BBC crisis: At 90, Auntie will have to change her ways The BBC brand has been damaged in its core area of excellence - news and current affairs. As it struggles to rebuild its reputation, it needs a radical change in its culture as well. More than that, the current meltdown must also force a rethink about the BBC's whole future. Instead of just wondering whether the top job should be split into that of director-general and editor-in-chief, it needs to look at whether it should pull out of providing some services that are already supplied by others. It needs to look again at how it copes with new technology that is making old-style televisions redundant. In an age when people can watch programmes on their mobiles and laptops, the BBC must ask how long the archaic idea of a compulsory licence fee - a tax - can be sustained. The answer to that last question must be that it cannot continue in its present form, complete with the threat of imprisonment for those who do not pay, for much longer. This week, the BBC is celebrating its 90th anniversary. When the new director-general is appointed, the Newsnight scandal must be used as an opportunity for the kind of fundamental change that will ensure the future of what is still a much-loved institution, for the rest of the 21st century. Could Whitehall soon boast a veritable James Bond among its Sir Humphreys? It is taking an unwontedly long time to find a replacement for Dame Helen Ghosh, the former top civil servant at the Home Office, now at the National Trust. Asked if there had been plenty of good candidates applying, one insider replied gloomily: "Let's just say there have been plenty of candidates." Oh dear! It seems too many people are being put off by Coalition attacks on the civil service - with senior officials complaining about being thanked by ministers in private and rubbished in public. Some are also bothered about working with Theresa May, the Home Secretary, who has a reputation for being abrasive with officials. Yet one man is unafraid. Charles Farr, a former spook from MI6, once described as a most "uncivil servant," has applied for the job. Earlier in his career, he is said to have flown round Afghanistan with thousands of US dollars in cash, paying farmers not to grow opium poppies - so definitely not your average bureaucrat. He was given an OBE for his work in the field, yet for years there was a ban on anyone naming him publicly, let alone showing his picture. Now, however, the sandy-haired, bespectacled Mr Farr has come out of the shadows and even appears in the Commons to be questioned by MPs. Described as formidably bright, a "tough guy" with a strong personality and "very clear-cut views," for the past five years he has headed the Home Office's counter-terrorism drive. He was responsible for the controversial Prevent strategy, aimed at identifying potential Muslim extremists, and there is no doubt that he is keen on snooping. Whether he would cope as well with domestic policies and notions of accountability is a different matter. Yet there are reports that Mrs May, she of the leopard-skin kitten heels, could prefer him to the rest in a dull field. He would liven up the Wednesday morning meetings of permanent secretaries. The question is whether he would prove a 002 Farr...