland,[1][8] establishing Radio Ulster,[4] and leading the BBC through tumultuous times[9] including a bomb in the BBC's Broadcasting house in Belfast in 1974.[10] Later as BBC Director News and Current Affairs he clashed with Margaret Thatcher over the BBC's coverage of the Falklands War. She had criticised radio and television coverage in which "we and the Argentines are almost being treated as equals".[11] Francis responded at an international Press Institute assembly in Madrid, saying "the BBC needs no lesson in patriotism", and adding that "truth is always the best propaganda".[12]

In 1982, Francis was promoted to be Managing Director BBC radio where he set about giving radio a higher profile.[13] He later clashed with the Director-General, Alisdair Milne, over plans for a new radio centre in Langham Place.[2] According to William Rees-Mogg, who at that time was a member of the BBC's Board of Governors, when asked to give up his job by Milne, Francis complained to the Board, arguing that he had been given no valid reason for dismissal. The Board found itself in the difficult position of having to choose between the two men and decided it was in the BBC's best interests to keep its Director-General.[14] Francis left the BBC in May 1986.[15][16][17]

He was appointed Director-General of the British Council, a role in which he set its corporate plans including the 1989 "Britain in Europe" campaign. He remained in this post until his death in 1992, aged 58.[3] He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1989.[18]

Personal life

Francis married Beate Ella Paula Stientje Ohlhagen in 1958. They had two sons. After their divorce in 1973, he married Elizabeth Penelope Anne Fairfax-Crone in 1974, with whom he had two further sons.[2][4] He died at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton, on 26 June 1992.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Rowland, Robert (27 Jun 1992). "A doughty fighter for his BBC corner". The Guardian. p. 30.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Obituaries: Sir Richard Francis". The Daily Telegraph. 29 Jun 1992. p. 19. Archived from the original on 2023-07-17. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
  3. 1 2 James, P.D. (6 July 1992). "Obituary: Sir Richard Francis". The Independent. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. 2004. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/51037. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  5. 1 2 Checkland, Sir Michael (30 June 1992). "A strong voice for editorial freedom". Ariel. p. 5.
  6. ↑ "BBC Chief dies, aged 58". Western Daily Press. 27 June 1992.
  7. ↑ Miall, Leonard (8 August 1969). "Jottings from a Moonshot Notebook". Ariel. Vol. 14, no. 8. p. 1.
  8. ↑ "BBC - Northern Ireland Chronicle - Broadcasting and the depiction of violence, Richard Francis". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
  9. ↑ "Obituaries: Sir Richard Francis". The Times. 27 June 1992.
  10. ↑ "Staff escape Belfast bomb blast". Ariel. 26 June 1974.
  11. ↑ Day-Lewis, Sean (7 May 1982). "Thatcher critic of TV and radio coverage". The Daily Telegraph. p. 4.
  12. ↑ Brown, Tim (12 May 1982). "BBC needs no lesson in patriotism, says radio chief in reply to criticism". The Daily Telegraph.
  13. ↑ Francis, Richard (24 January 1985). "There s no case for dismembering the BBC". The Stage and Television Today: 19.
  14. ↑ Rees-Mogg, William (2011). Memoirs. Harper Press. pp. 173–4. ISBN 9780002571838.
  15. ↑ Wade, David (10 May 1986). "Real-life dramas behind the scenes". The Times.
  16. ↑ Porter, Henry (11 May 1986). "The making of Radio Wenham". The Sunday Times.
  17. ↑ Hussey, Marmaduke (2001). Chance Governs All: a memoir. London: Macmillan. pp. 213–4. ISBN 0333902564.
  18. ↑ "Her Majesty's Birthday Honours List 1989". The London Gazette. p. B3.
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