Ronnie Stonham

Brigadier Ronnie Stonham was the Special Assistant to the Director of Personnel at the BBC until 1985 who was caught up in the scandal over MI5 monitoring of potential staff. He occupied Room 105 at Broadcasting House in London, UK from 1982, following his departure from the Army, until October 1988. [cite web
title = The Secret of Room 105: Another embarrassing disclosure for the BBC
url = http://www-public.tu-bs.de:8080/~y0001095/Geheim.BBC
author = Time Magazine
date = 1985-09-02
accessdate= 2008-07-31]

The Director of Personnel during Stonham's tenure at the BBC was Christopher Martin. Stonham's role was to liaise with MI5 regarding whether candidates for roles at the broadcasting corporation had suspicious political connections, particularly with communism.

Sir Hugh Greene, a former Director-General of the BBC, said about Security Service vetting of BBC job applicants:

I was vetted in 1940. MI5 thought I was a Communist but it turned out to be a mistake.

Michael Grade, at the time Controller of BBC One and later Chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC, also commented on the existence of Room 105, where Brigadier Stonham was based:

I don't know about room 105, but it does sound like a good title for a drama series.

Film Rights

Talks over making the story of the operations of Room 105 into a film are scheduled, although exact details have yet to be released.

Further reading

* BBC Freedom of Information statement regarding Room 105 and the vetting of BBC staff by MI5 - http://www.bbc.co.uk/foi/docs/freedom_of_information/selected_requests_and_responses/2006/SR2006000189_MI5_Monitoring_of_Staff.pdf
* "The Blacklist in Room 105" - http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/press_cuttings/mi5.bbc.page9_obs_18aug1985.html

References