Carl Davis, the composer known for his BAFTA-winning score for “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” (1981), died of a brain hemorrhage on Thursday. He was 86.
Davis’ family issued a statement on social media, writing: “We are so proud that Carl’s legacy will be his astonishing impact on music. A consummate all-round musician, he was the driving force behind the reinvention of the silent movie for this generation and he wrote scores for some of the most loved and remembered British television dramas.”
Born in New York, Davis co-authored revue “Diversions” (1959), which won an off-Broadway Emmy and featured at the 1961 Edinburgh Festival. Davis moved to the U.K. in 1961 and was commissioned by the BBC to compose music for “That Was the Week That Was.” Subsequent work included BBC’s anthology play series “The Wednesday Play” (1964-70) and “Play for Today” (1970-84).
Davis then composed for several iconic British television shows, including...
Davis’ family issued a statement on social media, writing: “We are so proud that Carl’s legacy will be his astonishing impact on music. A consummate all-round musician, he was the driving force behind the reinvention of the silent movie for this generation and he wrote scores for some of the most loved and remembered British television dramas.”
Born in New York, Davis co-authored revue “Diversions” (1959), which won an off-Broadway Emmy and featured at the 1961 Edinburgh Festival. Davis moved to the U.K. in 1961 and was commissioned by the BBC to compose music for “That Was the Week That Was.” Subsequent work included BBC’s anthology play series “The Wednesday Play” (1964-70) and “Play for Today” (1970-84).
Davis then composed for several iconic British television shows, including...
- 8/3/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
It’s safe to say that no filmmaker has put more time into the struggles of the working class than Ken Loach. The 86-year-old British director has been making socially conscious dramas since the 1960s, when his kitchen sink drama “Cathy Come Home” aired as part of the BBC’s “The Wednesday Play” anthology. He has fixated on the victims of governmental neglect and oppression with an intimate gaze ever since, gaining momentum where many storytellers wound wind down: In 2006, he won the Palme d’Or for “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,” and nabbed a second for 2016’s “I, Daniel Blake,” a movie he came out of retirement to make.
Now he’s readying a new immigration drama, “The Old Oak,” which is expected to be ready for this year’s Cannes.
In the midst of this prolific career, Loach has also produced a steady stream of documentaries that reflect his socialist ideals.
Now he’s readying a new immigration drama, “The Old Oak,” which is expected to be ready for this year’s Cannes.
In the midst of this prolific career, Loach has also produced a steady stream of documentaries that reflect his socialist ideals.
- 3/16/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Garnett also worked on Earth Girls Are Easy and seminal TV drama Cathy Come Home.
Tony Garnett, the film and television producer behind Ken Loach’s breakthrough features, has died aged 83.
The British producer collaborated with Loach from 1965 to 1979 on films including Kes, Family Life and Black Jack as well as seminal TV drama Cathy Come Home.
World Productions, the company he co-founded in 1990, said in a statement: “After a short illness, Tony Garnett, the legendary TV and film producer… died around midday on January 12. Tony was a great man and an inspirational producer who will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him.
Tony Garnett, the film and television producer behind Ken Loach’s breakthrough features, has died aged 83.
The British producer collaborated with Loach from 1965 to 1979 on films including Kes, Family Life and Black Jack as well as seminal TV drama Cathy Come Home.
World Productions, the company he co-founded in 1990, said in a statement: “After a short illness, Tony Garnett, the legendary TV and film producer… died around midday on January 12. Tony was a great man and an inspirational producer who will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him.
- 1/13/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Deborah Watling, best known to TV audiences for her work on the original incarnation of Doctor Who, has died following a short battle with lung cancer. She was 69.
Watling’s big break came in 1967, when she was cast as Victoria Waterfield, companion to Patrick Troughton’s Doctor, on the landmark science-fiction program. She would vacate the role after 40 episodes, but would return for 1993’s Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time.
In addition to her work on Doctor Who, Watling appeared in countless TV programs. Her first significant role came in 1958, when she landed the part of Sally Watson in H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man.
