overyourhead

RIP RtR...
It wasn't the first time I was on TV, or was it the last. But it was certainly the most confrontational. I appeared on Right To Reply a few days after the ITV televised boxing match where Michael Watson was knocked out by Chris Eubank in the last round in 1991. I had called RtR after the match to complain about ITV's coverage. The hype, the slow motion replays with the blood, the fact we didn't know whether Michael Watson was dead or alive. The following Friday I went to the C4 studio to have a head to head argument up against Greg Dyke (then Head of ITV Sport - now BBC Director-General). I think I gave a good showing avoiding the easy "ban boxing" mantra. Dyke is/was/always will be a worm though. He said he'd show bull fighting on ITV if he could and would bid for screening live capital punishment if it were legal and would get ratings. For some time after the screening people would stop me on the tube and congratulate me on my stance. So it is with some sadness I note the passing of Right To Reply.