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 (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

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

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

and

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

and later managing director of BBC Radio.

Education

Born in

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

, he attended St John's School, Leatherhead and

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

, where he arrived to study theology but switched to history, and joined the Cambridge

Footlights The Cambridge Footlights, commonly referred to simply as Footlights, is a student sketch comedy troupe located in Cambridge, England. Footlights was founded in 1883, and is one of Britain's oldest student sketch comedy troupes. The comedy so ...

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 The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

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 () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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

Bloxham School Bloxham School, also called All Saints' School, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day and boarding school of the Public school (United Kingdom), British public school tradition, located in the village of Bloxham ...

, 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 was developed from the 1964 University of Cambridge, Cambridge University Footlights revue, ''Cambridge Circus (comedy), Cambridge Circus ...

'', 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 may refer to: * Doctor in the House (novel), ''Doctor in the House'' (novel), a 1952 novel by Richard Gordon ** Doctor in the House (film), ''Doctor in the House'' (film), a 1954 British film adaptation of the novel *** Doctor i ...

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

All Gas and Gaiters ''All Gas and Gaiters'' is a British television ecclesiastical sitcom which aired on BBC One, 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 th ...

''. Hatch co-devised the satirical show '' Week Ending'' and produced other comedy radio shows such as ''

Just a Minute ''Just a Minute'' is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game. For more than 50 years, with a few exceptions, it was hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Following Parsons' death in 2020, Sue Perkins became the permanent host, starting with the 87th ser ...

'', ''

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, ...

'', '' The Burkiss Way'',
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 the host. The show was launched in April 1972 as a parody of ...

''. 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,

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 in the 1994 Birthday Honours 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, and a Radio 4 ''Archive Hour'' (2006) celebration of the BBC's

Broadcasting House London Broadcasting House is the headquarters of the BBC, in Portland Place and Langham Place, London. The first radio broadcast from the building was made on 15 March 1932, and the building was officially opened two months later, on 15 May. T ...

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

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 2004 New Year Honours. 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 Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''. Hatch's comments were criticized by Martin's supporters. Hatch was also the chairman of SSVC (the Services Sound and Vision Corporation) 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 chai ...

.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 British radio show creators British satirical radio show creators Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor 20th-century English businesspeople