Donald Grattan had the manner and bearing of a worldly wise Roman senator and I always enjoyed BBC further education meetings, during which he would speak softly in a confiding spirit about the current situation of internal BBC politics.
He had rather endearing verbal quirks – “undoubtably” – and, although as a wild 60s youth fresh out of university I thought he was perhaps too cautious, I never doubted his undemonstrative but passionate commitment to education.
I never worked closely with him, but admired him greatly from afar. Sometimes he would surprise me, as when he urged people to join the union (now Bectu), saying: “It’s a tough old world in TV and I have the scars on my back to prove it. You may all one day need the protection of the union to defend you against unfair treatment.”
When Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979 Don invited the union reps from each of the departments under him to an “off-the-record” lunch in Broadcasting House. He warned us that Thatcher’s election victory was “not just the swing of the party political pendulum”, but “one of those transformational moments” after which nothing could be taken for granted.
He warned us that neither the board of management nor the board of governors could be trusted to defend public service broadcasting vigorously enough, especially our educational output. It was up to ordinary members of staff to fight “from below”.
If one remembers the seemingly endless struggles in the high years of Thatcherism in the 1980s over issues of censorship and even the survival of the BBC, his words seem prophetic. When I became a head of department in the 90s, remembering Don’s advice, I urged people to join the union.