Watling’s big break came in 1967, when she was cast as Victoria Waterfield, companion to Patrick Troughton’s Doctor, on the landmark science-fiction program. She would vacate the role after 40 episodes, but would return for 1993’s Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time.
In addition to her work on Doctor Who, Watling appeared in countless TV programs. Her first significant role came in 1958, when she landed the part of Sally Watson in H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man.
- 7/21/2017
- TVLine.com
Television director in the glory days of the BBC, who went on to make feature films
Alan Bridges, who has died aged 86, was a leading director during the glory days of the BBC, from the mid-60s to the early 70s. Today, whenever media pundits analyse the history of television drama, they wax lyrical about The Wednesday Play and its successor Play for Today, bemoaning the virtual disappearance of the single play.
By the time Bridges started working in the Wednesday Play slot, he was already one of the BBC's most experienced TV directors – he had directed excellent 10-part adaptations of two 19th-century classics, Great Expectations and Les Misérables (both in 1967) – but he relished the "right to fail" ethos at the BBC, enjoying working with exciting contemporary writers.
While continuing to have a distinguished television career into the 80s, adeptly moving from the popular to the experimental, from the modern to the classical,...
Alan Bridges, who has died aged 86, was a leading director during the glory days of the BBC, from the mid-60s to the early 70s. Today, whenever media pundits analyse the history of television drama, they wax lyrical about The Wednesday Play and its successor Play for Today, bemoaning the virtual disappearance of the single play.
By the time Bridges started working in the Wednesday Play slot, he was already one of the BBC's most experienced TV directors – he had directed excellent 10-part adaptations of two 19th-century classics, Great Expectations and Les Misérables (both in 1967) – but he relished the "right to fail" ethos at the BBC, enjoying working with exciting contemporary writers.
While continuing to have a distinguished television career into the 80s, adeptly moving from the popular to the experimental, from the modern to the classical,...
- 1/29/2014
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Swashbuckling screenwriter behind Rob Roy, Ulzana's Raid and Night Moves
Alan Sharp, who has died of brain cancer aged 79, once claimed that as a screenwriter he was most interested in "moral ambiguity, mixed motives and irony", all of which are applicable to two of his best movies, the western Ulzana's Raid (1972), directed by Robert Aldrich, and the thriller Night Moves (1975), directed by Arthur Penn. Most of his screenplays were written in the 1970s and reflect the era in which America was suffering the effects of the Vietnam war and post-Watergate paranoia. This goes some way to explaining the bleakness and cynical sense of destiny in Sharp's films, which he called "existential melodramas".
He was born in Alyth, near Dundee. Although the majority of his scripts were set in the Us, where he lived for many years, Scotland remained pre-eminent in his character and culture. His script for Rob Roy (1995), a...
Alan Sharp, who has died of brain cancer aged 79, once claimed that as a screenwriter he was most interested in "moral ambiguity, mixed motives and irony", all of which are applicable to two of his best movies, the western Ulzana's Raid (1972), directed by Robert Aldrich, and the thriller Night Moves (1975), directed by Arthur Penn. Most of his screenplays were written in the 1970s and reflect the era in which America was suffering the effects of the Vietnam war and post-Watergate paranoia. This goes some way to explaining the bleakness and cynical sense of destiny in Sharp's films, which he called "existential melodramas".
He was born in Alyth, near Dundee. Although the majority of his scripts were set in the Us, where he lived for many years, Scotland remained pre-eminent in his character and culture. His script for Rob Roy (1995), a...
- 2/14/2013
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Actor who became a prolific TV director
Peter Hammond, who has died aged 87, moved from acting to become a prolific TV director, contributing to series including The Avengers, Granada's Sherlock Holmes series and Inspector Morse. It was with The Avengers in 1961 that he first made his mark. Hammond and his colleague Don Leaver directed 19 of the opening 26 episodes of the series between them and were largely responsible for creating its distinctive look in its pre-film days.
Hammond established himself as a quick worker who still managed to bring flair to his episodes. He developed a trademark style in which the confines of the small studio spaces would be enlivened by "foreground interest" and scenes would be distorted or heightened by being shot through glass or caught in the reflection of a mirror. This distinctive visual effect would reappear in productions as diverse as the studio-bound Three Musketeers (1966) and Dark Angel,...
