Martyn Gregory
1955-2024

Martyn John Gregory was born in 1955 and joined Sevenoaks School in 1966. By the time he left school, a flame had been lit which subsequently drove him towards a highly successful career as a broadcaster and investigative journalist. Indeed, it was partly because of the awakening he received during a year in the International Centre that he discovered a passion for politics and current affairs; the charismatic Irish teacher Casey McCann opened Martyn’s eyes to the excitement of debate and, along with the experience of living with students from all over the world, Martyn moved on to university with a fresh perspective and significant ambition.

He studied Politics at Loughborough, where he became President of the Student Union, then a PhD at Leicester, before joining the BBC as a trainee producer. He was soon producing films, which became increasingly investigative. Echoing Casey, he was unafraid of defying authority and relished confrontation. In  1995, he wrote, directed and produced The Torture Trail for Channel 4’s Dispatches, which won the National Television Society’s Best Documentary Award. However, Michael Heseltine claimed that Martyn had fabricated evidence which implicated the government. In taking the UK government to the High Court and successfully suing for libel, at no small risk to himself, Martyn became the first journalist ever to do so. A full apology, plus substantial damages, resulted.

Martyn wrote a bestselling book, Dirty Tricks, which revealed the extraordinary measures that British Airways employed in attempting to put the fledgling Virgin Atlantic out of business. Richard Branson later told Martyn his company would have gone under without Martyn’s work in exposing corporate skulduggery, and the British Airways Chairman, Lord King, was forced to angrily resign. A TV series based on Martyn’s book is nearing production, under the title Hot Air, which should be streamed next year. Martyn’s other bestselling book was Diana: The Last Days, which countered the conspiracy theories about Princess Diana’s death and earned him the title of ‘the world’s leading authority on the crash’ from many media outlets. He was in demand for many years from countless newspapers and TV channels and became a persistent thorn in Mohamed Al Fayed’s side. Martyn’s work was endorsed in its entirety by the eventual inquest.

Away from work,  Martyn had many passions, including Manchester United and The Beatles, whom he had met in Knole Park, but most notably cricket. He played for five years in the school 1st XI which included future England players Chris Tavaré and Paul Downton, and subsequently in club cricket for The Vine and Holmesdale. Martyn was diagnosed with MS in 1997 and his career was cut short as his illness developed. He will be remembered by many for journalism that was principled, daring and fearless in his pursuit of justice.

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