Look Me in the Eye

Jeremy Isaacs

Sir Jeremy Isaacs has spent more than 45 years in television and has witnessed and in some cases instigated the major changes that made it the cultural force it is today. His first post in 1958 was with Granada; although a commercial company Granada's ethos was closest to that of the BBC and provided Isaacs with a solid start. After moving on to Rediffusion Isaacs joined the BBC in 1965 editing Panorama before a disagreement caused him to return to Rediffusion - now Thames - where he made The World at War. When a censorship issue provoked him to leave and go freelance he continued to make ground-breaking programmes and when in 1979 Channel 4 began the search for their first chief executive Isaacs was the ideal candidate. He engineered a deliberately ecletic mix of programmes and put television into the hands of small entrepreneurial film-makers; short-lived as after Isaac's departure in 1986 the channel became dependent on revenue from its advertisers. After a period as General Director of the Royal Opera House and then making some award-winning documentary series with Ted Turner Isaacs is currently heading Artworld for Sky.