Peter Hammond, who has died aged 87, moved from acting to become a prolific TV director, contributing to series including The Avengers, Granada's Sherlock Holmes series and Inspector Morse. It was with The Avengers in 1961 that he first made his mark. Hammond and his colleague Don Leaver directed 19 of the opening 26 episodes of the series between them and were largely responsible for creating its distinctive look in its pre-film days.
Hammond established himself as a quick worker who still managed to bring flair to his episodes. He developed a trademark style in which the confines of the small studio spaces would be enlivened by "foreground interest" and scenes would be distorted or heightened by being shot through glass or caught in the reflection of a mirror. This distinctive visual effect would reappear in productions as diverse as the studio-bound Three Musketeers (1966) and Dark Angel,...
- 1/2/2012
- by Dick Fiddy
- The Guardian - Film News
Film director whose career took him from gritty television plays to Hollywood thrillers
People who talk wistfully of the "golden age of British television drama" are often accused of viewing the past through the rosy lens of nostalgia. But a clear-eyed examination of the era proves that such slots as the BBC's The Wednesday Play (1964-70) and Play for Today (1970-84) were unsurpassed as breeding grounds for talented directors such as John Mackenzie, who has died after a stroke aged 83. Like most of his contemporaries who gained their experience by working in television – Philip Saville, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Ken Loach, Mike Newell, Michael Apted and Mike Leigh – Mackenzie went on to make feature films, notably his superb London-based gangster picture, The Long Good Friday (1980).
The television background trained Mackenzie to work quickly on taut and realistic narratives, within a tight budget and on schedule. One of his first jobs was as...
People who talk wistfully of the "golden age of British television drama" are often accused of viewing the past through the rosy lens of nostalgia. But a clear-eyed examination of the era proves that such slots as the BBC's The Wednesday Play (1964-70) and Play for Today (1970-84) were unsurpassed as breeding grounds for talented directors such as John Mackenzie, who has died after a stroke aged 83. Like most of his contemporaries who gained their experience by working in television – Philip Saville, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Ken Loach, Mike Newell, Michael Apted and Mike Leigh – Mackenzie went on to make feature films, notably his superb London-based gangster picture, The Long Good Friday (1980).
The television background trained Mackenzie to work quickly on taut and realistic narratives, within a tight budget and on schedule. One of his first jobs was as...
- 6/12/2011
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
"People who talk wistfully of the 'golden age of British television drama' are often accused of viewing the past through the rosy lens of nostalgia," writes Ronald Bergan in the Guardian. "But a clear-eyed examination of the era proves that such slots as the BBC's The Wednesday Play (1964-70) and Play for Today (1970-84) were unsurpassed as breeding grounds for talented directors such as John Mackenzie, who has died after a stroke aged 83. Like most of his contemporaries who gained their experience by working in television — Philip Saville, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Ken Loach, Mike Newell, Michael Apted and Mike Leigh — Mackenzie went on to make feature films, notably his superb London-based gangster picture, The Long Good Friday (1980)."
Paul Gallagher has posted a documentary on the making of The Long Good Friday at Dangerous Minds, preceded by a deeply appreciative introduction: "It started when producer Barry Hanson asked writer Barrie Keefe, one night,...
Paul Gallagher has posted a documentary on the making of The Long Good Friday at Dangerous Minds, preceded by a deeply appreciative introduction: "It started when producer Barry Hanson asked writer Barrie Keefe, one night,...
- 6/12/2011
- MUBI
British-born director known for Anne of the Thousand Days and Mary, Queen of Scots
The film and television director Charles Jarrott, who has died of cancer aged 83, began his career during a golden period of British TV drama, working on Armchair Theatre and The Wednesday Play in the 1960s alongside writers and directors such as Ken Loach, Dennis Potter and David Mercer. Both series were presided over by the Canadian producer Sydney Newman, who encouraged original work – what he called "agitational contemporaneity" – and had an astonishing impact. But in 1969 Jarrott's career took a different turn when he left for Hollywood, thereby increasing his income a hundredfold, while having to contend with far less adventurous material. His best films were his first, two Elizabethan costume dramas, Anne of the Thousand Days and Mary, Queen of Scots, enlivened by the Oscar-nominated performances of Richard Burton (Henry VIII), Geneviève Bujold (Anne Boleyn) and...
