Just as it appeared that the eye of the storm may have passed for the still-beleaguered BBC, desperately attempting to explain away serious allegations of negligence at best and outright complicity at worst surrounding the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse case, it has found itself directly implicated in another (also not undeserved) scandal - and one of even greater danger to the corporation as we know it.
The two events, although technically separate, are almost farcically inter-related. Only a few days ago, seemingly anyone would surely have agreed that the worst was over for the numb and shocked BBC. It had just about endured, more than a little nervously, the damning criticisms and attacks from all sides over its mismanagement and failings.
Allegations of the "systemic failures" among countless others had shaken the corporation to its core, but it had at least clung to (albeit weakened) vestiges of strength and defense against relentless assaults from other media and the government.
The BBC must have breathed a collective sigh of relieve, then, as as the onslaught began to recede and it became apparent that the scandal, although seriously damaging, was survivable. How little they could have known as to the the extent of the events that were soon to follow.
Apparently desperate to display fortitude and integrity after the blatant and contemptible culture of silence that prevailed during Savile's years of widely-known abuse at the corporation, and the decades since - particularly the disastrous attempted censorship of the Newsnight investigation into Savile's repulsive crimes - on November 2nd Newsnight decided to run a separate programme on the abuse of children at a care home in North Wales.
More specifically, it included a witness who stated that he was sexually abused on several occasions by a prominent Thatcher-era Conservative MP during his time at the care home.
Although the programme did not identify the apparent abuser, internet speculation revealed him as former treasury minister Lord McAlpine. He issued an understandably vehement denial, and all allegations were quickly disproved as utterly false.
The Newsnight witness, Steve Messham, apologised for the case of mistaken identity, and the BBC issued an unreserved apology. Astonishingly, it emerged that Messham provoked a 1994 libel trial after falsely claiming that he had been abused by a senior police officer. His claims were easily dismissed, but cost publishers of his allegations £375,000 in damages and £1,000,000 in costs.
Messham's form even improves. During the Waterhouse public enquiry into cases of sexual abuse in North Wales, he leapt from the witness box, physically attacked a lawyer, and screamed obscenities at the barrister. Sir Ronald Waterhouse concluded that although he most likely had suffered abuse, he was 'an unreliable witness'. Unsurprisingly, the Crown Prosecution Service reached the same conclusion. Messham's own lawyer admitted that he was 'disturbed' and conceded that some of his allegations may be fabricated.
Even if Messham had not been Newsnight's only witness, utterly basic research would have led the team to realise immediately that he unsuitable - let alone investigate the plausibility of his claims.
George Entwistle, Director-General of the BBC, resigned following the furore. Serving only 54 days in the role, he is the shortest serving Director-General in the history of the BBC. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "We made a film that relied upon a witness who yesterday came out and said he had made a mistaken identification. That identification was wrong. We should not have put out a film that was so fundamentally wrong. What happened here is completely unacceptable."
The Chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, lambasted the "shoddy journalism," while David Cameron described the corporation's situation as "very difficult, very serious."
What makes the events so ridiculous and offensive is their utterly inept nature. Both mistakes are so elementary and basic, and yet both of opposite intentions - the Savile scandal was one of disgusting secrecy and censorship, while 'Messhamgate' was absurdly over-eager ambitiousness and thoughtlessness.
Lord Patten told BBC News: "If you're saying, 'Does the BBC need a thorough structural radical overhaul?', then absolutely it does, and that is what we will have to do. The basis for the BBC's position in this country is the trust that people have in it. If the BBC loses that, it's over."
The BBC's newly appointed Director-General, Tim Davie, said: "If the public are going to get journalism they trust from the BBC I have to be, as director general, very clear on who is running the news operation and ensuring that journalism we put out passes muster.
"The first decision I have made is to get a grip of that, take action and build trust by putting a clear line of command in."
About time, too.
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