Editing Jeremy Isaacs (section)

===Channel 4===
Isaacs was the founding chief executive of [[Channel 4]] between 1981 and 1987, overseeing its launch period and setting the channel's original cultural approach with opera and foreign language film, although programmes with popular appeal such as the game show ''[[Countdown (game show)|Countdown]]'', the pop music series ''[[The Tube (1982 TV series)|The Tube]]'', and [[soap opera]] ''[[Brookside (television programme)|Brookside]]'' had a place in the schedule from the beginning. The channel commissioned [[Michael Elliott (director)|Michael Elliott]]'s production of ''[[King Lear (1983 TV drama)|King Lear]]'' (1983) with [[Laurence Olivier]] in the title role and Isaacs recommissioned a number of programmes from his time at Granada including ''What the Papers Say''. 

Isaacs' appointment of [[David Rose (producer)|David Rose]], previously long with the BBC, as the Commissioning Editor for Fiction led to the channel's involvement with the 1980s revival of the British film industry via the [[Film4|Film on Four]] strand. Despite a general liberal atmosphere, a few commissioned programmes, such as [[Ken Loach]]'s ''A Question of Leadership'', were withdrawn from transmission.

In 1989, Isaacs named 26 personal favourites from his tenure as Channel 4's chief executive, running from A (the discussion series ''[[After_Dark_(TV_programme)|After Dark]]'') to Z (a four-hour dramatisation of a Gothic horror novel, ''[[Zastrozzi]]'').<ref>''Storm Over 4'', Jeremy Isaacs, 1989.</ref>

When handing over responsibility for running the channel to [[Michael Grade]], Isaacs threatened to throttle him if he betrayed the trust placed in him to respect the channel's remit.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/the-independent-archive-channel-4-could-still-be-a-rather-good-delicatessen-1120661.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220608/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/the-independent-archive-channel-4-could-still-be-a-rather-good-delicatessen-1120661.html |archive-date=8 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Channel 4 could still be a rather good delicatessen|last=Leapman|first=Michael|work=The Independent|date=20 September 1989}}</ref>