The film and television director Charles Jarrott, who has died of cancer aged 83, began his career during a golden period of British TV drama, working on Armchair Theatre and The Wednesday Play in the 1960s alongside writers and directors such as Ken Loach, Dennis Potter and David Mercer. Both series were presided over by the Canadian producer Sydney Newman, who encouraged original work – what he called "agitational contemporaneity" – and had an astonishing impact. But in 1969 Jarrott's career took a different turn when he left for Hollywood, thereby increasing his income a hundredfold, while having to contend with far less adventurous material. His best films were his first, two Elizabethan costume dramas, Anne of the Thousand Days and Mary, Queen of Scots, enlivened by the Oscar-nominated performances of Richard Burton (Henry VIII), Geneviève Bujold (Anne Boleyn) and...
- 3/7/2011
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
Actor best known for his role as one of the Italian Job gang
Frank Jarvis, who has died suddenly aged 69, was a prolific actor with a particular commitment to theatre. He did, however, have a minor claim to film immortality as one of the gang of cockney villains, led by Michael Caine, who pull off a robbery, but do not quite get away with it, in The Italian Job (1969). Greeted upon its initial release as merely one of many caper movies (a view that persists in the Us), repeated television screenings in Britain have given it status as a minor classic.
Jarvis's role was as a getaway driver, well-dressed and continually smoking. It was representative of his screen work during the 60s and 70s, which almost always centred on crime, whether he was cast as crook or copper. He was thin-faced and slim of build, with dark hair slicked down by Brylcreem,...
Frank Jarvis, who has died suddenly aged 69, was a prolific actor with a particular commitment to theatre. He did, however, have a minor claim to film immortality as one of the gang of cockney villains, led by Michael Caine, who pull off a robbery, but do not quite get away with it, in The Italian Job (1969). Greeted upon its initial release as merely one of many caper movies (a view that persists in the Us), repeated television screenings in Britain have given it status as a minor classic.
Jarvis's role was as a getaway driver, well-dressed and continually smoking. It was representative of his screen work during the 60s and 70s, which almost always centred on crime, whether he was cast as crook or copper. He was thin-faced and slim of build, with dark hair slicked down by Brylcreem,...
- 10/28/2010
- by Gavin Gaughan
- The Guardian - Film News
Playwright and author of TV dramas including The Beiderbecke Affair and Fortunes of War
Alan Plater, whose TV credits in a writing career spanning 50 years included The Beiderbecke Affair, Fortunes of War and the screenplay for A Very British Coup, has died, his agent confirmed to the BBC today.
Plater, 75, wrote novels and for film and theatre, but will be best remembered for a profilic body of television drama spanning six decades, starting with TV play The Referees for BBC North in 1961.
His final TV drama, Joe Maddison's War, starring Kevin Whately and Robson Green and set on the eve of the second world war in the north-east, where Plater was born, is currently in post-production for ITV.
Plater was born in Jarrow in 1935 and moved with his family as a young child to Hull, where he grew up.
He studied architecture at Newcastle University and worked for a short...
Alan Plater, whose TV credits in a writing career spanning 50 years included The Beiderbecke Affair, Fortunes of War and the screenplay for A Very British Coup, has died, his agent confirmed to the BBC today.
Plater, 75, wrote novels and for film and theatre, but will be best remembered for a profilic body of television drama spanning six decades, starting with TV play The Referees for BBC North in 1961.
His final TV drama, Joe Maddison's War, starring Kevin Whately and Robson Green and set on the eve of the second world war in the north-east, where Plater was born, is currently in post-production for ITV.
Plater was born in Jarrow in 1935 and moved with his family as a young child to Hull, where he grew up.
He studied architecture at Newcastle University and worked for a short...
- 6/25/2010
- by Jason Deans
- The Guardian - Film News
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