Sydney Cecil Newman OC (April 1, 1917—October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, best remembered for the pioneering work he undertook in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. He was responsible for initiating two hugely popular fantasy series, The Avengers and Doctor Who, as well as overseeing the production of groundbreaking social realist drama series such as Armchair Theatre and The Wednesday Play. The Order of Canada is Canadas highest civilian honour, with membership awarded to those who exemplify the Orders Latin motto Desiderantes meliorem patriam, which means, Desiring a better country. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. ... October 30 is the 303rd day of the year (304th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A film producer oversees the making of movies. ... A Television producer oversees the making of television penis programs. ... // Events and trends This map shows two essential global spheres during the Cold War in 1959. ... The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... The most famous incarnation of The Avengers, John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) appear on the cover of a 1994 reprint of an Avengers novel co-written by Macnee. ... Main article: History of Doctor Who Doctor Who first appeared on BBC television at 5:15 p. ... Social Realism is a term used to describe visual and other realistic arts depicting working class activities as heroic, especially common in communist countries. ... Armchair Theatre was a British television drama anthology series, which ran on the ITV network from 1956 until 1968 in its original form, and was intermittently resurrected at various points during the 1970s. ... The Wednesday Play was a British television drama anthology series, which ran on BBC ONE from 1964 to 1970. ...

Early career in Canada

Born in Toronto, Newman was the son of a Russian immigrant father who ran a shoe shop. After leaving school at the age of thirteen, he initially attempted to follow a career as an artist, specialising in drawing film posters.^[1] However, he found it difficult to earn enough money to make a living from this profession, so instead he switched to working in the film industry itself, where he gained a job as a film editor at the National Film Board of Canada. He was eventually to work on over 350 films while an editor for the NFB.^[2] Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Diversity Our Strength City of Toronto, Ontario, Canadas Location. ... 1942 US government war poster. ... A film editor is a person who practices film editing by assembling separate takes into a coherent film. ... The National Film Board of Canada (usually National Film Board or NFB) is a Canadian public filmmaking organization established to produce and distribute films that inform Canadians and promote Canada around the world. ...

During the Second World War the head of NFB, John Grierson, promoted Newman to a film producer, working on documentary films. In this role he oversaw acclaimed features such as Fighting Norway and Banshees Over Canada, along with various other wartime propaganda pieces. After the war, Grierson again assisted Newman's career, entering him into the then-new television industry on attachment to NBC television in New York City.^[3] He quickly became highly interested in the television industry, and upon his return to Canada in 1952, with Grierson's assistance he gained a job working at Canada's state television broadcaster, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... John Grierson (April 26, 1898 - February 19, 1972) is often considered the father of modern documentary film. ... Documentary film is a broad category of cinematic expression united by the intent to remain factual or non-fictional. ... North Korean propaganda showing a soldier destroying the United States Capitol building. ... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... The city is at the center of international finance, politics, entertainment, and culture, and is one of the worlds major global cities (along with London, Tokyo and Paris) with a virtually unrivaled collection of museums, galleries, performance venues, media outlets, international corporations, and stock exchanges. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), a Canadian crown corporation, is the countrys national radio and television broadcaster. ...

He initially worked in CBC's outside broadcasts department, of which he quickly became head, but after his experience of seeing the production of television plays in New York, he was eager to work in drama despite "knowing nothing about drama"^[4]. He was nonetheless able to persuade his superiors at CBC to make him Supervisor of Drama Production. In this position he encouraged a new wave of young writers and directors, including William Kotcheff and Arthur Hailey and oversaw shows such as the popular General Motors Theatre. Outside broadcasting is the production of television programmes (typically to cover sports events) from a mobile television studio. ... Ted Kotcheff (sometimes credited as William Kotcheff or William T. Kotcheff; born April 7, 1931 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian film and television director, who is well known for his work on several high-profile British television productions and as a director of films such as First Blood. ... Arthur Hailey (April 5, 1920 - November 24, 2004) was a British/Canadian/American/Bahamian novelist. ... General Motors Theatre (also known as CBC Theatre and General Motors Presents) was a Canadian television anthology series, which ran on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation under its various titles from 1953 until 1961. ...

