Editing George Barnes (BBC controller) (section)

==Career==
After Cambridge he returned to Dartmouth as a Master at the school there till 1930. After a short spell at the [[Cambridge University Press]] he then joined the [[BBC]] in 1935 as a Producer in the Talks Department. He produced talks with several high-profile figures, including in 1937 producing what is now the only record of author [[Virginia Woolf]]'s voice in the 'Craftsmanship' edition of ''Words Fail Me'' series, broadcast on 29 April 1937. The same year he produced four talks by [[William Butler Yeats]].<ref name = "ODNB"/>

In 1946 he was promoted to be the first ever Controller of the new BBC Radio station, the [[Third Programme]], which still exists today in the form of [[BBC Radio 3]], as it was renamed in 1967. He held this position for four years before in October 1950 becoming the Director of [[BBC Television]]. His appointment caused the resignation of the Controller of Programmes, [[Norman Collins]], who disagreed with a man whose background was in sound broadcasting being appointed as his superior in the television service.

It was under his tenure as Director that interest in television exploded, particularly with the screening of the [[coronation]] of [[Queen Elizabeth II]] in 1953. Drawing an audience of an estimated 20 million British and 300 million worldwide viewers – an unprecedented viewership – the Coronation broadcast, when viewed later by the Queen, caused her to knight Barnes on the spot at the BBC's [[Lime Grove Studios]]. Television coverage was now nationwide, although in 1955 the service was faced with the prospect of competition for the first time when the rival [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] network was launched.<ref name = "ODNB"/>

Barnes retired from broadcasting in 1956, becoming Principal of the University College of North Staffordshire, now [[Keele University]].