All change at top of BBC – for now – in the director merry-go-round

At least a dozen senior BBC executives have left or changed their roles as a result of the abuse scandal.

With George Entwistle resigning as Director-General and four other senior managers stepping aside from their usual roles, at least temporarily, a series of acting postings has been made.

Among yesterday's moves was the appointment of Fran Unsworth, until yesterday the head of newsgathering, as acting director of news after the incumbent, Helen Boaden, stood aside while the Pollard review into the dropping of Newsnight's Jimmy Savile investigation is carried out.

Ms Boaden's deputy, Stephen Mitchell, also stood aside, leaving his work to be carried out by Ceri Thomas, who was editor of the Radio 4 Today programme.

It was John Humphrys' interview with Mr Entwistle on the Today programme on Saturday that has been widely attributed to forcing the Director-General's resignation. Mr Thomas's deputy, Jasmin Buttar, becomes acting editor of Today.

Until the reshuffle was forced by events, Ms Buttar had been tipped as a replacement for Peter Rippon as editor of Newsnight. Mr Rippon was among those who stood aside but had recently been in the running as controller of the BBC News Channel, a post that eventually went to Sam Taylor, the head of editorial development. But whether the posts exist in the long term is a moot point with a radical overhaul of the BBC management structure expected.