BBC broadcasting legend Jeff Banks has threatened legal action against his former employer and revealed he is being bombarded with “threatening” letters after he decided he no longer wanted a TV licence. Jeff, 82, became a well-known face throughout the land as he presented the BBC’s flagship fashion programme, The Clothes Show, and later The Clothes Show Live, from 1986 until the early 2000s.
The sartorial series, presented at the start by Jeff alongside Selina Scott and later Caryn Franklin, proved a huge success delivering a la mode catwalk fashion tips to more than 10 million ordinary living rooms every Sunday night. But in an Instagram post on Tuesday, Jeff said the BBC, a once “brilliant organisation”, would now have its creator John Reith “turning in his grave”.
Impeccably dressed in a three-piece grey suit with lavish purple tie, octogenarian Jeff delivered a withering assessment of his former employer which he said was mired in “scandal, after scandal”. The pensioner revealed he received a letter in August “acknowledging” he no longer wanted to have a TV licence, which currently costs £174.50 a year.
“I’ve actually given up watching the BBC, listening to the BBC, so on August 19th this year, when I got a demanding letter that I have a licence, I wrote back very respectfully and said, I don’t want one, I don’t watch anymore, and I don’t listen to the BBC radio anymore,” he said.
“And since then I’ve had five threatening letters sent to me insisting that if I don’t get a licence I could actually be fined up to a thousand pounds.
“And the last one that arrived last week actually threatened me where people are actually going to come to my house, investigate me, because I’m now on a list. I’ve had enough. I’ve now written to them pointing out that this is now harassment.
“That if you harass people with one piece of letter, whether it’s an email or written or a word, after once if it happens anymore, that is legal harassment. You can go to jail for it. That’s what I’ve written to the BBC, threatening them with legal action if they don’t desist.”
It’s not known if Jeff meets any criteria to be entitled to a discount on his licence. For over 75s, who also receive pension credit benefit, the TV licence is free of charge, and there are a number of other criteria for a reduced rate.
Jeff said he had received a letter on September 2 telling him his declaration had been received and to ignore “further communications”. However, the former fashion presenter said he received more “threatening” letters on September 24, October 14, October 30, November 7 and last week.
Jeff’s threat to go legal with the BBC comes as the corporation deals with the fallout from the flagship Panorama programme scandal, which saw a speech made by Donald Trump at the time of the 2021 US Capitol riots edited to make it seem as if the president was inciting violence. The US president has since said he will sue the broadcaster for between $1 and $5billion.
Clothes Show television presenters Tim Vincent Caryn Franklin Jeff Banks and Brenda Emmanus (Image: BBC )
The debacle has prompted the resignations of two of the BBC’s most senior executives: director-general Tim Davie and news chief Deborah Turness.
Alluding to the latest woes for the BBC, Jeff said his former employer had “badly represented” President Trump, and he also took aim at the World Service, adding: “In my day the World Service was held in esteem. It’s not anymore. People are doubtful whether it’s actually telling the truth and the BBC has become extremely biased.”
Jeff, who started The Clothes Show when it was made at the BBC’s Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham, did have some warm words for some of his former colleagues. “I had the pleasure of working for the BBC from about 1980 to 2002,” he said during his Instagram post, “I did a number of shows, particularly my own, and worked with the team at Pebble Mill, which was a brilliant organisation.
“Great producers, great directors, fantastic cameramen, directors, lighting men, and sound technicians. It was a great period, which I thoroughly enjoyed.”
A TV Licensing spokesperson said: “We are aware of Mr Banks’ social media post. We would urge him to contact TV Licensing directly so we can get to the bottom of what has happened.”
