 |
 |
A REMINDER (apologies for cross-posting) Producing Popular Television Drama, 1960-82 A one-day symposium organised under the auspices of the Centre for Television Drama Studies, University of Reading, Saturday 16th October 2004 ‘Producing Popular Television Drama, 1960-82’ is the third in a series of symposia on the subject of television history to be held at the University of Reading in 2003-2004, and is one of the outcomes of the AHRB-funded research project, ‘Cultures of British Television Drama, 1960-82’. Past events in this series include ‘Reconsidering the Canon: Popular British Television Drama in the Sixties and Seventies’ (September 2003), and ‘Breaking Boundaries in Television Historiography: Historical Research and the Television Archive’ (January 2004). You can find out more about these events and the project as a whole at the following website: http://www.rdg.ac.uk/FD/Research/cbtd.htm. ‘Producing Popular Television Drama, 1960-82’ will offer a series of ‘in conversation’ panels/interviews with key producers, writers, and directors of popular television drama who were working in the industry during the period our research project is concerned with (1960-82). Confirmed speakers so far include Anna Home, Troy Kennedy Martin, Verity Lambert, Phillip Saville, Irene Shubik and Leonard White, who will all speak about their work in the field of television drama during this period and after (brief professional biographies of these speakers can be found at the end of this message). As a formative era in the history of British television drama, we are particularly interested in talking to the creators of popular drama about the issues of creativity and experimentation in television drama production during the sixties and seventies. It is also hoped that this event will go some way towards establishing how distinctions between the forms of popular British television drama and flagship ‘serious’ drama, were dependent on institutional forces and conflicts within and between television institutions, including the regional organisation of TV production, changes in policy and regulation, and the everyday detail of production practices. The organisers of the symposium also hope that the day will provide an important opportunity for scholars of television history and significant programme makers to talk, both formally and informally, about the past, present and future of television drama in Britain. Registration fee, including buffet lunch: £10 (£5 students/unwaged). Please let us know as soon as possible if you wish to attend. For more information or a booking form contact Dr. Helen Wheatley, Department of Film, Theatre & Television, University of Reading, Bulmershe Court, Reading, RG6 1HY – email. [log in to unmask] Booking forms can also be found on this website: http://www.rdg.ac.uk/FD/Research/TVsymposium.htm. ___________________________________________________________________________ Biographies Anna Home is one of the UK’s foremost producers of children’s television drama, who began work in television in 1964, just as Children's and Women's Programmes merged to form Family Programmes. One of the initial producer’s on the storytelling programme, ‘Jackanory’, Home went on from this to direct and produce home grown drama for BBC Children's television, and became executive producer of all of the department's drama output by 1975, during which time she oversaw the development of ‘Grange Hill’ and the teen drama ‘Maggie’. On leaving the BBC in 1981 she became Controller of Programmes South-East at TVS, and headed up drama serials such as ‘The Haunting of Cassie Palmer’, ‘Knights of God’, and the inter-regional play anthology ‘Dramarama’. On her return to the BBC in 1986, Home was made overall Head of Children's Programmes, reviving Sunday teatime 'classic' dramas, including the ‘Chronicles of Narnia’. One of her final credits at the BBC was as Executive Producer on an expensive remake of ‘Children of the New Forest’. A recipient of a BAFTA lifetime achievement award and, in 1993, an OBE, Home has written about children's television history and her own career memoir ‘Into the Box of Delights’ in 1993. She is currently chief executive for the Children's Film and Television Foundation, helping to develop outside scripts for children's films and television. Anna Home will be interviewed by Professor Máire Messenger Davies (University of Ulster, Coleraine). Troy Kennedy Martin's first television play was transmitted in 1958 and with an adaptation of Gillian Slovo's novel ‘Red Dust’ recently filmed his screenwriting career now spans six decades. Best known for creating ‘Z Cars’ in the early 1960s and for the seminal 1980s nuclear thriller ‘Edge of Darkness’, he has also written episodes for series such as ‘Redcap’, ‘Colditz’ and ‘The Sweeney’, been responsible for major serials such as ‘The Old Men at the Zoo’ and ‘Reilly - Ace of Spies’, and for TV movies such as ‘Hostile