BBC Chair Samir Shah is expected to issue a formal apology to Parliament on November 10, 2025 after the dramatic resignations from Director General Tim Davie and News CEO, Deborah Turness.
Both resignations were announced Sunday night, November 9, 2025, in response to the scandal over a Panorama documentary that misleadingly edited a speech by U.S. President Donald Trump.
As Shah prepares to issue a formal apology to Parliament today, the pressing question across the media is “Who will become the next director general?”
Shah is expected to announce a major organisational overhaul in his apology statement.
The crisis erupted when The Telegraph published a leaked memo from former BBC editorial adviser Michael Prescott, who said he acted in “despair at inaction by the BBC executive.”
The memo unveiled that Panorama had spliced together two parts of Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech creating the false impression he explicitly encouraged the Capital Hill riots.
The first segment of the speech, “We’re gonna walk down to the Capitol and I’ll be with you,” came 15 minutes into the speech, while the second part, “and we fight. We fight like hell,” came 54 minutes later.
Tim Davie acknowledged in his resignation that, “there have been some mistakes made and as director general I have to take ultimate responsibility.”
His departure, along with Turness's, has initiated immediate speculation about a potential successor for one of the most influential positions in British media.
The crisis also came at a major juncture for the BBC, with its Charter set to expire in 2027 and ongoing debates about the future of the license fee.
Shah’s expected announcement of major overhaul is seen as a major step for rebuilding trust both with the public and with politicians who will determine the broadcaster’s future funding and structure.