BBC director general Mark Thompson took in a bit of theatre on Tuesday night, attending the premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Wizard of Oz musical at the London Palladium. But, he told the FT Digital Media conference, his busy mind inevitably strayed back to work: "What struck me, not for the first time, was the Wizard of Oz as a role model for director general of the BBC – a big voice, and a vainglorious title but a rather uncertain figure behind the curtain." Crikey. Surely not, Mark? If the BBC DG is the wizard, Monkey wonders who might other characters be in the Emerald, er... White City? Mark "mop top" Byford as the cowardly lion, Tim Davie as the scarecrow and Peter Horrocks as the tin man, swinging his axe through the World Service? Surely culture secretary Jeremy Hunt as the Wicked Witch of the West (Surrey)? And how about BBC North boss Peter Salmon as Dorothy, clicking his heels in Salford while repeating: "There's no place like home, there's no place like home."