One of Hailey's plays, Flight into Danger, was purchased by the ITV network in the United Kingdom, and impressed Howard Thomas, who was the managing director of Associated British Corporation (ABC), the ITV franchise holder for the English Midlands and the North at weekends. Thomas offered Newman a job with ABC as a producer of his own Saturday night thriller series, which Newman accepted, moving to Britain in 1958.^[5] Flight into danger By: Arthur Hailey Full Cast and Crew for Flight Into Danger (1956) (TV) Plot Outline: A small planes pilot must take the controls of a large passenger plane when the pilots fall victim to food poisoning. ... Independent Television (ITV) is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up to provide competition to the BBC. In England and Wales the channel was recently rebranded ITV1 by ITV plc who own the regional broadcasting licences for the regions. ... ABC logo, 1960s ABC Television or ABC Weekend TV was the British Independent Television (ITV) (commercial television) contractor on Saturdays and Sundays in the Midlands and North of England between 1956 and 1968. ... In general, the midlands of a territory are its central regions. ... The North of England , also the North country or simply The North, is a term which strictly refers to any part of Northern England north of a line from the Humber to the Dee estuaries. ... The thriller is a genre of fiction in which tough, resourceful, but essentially ordinary heroes are pitted against villains determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Associated British Corporation

Soon after Newman arrived in the UK, ABC's Head of Drama Dennis Vance was moved into a more senior position with the company, and Thomas offered Newman his position, which the Canadian quickly accepted. He was, however, somewhat disparaging of the state in which he found British television drama. "At that time, I found this country to be somewhat class-ridden," he told interviewers in 1988. "The only legitimate theatre was of the 'anyone for tennis' variety, which on the whole gave a condascending view of working-class people. Television dramas were usually adaptations of stage plays and invariably about the upper classes. I said 'Damn the upper classes: they don't even own televisions!'."^[6] 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Newman's principle tool for shaking up this established order was a Sunday night anthology series which had been initiated before he had arrived at ABC, but which he was to leave a firm mark upon. Armchair Theatre was networked nationally across the ITV regions on Sunday evenings, drawing huge audiences, and Newman used the strand to present plays by writers such as Alun Owen, Harold Pinter and Clive Exton, also bringing over associates from Canada such as William Kotcheff. Armchair Theatre was a British television drama anthology series, which ran on the ITV network from 1956 until 1968 in its original form, and was intermittently resurrected at various points during the 1970s. ... Harold Pinter Harold Pinter, CH, CBE (born October 10, 1930) is a British playwright and theatre director. ... clive exton was a big fat ugly basterd that lived on the street eating garbage. ...

In 1960, Newman devised a thriller series for ABC called Police Surgeon, starring Ian Hendry. Although Police Surgeon was not a success and was cancelled after only a short run, Newman took Hendry as the star and some of the ethos of the programme to create a new series (not a direct sequel as is sometimes claimed) called The Avengers. Debuting in January 1961, The Avengers became a huge international success, although in later years its premise differed somewhat from Newman's initial set-up, veering into more surreal fantasy territory rather than a gritty thriller. 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Ian Hendry (b. ... The most famous incarnation of The Avengers, John Steed (Patrick Macnee) and Emma Peel (Diana Rigg) appear on the cover of a 1994 reprint of an Avengers novel co-written by Macnee. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Newman's great success at ABC had been noted by the British Broadcasting Corporation, whose executives were keen to revive their own drama department's fortunes in the face of the fierce competition from ITV. In 1961 the BBC's Director of Television, Kenneth Adam, met with Newman — in a pub^[7] — and offered him the position of Head of Drama at the BBC. He accepted the position, eager for a new challenge, although he was forced by ABC to remain with them until the expiration of his contract in December 1962, after which he immediately began work with the BBC. This article is an overview article about the Crown chartered British Broadcasting Corporation formed in 1927. ... Cathy Come Home, a 1966 entry into The Wednesday Play anthology series, voted the best drama and second highest programme overall in the British Film Institutes 2000 survey of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century. ... Kenneth Adam (born on March 1, 1908 in Nottingham, England, United Kingdom; died October 18, 1978) was a British journalist and broadcasting executive, who from 1957 until 1961 served as the Controller of the BBC Television Service. ... 1962 (MCMLXII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

