Anthony William Hall, Baron Hall of Birkenhead, (born 3 March 1951) is a British life peer. He was Director-General of the BBC between April 2013 and August 2020, and chaired the board of trustees of the National Gallery until May 2021. Hall was Director of News at the BBC between 1993 and 2001, and Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London from 2001 until March 2013. He was made a life peer and took his seat in the House of Lords as a crossbench member on 22 March 2010. He took up the post of Director-General of the BBC on 2 April 2013, and stepped down as Director-General on 31 August 2020, replaced by Tim Davie. An inquiry in 2021 found that Hall, when Director of News at the BBC, had misled authorities over the methods used by Martin Bashir for the BBC's Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales. He resigned as chairman of the National Gallery on 22 May 2021. Early life Tony Hall, the son of a bank manager, was born in Birkenhead, Wirral, in 1951. He was educated at two direct grant schools (now independent), King Edward's School, Birmingham, and Birkenhead School, before going to Keble College, Oxford, where he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics, graduating with an MA degree. Career BBC After Oxford, Hall joined the BBC as a trainee in 1973, initially working at its Belfast newsroom. He later worked as producer on Today, The World at One, The World Tonight, and PM. He became editor of the Nine O'Clock News at the age of 34. In 1987 he was appointed the Editor of News and Current Affairs, and was appointed Director of BBC News and Current Affairs in 1990, combining TV and radio for the first time. He continued to lead BBC News until 2001. Among his career achievements are the launch of BBC Parliament, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC News 24, and BBC News Online. In 1999 he applied unsuccessfully for the position of Director-General of the BBC, but was later successful, being appointed as BBC Director-General on 22 November 2012, and took office on 2 April 2013. On 25 March 2015, Hall decided not to renew Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson's BBC contract after an internal investigation found that Clarkson had assaulted the programme's producer. Hall and his wife received death threats which the BBC decided were