A year almost to the day since George Entwistle started as director general of the BBC and a question mark hangs over whether the corporation is going to commission a portrait of him. The tradition is that every DG gets a picture painted of them upon leaving office. Greg Dyke was the last director general to leave under a cloud in 2004 but had one painted the same year. But Monkey hears no discussions have yet taken place with Entwistle – who left after 54 days during the Jimmy Savile crisis that wracked the BBC last autumn. However, Entwistle is in good company, as his predecessor Mark Thompson hasn't had his picture done yet either. "At the present time, no portrait has been commissioned for Mark Thompson or George Entwistle," a BBC spokesman tells Monkey. BBC sources say that with the corporation being tied up with issues such as the severance pay row, "it's just something that hasn't happened yet". To avoid incurring more wrath from public accounts committee chair Margaret Hodge, Monkey suggests the BBC save money and Instagram some nice pictures of Entwistle and Thompson instead.
