Statue of George Orwell

A bronze statue of George Orwell by Martin Jennings stands outside Broadcasting House, the BBC’s central London headquarters. The wall behind carries a quotation from Orwell’s unused preface to Animal Farm: ‘If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.’ The BBC’s head of history, Robert Seatter, noted Orwell once based Room 101 on a room he worked in at the BBC. The statue was funded by a trust set up by Labour MP Ben Whitaker, with private donations from writers and broadcasters including Ian McEwan, Andrew Marr, Ken Follett and Rowan Atkinson. After the BBC initially declined the offer, the project was revived under director-general Tony Hall and completed by Whitaker’s widow, Janet Whitaker. Jennings chose to show Orwell tall and gaunt, cigarette in hand, body leaning forward as if about to make a point. Visitors find the figure raised on a low plinth that places it against the building’s stone wall. The sculpture’s pose and clothing aim to capture Orwell’s public persona, while the inscribed words remind passers-by of his defence of free speech. The setting remains part of the BBC’s busy forecourt, linking literature, journalism and the broadcaster in one view.