Reaches settlement with former Panorama producer who was sacked after raising concerns about Diana interview

Martin Bashir and Diana interview

Martin Bashir interview Princess Diana for Panorama, 1995

The BBC has apologised and agreed a settlement with former Panorama senior reporter/ producer Mark Killick, who raised concerns over the programme’s Princess Diana interview more than 20 years ago.

The news follows the publication of the Dyson Report last year, which found that the former Panorama journalist Martin Bashir employed ‘deceitful behaviour’ to obtain the interview in 1995 by using fake bank statements to entice her, then lied when challenged.

Killick, who worked on Panorama for a decade, alerted the BBC to the existence of the forged bank statements before being sacked from the programme. Following this, internal documents made ‘defamatory statements’ about him while the corporation was investigating events surrounding the interview in 1996.

In a statement today, the BBC apologised “unreservedly” for the defamatory statements and said Killick acted “entirely properly” in referring his concerns to senior management.

It has also agreed to pay Mr Killick a “significant sum” in damages and costs.

According to PA News, Killick said he was “grateful to Tim Davie and his team for finally setting the record straight” but added that “the BBC’s attempt to try and destroy my reputation rather than investigate my concerns shows just how desperate [it] was to hide what had happened.

“It was an extraordinary attempt to cover up wrongdoing and the climate of fear it created may well have stopped other BBC whistle-blowers from speaking out for a generation.

“I still find it staggering that the BBC was so determined to conceal the truth that it launched a smear campaign against me to protect its tainted scoop.”