BBC man who launched Dad's Army dies at 98

Paul Fox helped give the comedy its iconic title sequence

The BBC executive who oversaw the launch of Dad's Army and The Two Ronnies has died at the age of 98, the broadcaster has announced.

Sir Paul Fox also launched talk show Parkinson and devised BBC Sports Personality Of The Year.

He was controller of BBC One when Dad’s Army was launched in 1977 and was concerned that might offend viewers who served in the war or were bereaved by it.

Because of those fears, he ordered the opening titles change, with the original footage of Nazi troops and displaced refugees replaced with the now-iconic maps and arrows.

BBC director general Tim Davie said today: ‘Sir Paul had a towering career in television - not just with the BBC - but across the industry.

‘Few people have had such a broad and lasting impact on the TV landscape, commissioning shows that audiences have loved for decades and still love. From Sports Personality of the Year and Panorama to the Two Ronnies, Dad’s Army and Parkinson, his legacy is unmatched.

‘He was one of the best TV executives from a golden era in television. He will be hugely missed.’

Born 1925, Paul Fox joined the BBC in the 1950s as a newsreel scriptwriter and went on to edit Sportsview and Panorama, inventing BBC Sports Personality of the Year along the way, and then became controller of BBC One where he oversaw a roll call of successful programmes.

From 1973 to 1988, he was at Yorkshire TV where he ended up as managing director, before returning to the BBC as managing director of Network Television.

He retired in 1991, the year in which he was knighted for services to the TV industry.

He was played by Keith Allen in the 2015 docudrama We're Doomed! The Dad's Army Story

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Published: 9 Apr 2024