Former Newsnight editor Peter Rippon is take on the “significant challenge” of BBC Online Archive editor four months after he was forced to step aside over his role in the Jimmy Savile documentary scandal.

The Pollard Review into the controversy found that no undue pressure was put on him by senior management, a conclusion which was challenged by Newsnight reporters Meirion Jones and Liz Mackean

Chief operating officer for BBC Future Media and BBC Online, Andy Conroy, commented: “Over the past few years, the BBC has been making more of the BBC Archive available to audiences online – including a permanent collection of Desert Island Discs, and archive collections for channels such as BBC Four.