ALT `B.B.C.', I said deliberately. `Nobody there yet, sir, but we're expecting them on Monday for the first time.' `Who is them ?' I asked. `The new Company', he replied. So I told him that this was it, or part of it, one -quarter approximately. As he bore me upwards I detected a scornful curiosity in his veiled scrutiny. He was very polite. He conducted me to a door already labelled BBC, which he opened for me with some ceremony. I entered. The door shut, and I heard his footsteps echoing along the corridor. A wild thought came to me that I would hail him and bid him loose me again. But I had heard the clang of the iron gate. It was too late.