Sir Robin Day was admired as one of the most formidable of political interviewers and commentators in British television and radio. An aspiring politician himself in the 1950s, he subsequently acquired a reputation for challenging questions and acerbic resistance to propagandist responses that mad him the model for virtually all political interviewers who came after him.

As a student at Oxford, Day became president of the Oxford Union debating society and subsequently trained for the bar before realizing that a career in the media was ideally suited to his talents. With athlete Chris Chataway, he was one of the first tow newscasters for the fledgling Independent Television News (ITN) and created a considerable impact with his forceful personality and style of delivery, which was in marked contrast to the stuffier and more formal style of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) presenters. He also developed his skills as a political interviewer for the small screen; in 1957, for instance, while working for ITN’s Roving Report at a time when Britain and Egypt were still technically at war over the Suez crisis, he scored a notable coup when he managed to secure an interview with Egypt’s President Nasser.

After his own bid for Parliament (as a candidate for the Liberals) failed in 1959, Day moved to the BBC as a reporter and presenter of Panorama, which under his leadership (carrying on from that of Richard Dimbleby) consolidated its reputation as the corporation’s most influential political program. Respected and indeed feared by politicians of all parties. Day became a national institution, instantly familiar with his breath-sucking speech, large black-rimmed spectacles, and flamboyant spotted bow ties —and a favorite subject of impersonators.

Interviewers were rarely allowed to wriggle off the hook by the relentless Day, who showed scant respect for rank and title, and on several occasions guests were bludgeoned into making disclosures that would doubtless have otherwise remained unrevealed (some viewers were appalled at Day’s brusque persistence and called him rude and insensitive).

After 13 years with Panorama, Day hosted his own Newsday program and also presented radio’s The World at One for several years. In 1979, he was the first chair of the popular Question Time program, based on radio’s Any Questions?, in which prominent members of parliamentary and public life were invited to field questions on topical issues from a studio audience. Under Day’s eagle eyes, the program quickly established itself as the best of its kind and attracted a huge audience under both him and successive presenters. Following his departure from the program, after some ten years in the chair and by now a veteran of some 30 years of television experience and knighted in acknowledgement of his achievements, he confined himself largely to occasional work for the satellite and regional television stations.

Some politicians found Day’s dogged — even belligerent— style of questioning too much to take, and on several occasions of notable figures lost their temper. Defense Secretary John Nott was a particularly celebrated victim of the master interviewer’s attacks, snatching off his microphone and storming out of a television interview with Day at the time of the Falklands crisis after taking offense at Day’s questions.