Barbara Williams says Phyllis Yaffe’s reputation is not the full story. In fact, once the two started working together after the merger of Alliance and Atlantis, she quickly realized that Yaffe possessed qualities beyond those widely known. ‘From the outside what you see and hear mostly is the drive, the determination to win, and all of that’s true. But when you get inside you get the balance – the sense of humor, the co-operativeness of the learning and the respect for each other’s opinions – so you realize that there is a healthy balance to that competitive streak.’

Williams is also impressed at how quickly Yaffe brought a team together after the [aac] merger. ‘We were launched into some really serious work that had to be done by the new management team. I remember thinking this was an enormous challenge for all of us, but in particular Phyllis, because she had to get us all working together on a consolidated project within days of introducing ourselves. I was most impressed with her ability to just plough forward.

‘It has been a remarkably easy and pleasant transition,’ says Williams. ‘She’s very good at finding the moment of relief in the midst of all the stress and the tension and just having a good laugh. She realizes that what we do is very, very important to us, the company and the industry, but at the end of the day…like, it’s television!’