Television producer, broadcaster and arts impresario. Born in Hillhead (Glasgow), Isaacs was educated at the Glasgow Academy and Merton College, Oxford. He joined Granada Television as a producer (1958) and worked on programmes such as What The Papers Say and World in Action, together with Panorama for the BBC. Isaacs has produced some of the most significant historical documentaries made for British television, such as The World At War (1975), made in 26 episodes, Ireland: A Television History (1981) and the Cold War (1998). He has been Director of Programs at Thames Television and was the first Chief Executive of Channel Four Television (1981-87), doing much to shape the reputation of that channel for quality alternative programming.
Between 1988 and 1996 Isaacs was Director General of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, enthusiastically allowing cameras in to view its controversial problems in the documentary The Royal Opera House - Behind The Scenes.
Isaacs also produced A Sense Of Freedom (1979), based on the book by reformed murderer Jimmy Boyle (b.1944).
He maintains homes in Suffolk and at Edinbane on the Isle of Skye.
