Peter Fincham

Jonathan Ross fined £1.4m and given final warning by BBC for Russell Brand radio prank

Jonathan Ross has been docked £1.4 million in pay and issued with a "final warning" by the BBC’s director-general, Mark Thompson, as punishment for the obscene phone calls made to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs on Russell...

Janine Gibson: BBC finally gets it right on Brand-Ross phone prank row

After a week of madness, finally a shockingly sensible response from the BBC.A 12-week suspension for Jonathan Ross feels, oddly, about right. Suspension without pay actually claws back some of the BBC licence fee money the...

Manuel's revenge: Outcry over calls to 'Fawlty Towers' star engulfs BBC

The future of the most senior woman in British radio was in doubt last night after the comedian Russell Brand resigned from his Radio 2 job as the furore over his phone prank with fellow presenter Jonathan Ross engulfed the...

Last bong for Sir Trevor McDonald

Published Date: 30 October 2008 SIR TREVOR McDonald is to make his final appearance as co-presenter of ITV's News at Ten next month, the broadcaster has confirmed. The 69-year-old veteran newsreader will stand down from the...

Sir Trevor leaving News at 10

SIR Trevor McDonald is to makes his last appearance as co-presenter of News At Ten next month. The veteran newsreader will stand down in late November, after presenting coverage of the US elections. Sir Trevor, 69, returned to...

Russell Brand quits BBC radio show

International News: Co-presenter Jonathan Ross suspended -- Russell Brand quit his BBC radio show on Wednesday after the pubcaster suspended him and his celeb co-presenter Jonathan Ross following the public outcry over lewd...

Maggie Brown: Suspension is not enough for Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand

Thousands of protest calls may have come from people who have never heard Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand's prank calls to Andrew Sachs. But they should still be taken seriously. Their protests resemble the swelling number of...

Matt Wells: A parable of our times

It might have been Russell Brand's radio show where they made the now-notorious prank call, but this story is all about his co-conspirator. If Brand's chuckling sidekick had been a lesser name from the comedy circuit rather...

Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross: Mark Thompson's response too little too late

Some procedures don't seem to be working too well at the BBC of late - not least, the editorial compliance process to check if comedy material is too offensive to be broadcast on Radio 2. Comment by Neil Midgley, TV & Radio...

BBC chief must 'get a grip' over Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand scandal

The BBC director general Mark Thompson must "get a grip" in the wake of the scandal over lewd phone calls made by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand to actor Andrew Sachs a former head of the BBC World Service has said.