The BBC

There was some initial resentment to his appointment within the Corporation, as he was an outsider and he was also earning more than many of the executives senior to him were, although still substantially less than he had been paid at ABC.^[8] As he had done at ABC, he was keen to shake up the staid image of BBC drama and introduce new outlets for the kitchen sink drama and the "Angry Young Men" of the era. He also divided the unwieldy drama department into three separate divisions — series, serials and plays, headed by Elwyn Jones, Donald Wilson and Michael Bakewell respectively, each reporting directly to Newman. Kitchen sink drama was a recognisable British cultural movement in the late 1950s and early 1960s. ... Angry Young Men (or Angries for short) is a journalistic catchphrase applied to a number of British playwrights and novelists from the mid-1950s. ... Elwyn Jones (born 1923; died May 19, 1982) was a British television writer and producer, whose best-known work was perhaps the co-creation of the famous police drama series Z-Cars for BBC Television in 1962. ... Donald Wilson (born September 1, 1910, Dunblane, Scotland; died March 6, 2002, Gloucestershire, England) was a British television writer and producer, best known for his work on the BBCs legendary adaptation of The Forsyte Saga in 1967. ...

In 1964 he initiated the new anthology series The Wednesday Play, a BBC equivalent of Armchair Theatre, which had great success and critical acclaim with plays written and directed the likes of Dennis Potter, Jeremy Sandford, Ken Loach and Peter Watkins. There was also controversy, however — Watkins' The War Game was banned from transmission by the BBC under pressure from the government. The department also had success with more traditional BBC fare such as the costume drama The Forsyte Saga in 1967, a Donald Wilson project which Newman had not been keen on initially, but which became one of the most acclaimed and popular productions of his era. For the Nintendo 64 emulator, see 1964 (Emulator). ... The Wednesday Play was a British television drama anthology series, which ran on BBC ONE from 1964 to 1970. ... Dennis Christopher George Potter (May 17, 1935 – June 7, 1994) was a controversial English dramatist who is best known for several widely acclaimed television dramas which mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. ... Ken Loach (born June 17, 1936) is a British television and film director, known for his social realist style and socialist themes. ... Peter Watkins (born October 29, 1935) is an English film and television director. ... The War Game is a 1965 television film on nuclear war. ... A costume drama is a period piece in which elaborate costumes, sets and properties are featured in order to capture the ambience of a particular era. ... The Forsyte Saga is the collective title of a series of novels by John Galsworthy. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

However, his best-remembered BBC project, and the one for which he is most noted throughout his career, was the creation of the science-fiction television series Doctor Who, which began in 1963 and ran until 1989 in its original form, and after a resumption in 2005 is still in production. Newman had long been a science-fiction fan — "[u]p to the age of 40, I don't think there was a science-fiction book I hadn't read. I love them because they're a marvellous way — and a safe way, I might add — of saying nasty things about our own society".^[9] A collection of well-known science-fiction novels and magazines Science fiction is a genre of fiction in which advances in science, or contact with more scientifically advanced civilizations, create situations different from those of both the present day and the known past. ... Main article: History of Doctor Who Doctor Who first appeared on BBC television at 5:15 p. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

