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BBC boss defends cancelling Last Night at the Proms after Queen’s death despite criticism: ‘It was the right decision’-Robert Oliver-Entertainment – Metro
‘I think that was a 50/50 call.’
‘It was a 50/50 call’ to cancel Last Night at the Proms (Picture: Steve Parsons/AFP/Getty/Hannah McKay)
The director-general of the BBC has said that cancelling Last Night at the Proms after the Queen’s death was ‘the right decision’, despite receiving criticism.
The Proms is an annual event that normally runs from the middle of July until the middle of September and its last night is a big occasion.
However, that final showpiece event was cancelled this year after the Queen’s death on September 8.
It was a decision that received fierce backlash from some, who believed it should have gone ahead.
Tim Davie, who became the BBC’s director-general in 2020, said the call was made out of a mark of respect to Her Majesty, who died at the age of 96.
Davie, 55, said: ‘I think the Last Night Of The Proms was the most finely balanced one. I think that was a 50/50 call.’
Thousands normally pack in to watch the Last Night of the Proms (Picture: Yui Mok/PA)
He continued: ‘In the day the Premier League had come off. I think we probably made the right decision but you can debate it either way.’
The Last Night at the Proms was due to take place on the Saturday immediately after the Queen’s death, on the evening of September 10.
Tim Davie said the BBC was on constant ‘clutch control’ after Queen’s death (Picture: Hannah McKay/WPA/Getty)
At the time, the BBC said: ‘As a mark of respect, this evening’s Prom with the Philadelphia Orchestra will not be going ahead.’
Viewers were hoping that the Last Night at the Proms would be broadcast as a way to respect the Queen, following her death at Balmoral.
The Queen, who died aged 96 earlier this month (Picture: Stefan Wermuth/WPA/Getty)
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‘Oh that’s a real shame. Can you not do a Last Night in her honour? It would be so powerful,’ someone said in response to the statement at the time.
Davie was speaking earlier this week at the RTS London Convention, responding to a question about whether the BBC had ‘learned’ from criticism it received after the death of Prince Phillip.
‘The clutch control was really interesting – you have always learned from past events. We had enormous decisions to make.’
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He continued: ‘Do you put on Strictly? What do you do here? Do you do satire? Where do you start? We were constantly on the clutch control, as I called it.’
Plans for a rescheduled Last Night at the Proms have not yet been announced.
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