Sir Patrick Moore has identified an alien species that threatens to destroy intelligent life – the women who have taken over the BBC.

The veteran astronomer celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Sky at Night with a withering attack on the female executives he believes have dumbed down the corporation.

Sir Patrick’s outburst echoes criticisms raised by Alasdair Milne, a former Director-General, who provoked a furious response when he accused a female-dominated BBC of producing “terrible” programmes.

Sir Patrick, 84, was asked by the Radio Times if television had got better or worse during a career spanning the medium’s life. The answer was worse – “much worse”. He said: “The trouble is that the BBC now is run by women and it shows: soap operas, cooking, quizzes, kitchen-sink plays. You wouldn’t have had that in the golden days.”

They have even destroyed sci-fi, Sir Patrick’s personal passion. He said: “I used to watch Doctor Who and Star Trek, but they went PC – making women commanders, that kind of thing. I stopped watching.”

And don’t sit Sir Patrick in front of a Sophie Raworth bulletin. He said: “These jokey women are not for me. Oh, for the good old days.”

He recalled: “There was one day (in 2005) when BBC News went on strike. Then we had the headlines read by a man, talking the Queen’s English, reading the news impeccably.”

Fortunately, Sir Patrick has a solution. Institute a gender divide and create BBC Bloke.

He said: “I would like to see two independent wavelengths – one controlled by women, and one for us, controlled by men. I think it may eventually happen.”

Soaps could then safely be produced and watched by women. Sir Patrick said: “I was in hospital once and I watched a whole episode of EastEnders. I suppose it’s true to life. But so is diarrhoea – and I don’t want to see that on television.”

Sir Patrick has an ally in Mr Milne, who ran the BBC between 1982 and 1987. He said the domination of television by women was the reason it had so many “dumb” lifestyle and makeover programmes.

Sir Patrick admitted that his animosity towards his long-term employer was sparked by the scheduling of a celebratory 650th edition of The Sky at Night.

Leading roles

— Jana Bennett, Director of BBC Vision. Has overall responsibility for BBC One, BBC Two and the digital channels BBC Three and BBC Four.

— Jenny Abramsky, Director of BBC Radio & Music. Oversees Radios 1, 2, 3, 4, Five Live, digital stations, Popular Music Television.

— Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction. In charge of drama commissioning ( Doctor Who, Life on Mars), programme acquisitions and BBC Films.

— Lucy Lumsden, BBC Controller of Comedy Commissioning. Hits include The Catherine Tate Show and Saxondale.

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