George Entwistle: a quiet, efficient career at the 'sharp end of journalism'

When Jeremy Paxman asked Tony Blair whether he had ever read "Horny Housewives, Megaboobs, Posh Wives and Skinny and Wriggly", George Entwistle may have been allowed a small degree of satisfaction.

Because it was Entwistle, then editor of BBC2's Newsnight – and today appointed the next BBC director general – who secured the 2002 interview to mark Blair's first five years in Downing Street.

BBC colleagues credit Entwistle with re-establishing Newsnight's reputation as a "significant place for political debate". (Paxman's line of questioning, in case you forget, related to Richard Desmond's then pornographic publishing interests and his donation to the Labour party.) Entwistle, it is said, had "a huge amount of energy, oodles of enthusiasm and was very hands-on".

As you would expect of an editor of BBC2's flagship news show, Entwistle had a keen interest in British politics and foreign policy, taking over the show the day before 9/11. However, he had been closely involved in the programme before then.

Blair returned to Newsnight a year later, on 6 February 2003, in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. Another Entwistle scoop, it won the programme a Bafta. "He was very good at creating a big event, he knew exactly what he wanted," says one BBC source.

He is remembered as being "suitably hard" on the BBC during the scandal that blew up following the notorious Radio 4 report that claimed Labour had "sexed up" the dossier on Iraq's WMDs that led to the Hutton report and ultimately the departure of the then director general Greg Dyke. "He was sure-footed about it," said a BBC insider.

Entwistle has his critics: some say he is "untried" at the difficult political front to which he will be exposed when it comes to negotiating the licence fee. But others say his work at the "sharp end of journalism" will stand him in good stead. "He's an incredibly hard-working guy, and with very sound editorial judgment in difficult programme-making areas. He's been doing it at the sharp end of journalism, especially in current affairs, and across a lot of the most difficult output, including Panorama. This is a good appointment for the BBC. He's a very skilful manager of a complex organisation," said one.

He has been described as a "very, very good leader" by Jana Bennett, the former director of BBC Vision he replaced last year and on the managerial front he is known for giving his production team feedback on every item – as well as a fondness for punctuality.

"He is incredibly punctual and loves people turning up on time. He is quite different from a lot of BBC managers, in that he deals with meetings very well and they never overrun. He never rambles." Another BBC manager echoed this saying he runs meetings "on time, and to length coming to a definite firm decision at the end, even if it's a tough one. He is very rigorous".

Bennett said Entwistle had played a key role in reconfiguring BBC current affairs and factual output after BBC4 and BBC3 launched in 2002 and 2003, adapting, for example, programming to the needs of younger audiences for BBC3. He had also launched The Culture Show in 2004 making a go of the split between two production centres, in London and Glasgow.

He is also credited with steadying the BBC in the wake of the Blue Peter phone voting scandal in 2007 when staff changed the name of the programme's cat to Socks even though viewers had chosen the name Cookie.

"After the furore over Blue Peter faking the outcome of phone voting and other editorial lapses in 2007 and 2008, he did a lot to strengthen the editorial systems and the roles of executive producers, he was very skilful at that, I know, he was working for me," said Bennet. She also added that he "has a very human touch, and can be funny".

It had been an open secret at the BBC that Trust chairman Lord Patten had been impressed with his quiet and efficient methods of working before the selection process began, which meant the furore over the botched jubilee river pageant – he had chaired the committee overseeing jubilee TV coverage – did not affect his appointment.

Entwistle has headed BBC Vision for 15 months, a role that has seen him ultimately in charge of commissioning, producing and broadcasting across BBC television and the internet.

Entwistle grew up in Yorkshire and attended the independent Silcoates School in Wakefield before studying philosophy and politics at Durham University. Prior to joining the BBC in 1989 as a broadcast journalism trainee, he spent five years working for Haymarket magazines, both as a writer and editor. The father of two went on to become an assistant producer on Panorama, working on programmes about prominent events such as the first Gulf War, the fall of Margaret Thatcher and the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square protests.

He held a number of senior roles on Newsnight in the 1990s before heading to BBC1's popular science show Tomorrow's World for two years as deputy editor. He rose through the ranks as head of "topical arts" on BBC2 and BBC4, and as head of TV current affairs before assuming the role as controller of BBC4 four years ago, striking gold with Mad Men and The Flight of The Conchords, and bringing a new type of viewer to the channel.