When BBC Controller of Programmes Donald Baverstock alerted Newman of the need for a programme to bridge the gap between the sports showcase Grandstand and pop music programme Juke Box Jury on Saturday evenings, he immediately decided that a science-fiction drama would be the perfect vehicle for filling the gap and gaining a family audience. Although much work on the genesis of the series was done by Donald Wilson, C. E. Webber and others, it was Newman who created the idea of a time machine larger on the inside than the out and the character of the mysterious "Doctor", which remain at the heart of the programme. He is also believed to have come up with the title Doctor Who (although actor and director Hugh David later credited this to his friend Rex Tucker, the initial "caretaker producer" of the programme). Donald Baverstock (January 18, 1924 – March 17, 1995) was a British television producer and executive. ... The British television sport programme Grandstand is one of the BBCs longest running sports shows, alongside BBC Sports Personality of the Year. ... Pop music, in popular and contemporary parlance, is a subgenre of popular music. ... Juke Box Jury was a pop themed panel show, originally produced by BBC television from 1959-1967. ... Cecil Edwin Webber (known as C. E. Webber and nicknamed Bunny by his colleagues) was a British television writer. ... Hugh David Hugh David was an actor turned director on television, who died in 1987. ... Rex Tucker was a British television director in the 1950s and 1960s. ...

After the series had been conceptualised, Newman initially approached Don Taylor and Shaun Sutton to produce it, although both declined. He then decided on his former production assistant at ABC, Verity Lambert, who had never produced, written or directed but readily accepted his offer. As Lambert became the youngest — and only female — drama producer at the BBC, there were some doubts as to Newman's choice, but she became a great success in the role. Even Newman clashed with her on occasion, however, particularly over the inclusion of the alien Dalek creatures on the programme. Newman had not wanted any "bug-eyed monsters" in the show, and he regarded the Daleks as the epitome of such things, but after their huge success he generally left Lambert to her own devices. Later in the show's run, in 1966, he took a more hands-on role again in the changeover between the First and Second Doctors, but as the series drifted further away from his initial semi-educational concepts after his time at the BBC, he became generally critical of its tone and production. There are several people of note by the name Don Taylor or Donald Taylor known for achievements in various fields. ... Shaun Alfred Graham Sutton OBE (born October 14, 1919 in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom; died May 14 2004 in Norfolk, England, United Kingdom) was a British television writer, director, producer and executive, who worked in the medium for nearly forty years from the 1950s to the 1990s. ... Production assistant is a movie term for a person responsible for various odd jobs, such as stopping traffic, acting as couriers, getting items from craft service, etc. ... Verity Lambert (born November 27, 1935 in London, England, UK) is a British television and film producer, best known for producing the science-fiction series Doctor Who for the BBC for its first two years, from 1963 to 1965. ... Listen to this article: parts 1, 2 & 3 (help) Listen to this article (3 parts) Part 1 · Part 2 · Part 3 This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-10-21, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... The First Doctor is the name given to the first incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... The Second Doctor is the name given to the second incarnation of the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ...

After also creating other popular series such as Adam Adamant Lives!, at the end of 1967 Newman's five-year contract with the BBC came to an end, and he did not remain with the Corporation. Instead, he decided to pursue a return to the film industry, taking a job as a producer with Associated British Picture Corporation — coincidentally, the parent company of his former employers ABC Television. However, the British film industry was entering a period of decline, and none of Newman's projects ever went into production. He left ABPC in 1970 after eighteen months which he later described as "a futile waste"^[10]. He returned to Canada, despite being offered an executive producership by the BBC, keen to regain his services, on the very day he departed.^[11] Adam Adamant Lives! was a television series that ran from 1966 to 1967 on the BBC. The show was the BBCs attempt to repeat the success of ITVs The Avengers, with a comedy adventure theme. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Executive producer is a role in the entertainment industry that is sometimes difficult to clearly define. ...

