Richard Lindley was truly one of the greats of television journalism, normally associated with sharp-end news and current affairs reportage, often in dangerous war zones.
But he had another, gentler side as I saw when working on 2000 Today, the millennium night programme for BBC One. Richard brought us a delightful story that he wanted us to include in our 26-hour, UK-wide and international coverage.
He had become aware that in 1939, shortly before the outbreak of the second world war, 55 teenagers and young women from the Dagenham Girl Pipers had signed a solemn pledge on parchment that would make a charming contribution to our rolling , multi-item project.
Sixty years before, the pipers had promised that they would meet at noon on New Year’s Day 2000 on the steps of the Dagenham civic centre in Greater London and perform. More than 20 of the original pipers were still alive and determined to fulfil that promise.
The Pipers had been formed in 1930 as a massed band playing Scottish bagpipes and performing Highland dances, despite none of them being Scots, and for years they performed professionally.
There was something endearingly British about them that appealed to Richard and he clearly regarded the now quite elderly Girls with some affection. He had gained their trust as a producer and it made a rather heart-warming and sentimental item, ideal for those waking bleary-eyed and blinking into the new millennium.
