Richard Broke belonged to that generation of producers who inherited the mantle of BBC Drama after the noise and bustle of Sydney Newman's innovatory regime. Richard was intensely loyal to the idea that the single play or film, as it later became known, should lie at the heart of the BBC's offering, representing the corporation at its best, and presenting the finest writing, acting and directing talent in a manner befitting the world's premier broadcaster. He did not set out to seek controversy but, when it found him, he was not afraid to confront it.
Both Tumbledown and The Monocled Mutineer became flashpoints for a more general, concerted and, on occasion, virulent attack on the BBC's perceived leftwing bias and, by implication, its suitability to continue being sustained through public funds. The accuracy and credibility of the films were picked apart in public: their crime was to undermine the patriotism that had led to this country's victory in the Falklands war; and their endorsement of "the old lie: dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" was taken as proof that the BBC was indeed an inherently subversive organisation.
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