Sir David Edwin Hatch, (7 May 1939 – 13 June 2007)
"''Just a Minute''" site was an English broadcaster, involved in production and management at

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

where he held many executive positions, including Head of Light Entertainment (Radio), Controller of BBC Radio 2 and

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

and later managing director of BBC Radio.

Education

Born in Barnsley, he attended St John's School, Leatherhead and Queens' College, Cambridge, where he arrived to study theology but switched to history, and joined the Cambridge

Footlights Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University. History Footlights' inaugural ...

Club.''From Fringe to Flying Circus'' – 'Celebrating a Unique Generation of Comedy 1960–1980' – Roger Wilmut, Eyre Methuen Ltd, 1980, . He was a member of the cast of the 1963 Footlights revue ''A Clump of Plinths'', which was so successful during its run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that the revue transferred to the West End of London under the title of '' Cambridge Circus'' and later taken on tour to both

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and Broadway in September 1964. Hatch was later a student teacher at

Bloxham School Bloxham School, also called All Saints' School, is an independent co-educational day and boarding school of the British public school tradition, located in the village of Bloxham, three miles (5 km) from the town of Banbury in Oxfordshir ...

, Oxfordshire.

BBC work

A BBC Radio production of ''Cambridge Circus'', entitled ''

I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again ''I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again'' (often abbreviated as ''ISIRTA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme that originated from the 1964 Cambridge University Footlights revue, '' Cambridge Circus''. This is a scripted sketch show. It had a devote ...

'', launched many of the show's cast, including Hatch, into a radio comedy series of the same name. Meanwhile, he was responsible for the radio versions of ''

Doctor in the House ''Doctor in the House'' is a 1954 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty Box. The screenplay, by Nicholas Phipps, Richard Gordon and Ronald Wilkinson, is based on the 1952 novel by Gordon, and follows a group of s ...

'', '' Doctor at Large'', '' Brothers in Law'' and ''

All Gas and Gaiters ''All Gas and Gaiters'' is a British television ecclesiastical sitcom which aired on BBC1 from 1966 to 1971. It was written by Pauline Devaney and Edwin Apps, a husband-and-wife team who used the pseudonym of John Wraith when writing the pilot ...

''. Hatch co-devised the satirical show ''

Week Ending ''Week Ending'' was a satirical radio current affairs sketch show broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1970 and 1998. It was devised by writer-producers Simon Brett and David Hatch and was originally hosted by '' Nationwide'' presenter Michael B ...

'' and produced other comedy radio shows such as '' Just a Minute'', ''

Hello, Cheeky! ''Hello Cheeky'' is a comedy series starring Barry Cryer, John Junkin and Tim Brooke-Taylor, broadcast on BBC Radio 2 between 1973 and 1979, and also broadcast on television - on the ITV network - in 1976. The format was short comedy sketches, o ...

'', ''

The Burkiss Way ''The Burkiss Way'' is a BBC Radio 4 sketch comedy series, originally broadcast between August 1976 and November 1980. It was written by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick, with additional material in seasons 1 and 2 by John Mason, Colin Bostoc ...

'',
From Us To You
', ''

Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves ''Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, published in the United States on 22 March 1963 by Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, and in the United Kingdom on 16 August 1963 by Herbert Jenkins, London.McIlvaine (1990), p. 97, A8 ...

'', '' The Frankie Howerd Show'' (1974) and ''

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'' is a BBC radio comedy panel game. Billed as "the antidote to panel games", it consists of two teams of two comedians being given "silly things to do" by a chairman. The show was launched in April 1972 as a parod ...

''. Some of these overlapped with his earlier executive positions in the BBC: Radio Network Editor, BBC Manchester 1974–78; Head of Light Entertainment (Radio), BBC 1978–80; Controller, BBC Radio 2 1980–83; Controller,

1983–86; Director of Programmes, BBC Radio (later Network Radio, BBC) 1986–87, managing director 1987–93; Vice-Chairman, BBC Enterprises 1987–93; Adviser to the Director-General, BBC 1993–95. In 1990, he created the original Radio 5. He was appointed

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the

1994 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday. Publication dates vary from year to year. Most are published in supplements to the ''London Gazette'' and many are formally conferred by the monarch (or ...

for services to radio broadcasting. Hatch was a regular chairman of the radio panel quiz game ''Wireless Wise'' (1999–2003), made for BBC Radio 4 by Testbed Productions, and presented or appeared in other programmes including an edition of ''Radio Heads'' (2003), a three-hour omnibus collection of his radio programmes on

BBC 7 BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the p ...

, and a Radio 4 ''Archive Hour'' (2006) celebration of the BBC's Broadcasting House building in London.

Later career

Hatch left the Corporation and became Chairman of the

National Consumer Council National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

(1996–2000) and later of the

Parole Board A parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge. Parole boards are used in many jurisdiction ...

(2000–2004) for England and Wales, for which he was knighted in the

2004 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2004 were appointments by some of the Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

. In the latter role in 2003, he described Tony Martin, the farmer convicted of manslaughter, as a "very dangerous man" in an interview for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

''. Hatch's comments were criticized by Martin's supporters. Hatch was also the chairman of SSVC (the

Services Sound and Vision Corporation The Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC) was a British registered charity. Set up in 1982 from the merger of the Services Kinema Corporation (SKC) and the British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) to "entertain and inform Britain's Arm ...

) between 1999 and 2004. After retiring, he retained the position of Life Vice-President on the SSVC Board of Trustees. SSVC operated many facilities on behalf of the MoD including BFBS Radio and TV. Hatch was a Fellow of The

Radio Academy The Radio Academy is a registered charity dedicated to "the encouragement, recognition and promotion of excellence in UK broadcasting and audio production". It was formed in 1983 and is run via a board of trustees, with a chair and a deputy chair ...

.The Radio Academ
"Fellows"

References

* *

External links

*
Radio performer Hatch dies at 68
BBC News
''The Independent'' Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatch, David 1939 births 2007 deaths People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge BBC executives BBC Radio 2 controllers BBC Radio 4 controllers BBC radio producers English male radio actors British radio executives British radio writers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor 20th-century British businesspeople