Waters’. His eclectic career has embraced experimental drama with ‘Diary of a Young Man’, Hollywood movies – ‘The Italian Job’ and ‘Kelly's Heroes’ - and even a sitcom, while his influential 1964 polemic against naturalism in television drama, 'Nats Go Home', has become a key text for television drama studies. Troy Kennedy Martin will be interviewed by Lez Cooke (Manchester Metropolitan University). Verity Lambert's long and varied career began in 1956 as a secretary and later PA to Ted Kotcheff at ABC working on ‘Armchair Theatre’. After a brief spell in the USA, she accepted an approach from Sidney Newman in 1963 to produce ‘Dr Who’, becoming the youngest producer at the BBC and the Drama Department's only woman producer. This was the beginning of a career in series drama at the BBC that lasted until 1971. After leaving the BBC, she went to London Weekend Television, where she produced, amongst other series drama, ‘Budgie’ (1971-72) before becoming Head of Drama at Thames in 1974. During her time at Thames, Lambert produced highly acclaimed popular drama series and single plays, including ‘Rock Follies’ (1976), ‘Rumpole of the Bailey’ (1978-92) and ‘The Naked Civil Servant’ (1975). In 1976, she ran Euston Films for Thames, later becoming Chief Executive (1979). During this period she was executive producer for series such as ‘Out’ (1978), ‘Minder’ (1979-94) and ‘Widows’ (1983). After a spell as Director of Production at Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment, Lambert set up her own independent company in 1985, Cinema Verity, which she continues to run. Cinema Verity has been responsible for both mainstream films (‘Cry in the Dark’, 1988) and some of the most highly- regarded and popular drama series on commercial television, including Alan Bleasedale's ‘GBH’ (1991) for C4 and two series of Lynda La Plante's follow up to ‘Widows’, and the 2nd series of ‘Jonathan Creek’ for the BBC. Verity Lambert will be interviewed by Dr. Stephen Lacey (Manchester Metropolitan University). Philip Saville's long career in film and television spans seven decades. Starting as an actor in the 1940s he turned to directing in the 1950s, working mainly at ABC Television where he directed more than forty ‘Armchair Theatre’ plays from 1956-64, including Harold Pinter's ‘A Night Out’ and Robert Muller's ‘Afternoon of a Nymph’. Although he has directed seven feature films the vast majority of Saville's work has been for television (over 90 dramas in 49 years) and he developed a reputation for innovation in television drama that made him one of the leading television directors for nearly thirty years. His extensive oeuvre includes ‘Hamlet at Elsinore’, ‘Gangsters’, ‘Count Dracula’, ‘Boys from the Blackstuff’, ‘The Journal of Bridget Hitler’, ‘The Life and Loves of a She Devil’, ‘Fellow Traveller’ and ‘The Buccaneers’. Philip Saville will be interviewed by Lez Cooke (Manchester Metropolitan University). Irene Shubik has a distinguished career in British television and played a key part in the production of many significant and memorable programmes. She worked with Sydney Newman and Leonard White on ABC's ground-breaking drama anthology series ‘Armchair Theatre’, produced the science fiction anthology series ‘Out Of This World’ and ‘Out Of The Unknown’, and also worked in the 1960s and 1970s on BBC's ‘Wednesday Play’ and ‘Play For Today’ series. She then produced ‘Rumpole Of The Bailey’ (1978) for Thames Television, produced ‘Staying On’ (1980) for Granada and devised ‘The Jewel In The Crown’ (1984). She is the author of ‘Play for Today: The Evolution of Television Drama’ (Manchester University Press 1975, revised 2000) which offers a fascinating insight into the processes of drama production, and she contributed to the volume ‘British Television Drama: Past Present & Future’ (2000). Irene Shubik will be interviewed by Dr. Jonathan Bignell (University of Reading) Leonard White has had a long and varied career as in television drama, producing over 350 teleplays (single and series drama) for British television. He produced 165 single plays – mostly commissioned new writing – for ABC’s ‘Armchair Theatre’ alone. Following an early career as an actor (in film, theatre, and television) and a director in the theatre, White trained in television directing and producing at the CBC in Toronto in 1957. From there he moved back to television drama production in Britain, working for TWW-TV, Tyne Tees, Southern Television, HTV, Scottish Television, and the BBC, as well as a ten year stint as executive producer at ABC Television’s Teddington Studios. Among his many other credits, White was the producer of ‘Armchair Mystery Theatre’ and ‘Armchair Theatre’, ‘Inside Story’, ‘Police Surgeon’, ‘The Avengers’, ‘Out of This World’, ‘Playhouse’, ‘Premiere’, ‘The Pretenders’, ‘King of the Castle’, and ‘Shadow of the Stone’. Leonard White will be interviewed by Dr. Helen Wheatley (University of Reading).