In April 1956 Bill Carron, a member of the executive of the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU), informed Wyatt that Communists were trying to take over the union by falsifying votes for union officials. There were upcoming elections for two posts on the Executive and as the Communists already held three out of the seven seats, there was a possibility of a Communist majority. Wyatt later wrote: "The threat to the economy and to the Labour Party of a huge AEU block vote supporting extremist policies at Labour conferences, was obvious". The Director-General of the BBC, Sir Ian Jacob, authorised Wyatt to produce a "Panorama" programme on it, which was broadcast on 14 May 1956. Wyatt later claimed that his programme "shook the union world. The voting went up by 40 per cent. ... it was enough to defeat the Communist candidates for all three posts. The AEU was saved".