Avril MacRory dead: BBC legend dies 'peacefully' as heartbroken family speak out

BBC legend Avril MacRory has died aged 69 as tributes have poured in from her friends and colleagues. A cause of death has not been confirmed. Her family announced the news on Threads, writing: "Avril passed away this morning, peacefully, at Royal Trinity Hospice. Funeral arrangements will be announced when we have them to share. The funeral will be in London and so will be held in at least 10 days.Avril MacRory, 05/04/1956 - 14/07/2025. With love Val and Sam."

Avril was best known for her work on the BBC, serving as Head of Music Programmes and running the channel's BBC coverage for the Millennium. The event united 78 international broadcasters to produce 28 hours of live celebrations, as each time zone crossed into the 21st century. She also worked as co-executive producer of the Global Broadcaster Consortium from 1998 to 2000.

At the time, Avril said about the millenium coverage: "It was a moment when public television from around the world was able to come together, and I don't think that can happen again." One of her most notable pieces of work was on ITV show Secret Diary of A Call Girl, featuring Billie Piper, and called it one of her "proudest pieces of work".

It originally aired on ITV2, with its four season run ending in 2011, but is now available to watch on Netflix. Avril said about the decision in 2013: "We didn't put it on Netflix for a long time because, when you do that, that's the end of your territorial sales," says MacRory. "That's the end of your profit line."

Tributes have poured in for the legendary BBC producer, as one fan wrote on social media: "Sad to read of the death of Avril MacRory, who was well known for her charity work among the Irish in London. She was only in her late sixties. Sympathy to her husband, children and extended family."

A friend penned on Facebook: "From our first meeting as students, everywhere I went, socially and professionally, I met people who knew Avril MacRory, in RTE, the BBC and Channel 4, mainly in music and the arts but could be anywhere. She died peacefully early this morning, and was absolutely Avril to the end. She will be missed by so many. Photograph shows some of her greatest loves, her father, her husband Val Griffin, son Sam, and Sid the dog, when they borrowed my late mother's house in Dalkey one Christmas."

Another friend said in a statement, along with a photo of Avril and her husband Val Griffin on their wedding day: "Deeply saddened to learn of the death yesterday of the dynamic Avril MacRory, wife of my old friend, Val Griffin, and mother to their son, Sam Griffin. Here they are on their wedding morning, 9 July 1983, a truly joyful occasion. My heart goes out to Val and Sam."