Husband and wife documentary team Anne and Brian Lapping were among the broadcasting figures recognised in the new years honours list.
Husband and wife documentary team Anne and Brian Lapping were among the broadcasting figures recognised in the new years honours list.

Through their company, Brook Lapping, the pair have been behind a number of hard-hitting documentaries such as The Fall of Milosevicand four part series Maggie - The First Lady. The couple, whose company was set up in 1997 and was bought by Ten Alps in 2002, both received CBEs.

Comedy writer John Sullivan, the man behind the BBC's top-rated sitcom Only Fools and Horses, was handed an OBE for his work. Playwright Alan Plater, who has worked in both theatre and radio and contributed to Z Cars, received a CBE.

Alan Whicker, the man credited with introducing travel TV to the masses with Whicker's World, which ran between 1959 to 1988, was also handed a CBE. Long serving BBC football commentator Barry Davies was handed an MBE and Pop Idoljudge Pete Waterman was handed an OBE.