If he's dropped, can't the programme get under way? (9)
I believe the answer is:
anchorman
'if he's dropped can't the programme get under way?' is the definition.
The answer is a person as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.
'if he's' is the wordplay.
'if' becomes 'anchor' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'he' becomes 'man' (I've seen this in another clue).
'anchor'+'man'='ANCHORMAN'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for anchorman that I've seen before include "Crucial participant" , "Maybe last person to run" , "host" , "Last person in relay race - TV presenter" , "who winds up relay?" .)