Britain’s longest-serving newsreader Peter Sissons will discuss his 45-year career to kick off the Sevenoaks Literary Celebration. Chris Price gave him a grilling.

It is fair to say there are two eras to Peter Sissons’ career. The broadcast journalist, who will speak at the Sevenoaks Literary Celebration, has distinctly different memories of his time at ITN and the BBC.

“Certainly the 25 years I had at ITN were the happiest of my time in broadcast journalism,” said the 69-year-old, who has lived in Sevenoaks for about 20 years.

“I had my best years there but I had 20 years at the BBC after, at a time when there was a great search within ITN and the BBC for economies. People felt insecure.

“The organisation was always looking for voluntary redundancies and you cannot keep morale up in that sort of background. At ITN I was experimenting all the time and we were all motivated.”

The former presenter of the BBC Nine O’Clock News, the BBC News at Ten and Question Time has been outspoken in the past about suggestions of ageism and sexism at the BBC, something he talks about freely when questioned. His autobiography When One Door Closes also raises concerns over balance at the organisation.

“The BBC is not good at treating anyone well, regardless of age and sex,” he said. “When I was there I made myself

unpopular by making my feelings known.

“The BBC is a very insular organisation. Anyone who reads my book knows my feelings about it. It has many great virtues as a national institution. However, it has a poor record in maintaining political balance. The house magazine at the BBC is the Guardian newspaper.

“It also has a poor record in maintaining balance in the argument for and against man-made climate change. I took a practical interest because there is more than one side to the argument and the BBC never gave voice to anyone who didn’t support the theory.”

His pride in the balance of his reports was a virtue instilled in him by one of the biggest influences on his career – the late Sir Geoffrey Cox, the editor-in-chief at ITN from 1956 to 1968. A pioneer in developing TV news in Britain, he was a stickler for balance and was the first broadcaster to make challenging interviews a regular feature of his programme.

Peter also holds Sir David Nicholas in high regard, ITN’s editor and chief executive between 1977 and 1989.

“They placed their faith in me and I owe them everything,” said the Liverpool-born journalist, who went to primary school with John Lennon and Jimmy Tarbuck and secondary school with George Harrison and Paul McCartney.

He said: “My book is about my long career in broadcasting but is also a story of social mobility. How a boy from a humble background got to where he did.”

Peter Sissons: When One Door Closes is at the Ship Theatre, Walthamstow Hall School, Sevenoaks on Friday, September 23. The Sevenoaks Literary Celebration runs until Wednesday, October 5. Details atwww.sevenoaksliterarycelebration.com.