My friend Ashley Hill, who has died aged 80, was one of the most admired planners and schedulers in the television business, choosing programmes to commission or buy and then deciding when and where they should be shown.
Those two jobs bring no screen credits but are hugely important in terms of shaping a TV channel’s output. This Ashley did first at BBC Two and later at British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB), Channel 4 and Channel 5. Michael Grade, the former chief executive of Channel 4, no mean scheduler himself, was among Ashley’s many admirers, and felt he was one of the best in the business.
