Career
MacDonald began his career in 1960 as a trainee director at Granada Television. In 1966 he joined the British Broadcasting Corporation, becoming a producer in the drama department, working particularly on anthology play series such as The Wednesday Play (for which he produced some of Dennis Potter"s early work), Thirty-Minute Theatre, and Theatre 625. In the 1970s he became the producer of the single play strand Play for Today, the successor to The Wednesday Play, during which he worked on many acclaimed pieces, such as Jack Rosenthal"s Bar Mitzvah Boy (1976).
By this time one of the senior producers working in the British Broadcasting Corporation"s drama department, in 1977 he was promoted to become the Head of Serials.
This department was merged with the Series department in 1979, and MacDonald became head of the new larger Series & Serials department which ensued. In 1981, he was promoted again to succeed Shaun Sutton as the overall Head of Drama at British Broadcasting Corporation Television.
MacDonald became the Controller of British Broadcasting Corporation 2 in 1983, the first ever British Broadcasting Corporation channel controller to come from a background in the drama department. He was controller of the channel until 1987 (combining it with his Head of Drama role until he left this post in 1985), during which the Zircon affair erupted surrounding an edition of the Secret Society documentary series due to be shown on the channel.
MacDonald left the British Broadcasting Corporation in 1987 and became chief executive of Anglia Films (1988-1994) and later Ardent Productions (1994-1997).
