Michael Grade

TV executive, former sports writer and showbiz agent - Michael Grade explores his life through the BBC Archive.

From his earliest job as a sports writer on the Daily Mirror, to his varied career as Controller BBC1, Chief Executive of Channel 4 and now in charge of ITV, Michael Grade's life has been a very public one.

In conversation with John Wilson, Michael reflects on the soundtrack to his life drawn through over 30 years of the BBC sound archives.

Coming from a showbusiness family, with an agent for a father and uncles Lew Grade and Bernard Delfont in theatre and TV, Michael Grade has seen at first-hand how the language of variety and vaudeville can work.

In his 6-year career at the Daily Mirror, as "Mike Grade" he had a sports column and learned how to work with the press.

His move into TV came in the 1970s and from the 1980s he was a major player in BBC TV, becoming Controller of BBC1.

Here he hears the sound archive of his life and ponders what he's learned and how he's developed, from his earliest writings to his return to the BBC in 2004 and his later defection to ITV.

Producer: Emma Kingsley

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2009.