 After the Festival, he decided to forego pursuing a career as a theatre practitioner to "follow" Hobson's "footsteps" and become a critic of theatre too; five years later, they would become colleagues at "The Times".After leaving Oxford in 1961, Billington began working as an arts critic in Liverpool for the "Liverpool Daily Post & Echo".From 1962 to 1964, he served as public liaison officer and director for the Lincoln Theatre Company, in Lincolnshire.