Overton was not directly involved in the making of the programme which led to the Newsnight/McAlpine affair and the subsequent resignation of BBC Director-General George Entwhistle, but voluntarily resigned from his role at the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in the wake of the scandal to preserve the integrity of the organisation. Overton had agreed to the secondment of a member of his staff to the BBC to produce a Newsnight report with no editorial control over the story. However, on 2 November 2012, despite such lack of involvement Overton tweeted: 'If all goes well we've got a Newsnight out tonight about a very senior political figure who is a paedophile.'