Controller known as 'Dyke in a skirt'

Lorraine Heggessey is the first woman controller of BBC1 and one of corporation chief Greg Dyke's oldest and most important friends in the TV business.

Like Dyke, she is a former journalist known for her controlled aggression and terrier-like qualities. The two are so close in their thinking that she is known as "Dyke in a skirt". She has two daughters with her composer husband Ron de Jong, and controls an annual budget of £823million.

Aware that she will live or die by ratings, Heggessey, 45, has masterminded a sea change in the BBC's content, sidelining traditional "men's" programming such as politics, football and cars in favour of more populist, woman-friendly entertainment such as Linda Green and Clocking Off.

She was responsible for moving back the 9 O'Clock News an hour and filling the gap with drama. As a result, she is a demonised figure in the BBC's news and factual affairs department, where she is held responsible for its demise.