clipped from: www.independent.co.uk   
Aaqil Ahmed, the BBC's new head of religion, made critically acclaimed programmes for Channel 4

Aaqil Ahmed, the BBC's new head of religion, made critically acclaimed programmes for Channel 4

Two months ago, Mark Thompson, the director general of the BBC, made a short trip from the Beeb's headquarters in Shepherd's Bush to Lambeth Palace for a private meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury. Rowan Williams had a blunt message to deliver: the "Christian voice", the Archbishop suggested, risked being "sidelined" by the BBC and Mr Thompson needed to do something about it.

At the time there was increasing speculation over who would become the corporation's new head of religious programming. With one exception (the appointment of an agnostic, Alan Bookbinder, in 2001) the BBC's head of religion had always professed a Christian faith. But this time executives at the corporation – once famously described as being "hideously white" – were considering a radical departure from their usual tack.