Return to Canada

His first post upon his return to his home country was as Director of Programmes at CRTC Ottawa — simultaneously, he became the Chairman of the National Film Board of Canada, returning to the same institution for which he had worked in the 1940s. He remained Chairman of the NFB until 1975, but left CRTC in 1972 to become a Director of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, another post he occupied until 1975. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC, in French Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes) was established in 1968 by the Canadian Parliament to replace the Board of Broadcast Governors. ... Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Advance Ottawa/Ottawa en avant City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Ville dOttawa, Ontario, Canadas Location. ... // Events and trends World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrination, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atomic bomb. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1975 calendar). ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ...

In the 1980s he returned to the United Kingdom for a time following the death of his wife, attempting unsuccessfully to produce a series on the Bloomsbury Group. In 1986 he met with then then Controller of BBC One, Michael Grade, with a view to re-formatting and taking direct control as executive producer of Doctor Who, which was at the time struggling in the ratings. Newman and Grade did not get on well, however, and nothing came of their meetings. He was also unsuccessful in an attempt to have his name added to the end credits of the show as its creator.^[12] The 1980s, in its most obvious sense, was the decade between 1980 and 1989. ... The Bloomsbury Group or Bloomsbury Set or just Bloomsbury, as its adherents (members is probably too formal a designation) would generally refer to it, was an English group of artists and scholars that existed from around 1905 until around World War II. // History The group began as an informal social... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... BBC One (or BBC1 as it was formerly styled) is the oldest television station in the world. ... Michael Grade CBE (born March 8, 1943) is a British businessman and a distinctive figure in the field of broadcasting. ...

Newman returned to Canada in the 1990s, and he was awarded the Order of Canada in 1991, the country's highest civilian honour. He died in 1997 of a heart attack at his home in Toronto. He had married Elizabeth McRae in 1944 — she died in 1981, and he was survived by their three daughters. The Order of Canada is Canadas highest civilian honour, with membership awarded to those who exemplify the Orders Latin motto Desiderantes meliorem patriam, which means, Desiring a better country. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Diversity Our Strength City of Toronto, Ontario, Canadas Location. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Michael Barry (born May 15, 1910; died ???) was a British television producer and executive, who was an important early influence on BBC television drama. ... Cathy Come Home, a 1966 entry into The Wednesday Play anthology series, voted the best drama and second highest programme overall in the British Film Institutes 2000 survey of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century. ... Shaun Alfred Graham Sutton OBE (born October 14, 1919 in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom; died May 14 2004 in Norfolk, England, United Kingdom) was a British television writer, director, producer and executive, who worked in the medium for nearly forty years from the 1950s to the 1990s. ...

References

• ^  Gilbert, W Stephen. Obituary: Sydney Newman – TV's feisty dramatiser. "The Guardian". Monday November 3 1997 (page 15).
• ^  Interviewed by Auger, Ian & Walker, Stephen James. "Doctor Who Magazine", issue 141. October 1988.
• ^  Hearn, Marcus. Sydney Newman Tribute. "Doctor Who Magazine", issue 260. January 14, 1998.
• ^  Howe, David J; Stammers, Mark & Walker, Stephen James. Doctor Who — The Eighties. London. Virgin Publishing. 1996. ISBN 0753501287.
• ^  Miall, Leonard. Obituary: Sydney Newman. "The Independent". Tuesday November 4 1997 (page 22).
• ^  Dunkley, Christopher. A hard act to follow. "Financial Times". Wednesday November 5 1997 (page 23).

The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ... November 3 is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 58 days remaining. ... Doctor Who Weekly #1, cover dated October 17, 1979 Doctor Who Magazine (abbreviated as DWM) is a periodical devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 14 is the 14th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7. ... Virgin Books is the book publishing arm of Virgin Enterprises, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... The Independent is a British compact newspaper published by Tony OReillys Independent News & Media. ... November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 57 days remaining. ... The Financial Times (FT) is an international business newspaper printed on distinctive salmon pink semi-broadsheet paper. ... November 5 is the 309th day of the year (310th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 56 days remaining. ...

External links

• Sydney Newman Biography
• Sydney Newman at the Internet Movie Database