He was born in the Scottish city of Dundee, and was educated at Blairs College in Aberdeen and the University of Paris.[2] During the Second World War he was part of Britain's military intelligence in the Far East.[2] After the war he joined the BBC as a radio scriptwriter and producer.[2] In 1965 he was the founding editor of the BBC Radio 4 programme The World At One which "gained a reputation as one of the best informed news programs and won an audience of four million".[2]