Barry takes the Sky shilling. And why not?

AFTER 26 years as the voice of film on the BBC, Barry Norman will utter his last "...and why not?" for the corporation later this month before he defects to Rupert Murdoch's Sky TV.

Mr Norman's Film 98 will end this summer and he will front Sky's movie programming from September.

The BBC does not expect Film 98 to return in the autumn and has dusted down its casting couch to find a presenter for a new film review show. Names understood to be in the frame include Channel 5 news anchor Kirsty Young, Big Breakfast and Moviewatch host Johnny Vaughan and comedians Dawn French and Mark Lamarr.

BBC insiders suggested yesterday that though his sudden announcement was a surprise, the 64-year-old presenter had been aware that Film 98 was unlikely to survive past Film 99, let alone reach Film 2000.

A source said: "It is time for a change. The feeling is that the show will have to be revamped."

BBC1 controller Peter Salmon said yesterday: "Films are of great interest, particularly to the young, and it is important for us to find popular TV's new face of film who will appeal to them and take us into the new millennium."

The front man of film since he took over Film 72 eight months after the programme's launch, Mr Norman said: "I will look back on my time at the BBC with huge affection, but the opportunities offered by Sky proved too attractive to turn down."