By Mark Thompson, BBC Director General, 7 December 2004

FREE SUPPLEMENT

We’ve just moved, and a couple of weeks ago,one of my children found a letter in an old book in cardboard box. It’s from the BBC, it’s got the old red BBC lozenges on it and it’s dated April 1979. "Dear Mr Thompson" - nobody had ever called me Mr Thompson before - "Dear Mr Thompson, Thank you for attending the Final Appointment Board for the Research Assistants Training Scheme 79.G.2026. I am pleased to tell you that you have been selected for one of the Traineeships.Yours sincerely, Barbara Todd."

This letter changed my life. I couldn’t believe my luck. I was 21, and to a 21-year-old student, the BBC sounded like the most exciting job on earth. And when I got there, 25 years ago this autumn, I found that it was.

Continue reading. . .

If you have problems viewing this file please download Adobe Acrobat Reader.