Luke Johnson exterminates the BBC

HE LEAVES with an acrid turn of phrase . "I failed to understand properly that the BBC is the single most influential lobbying organisation in Britain," growls Luke Johnson, pictured, the departing chairman of Channel 4. "Whether it's backbench MPs on BBC local radio, print journalists on its payroll, ministers on the Today programme, tickets to the Proms or Wimbledon... when its £3.5bn 'Jacuzzi of cash' is threatened, the entire machine dedicates itself to seeing off any rival – rather like Dr Who and the Daleks joining forces to defeat the ultimate enemy." Luke should clearly have hired the BBC's supreme marketing director and made him C4 chief so all these things could have been explained to him much earlier... or maybe he didn't talk to Andy Duncan, start to finish.