THE three-year hunt for a new head for RTHK's English language channel is over, with the post going to the station's Martin Clarke, who had been there all along. Director of broadcasting Cheung Man-yee finally selected Clarke for the job after several other candidates turned the post down and others were deemed unsuitable. By pure coincidence, the announcement was made yesterday, the very day Miss Cheung started her vacation. We reckon a man who once played a character called Sir Dominic Prick in the first of Rowan Atkinson's Blackadder series is just the chap to change the station's tiny bit staid image. 'I thought the series was really naff and would last for just six weeks,' Clarke told Keeping Posted yesterday. The series turned into a phenomenal success - but let's not dwell on whether that reflects on Clarke's judgment. He is looking to make changes at the station, but said his first task was to canvass the views of the rest of the staff. But without giving too much away too soon, it is obvious Clarke is a man with his own ideas. 'I want to create a broader appeal,' he said. 'The channel has been unfocused for some time. A lot of the time people don't know what it is they're trying to achieve. 'A show may have been tailored for one presenter, the presenter may change but the show continues with someone it was not created for.' Staff should know that it seems he may lean towards changing the programmes rather than presenters. Keeping Posted wondered what Miss Cheung thought, so we called her secretary. 'Martin who? Clarke. Okay. How do you spell Clarke?' This rather surprising conversation boiled down to the fact that Miss Cheung's secretary had only been in the job a few days. Still, she presumably knew who her boss was, and didn't mention she was on holiday. Deputy director of broadcasting Chu Pui-hing said he expected the new man to bring his own ideas and style to the job. Sir Dominic Prick presents . . . perhaps.
