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. She was a ground-breaker for women in British television, being the first female producer of an important drama series and later becoming one of the most powerful women in the industry. November 27 is the 331st day (332nd on leap years) of the year. ... 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... St. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area  - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 1st UK 49,138,831 377/km² Ethnicity... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... In the entertainment industry, a producer is generally in charge of, or helps to coordinate, the financial, legal, administrative, technological, and artistic aspects of a production. ... A broadcast of the long-running and popular British science-fiction series Doctor Who. ... List of Doctor Who serials Doctor Who audio releases Doctor Who spin-offs - includes a discussion of the many novelisations and original novels based on the series History of Doctor Who The Doctor (Doctor Who) List of supporting characters in Doctor Who, including villains and aliens List of robots in... The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was formed in 1927 by means of a royal charter. ... 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ...

Early career in independent television

Lambert was educated at Roedean School and later studied for a time at the Sorbonne in Paris. She entered the television industry in 1956 when she joined Granada Television as a secretary working in the company's press office. She later moved to ABC Television, where she became a Production Assistant, working for Canadian producer Sydney Newman on the popular anthology drama series Armchair Theatre. One notable incident during her time on Armchair Theatre occurred during the live transmission of the hour-long play Underground on November 28, 1958, when actor Gareth Jones unexpectedly died during production. Lambert had to take control of directing the cameras from the studio gallery as director William Kotcheff hastily re-wrote the script to accommodate the loss. The Sorbonne, Paris, in a 17th century engraving The Sorbonne today, from the same point of view La Sorbonne was the name of the former University of Paris, in Paris, France, one among the most ancient in Europe. ... The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... 1956 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Granada TV logo, used from 1956 to 1968. ... 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. ... Sydney Newman (April 1, 1917 - October 30, 1997) was a film and television producer, and was responsible for creating and overseeing numerous popular British television shows of the 1960s, including The Avengers, Doctor Who, The Wednesday Play and The Forsyte Saga. ... Armchair Theatre was a British television drama anthology series, which ran on the ITV network from 1956 until 1969 in its original form, and was intermittently resurrected at various points during the 1970s. ... November 28 is the 332nd day (333rd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1958 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 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. ...

In 1961 Lambert spent some time on sabbatical from ABC, working as the personal assistant to American television producer David Susskind in New York. In December 1962, Sydney Newman had left ABC permanently to take up the position of Head of Drama at BBC Television, and the following year Lambert joined him at the Corporation when he recruited her to produce a new educational science-fiction adventure serial for children which he personally had initiated the creation of: the serial was called Doctor Who. Concerning the adventures of a crotchety old man who travels through space and time in a machine larger on the inside than the out with his sometimes unwilling travelling companions, the programme was a risk, and in some quarters not expected to last longer than thirteen weeks. 1961 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Midtown Manhattan, looking north from the Empire State Building, 2005 New York City (officially named the City of New York) is the most populous city in the United States, and is at the center of international finance, politics, communications, music, fashion, and culture. ... 1962 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which began in 1936. ... List of Doctor Who serials Doctor Who audio releases Doctor Who spin-offs - includes a discussion of the many novelisations and original novels based on the series History of Doctor Who The Doctor (Doctor Who) List of supporting characters in Doctor Who, including villains and aliens List of robots in...

BBC career

When Lambert arrived at the BBC in June 1963, she was the drama department's only female and youngest producer. Newman's contemporaries had less faith in her than he did and she was initially given a more experienced associate producer, Mervyn Pinfield, to assist her. However, she soon proved her capabilities, with her immediate superior - Head of Serials Donald Wilson - eventually admitting that she clearly knew the series far better than he did and he would no longer interfere in her decisions after the success of the Daleks, who appeared in a script Wilson had strongly advised against her using. 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mervyn Pinfield was a British Television producer and director working for the BBC during the 1960s. ... 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. ... ...

Doctor Who debuted on November 23, 1963 and quickly became a huge popular success for the BBC, and did a great deal to establish Lambert's reputation as a producer of popular drama. She oversaw the first two seasons of the programme, eventually leaving in 1965 to move onto another BBC show, the soap opera-style drama The Newcomers. In 1966 she switched back to more fantasy-orientated television when she became the producer of another programme Newman had created, the swashbuckling action / adventure series Adam Adamant Lives!. Further productions for the BBC included a season of the crime drama Detective (1968-69) and a twenty-six part series of adaptations of the stories of William Somerset Maugham (1969). One of the more obscure ways in which she was credited on BBC television during this time was in Monty Python’s 1969 sketch "Buying a Bed", which features two shop assistants called Mr. Verity and Mr. Lambert, named after her. November 23 is the 327th day of the year (328th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 38 days remaining. ... 1963 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (link goes to calendar). ... The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... The Newcomers was a late 1960s BBC soap opera which dealt with the subject of a London family, the Coopers, who moved to a housing estate in the fictional country town of Angleton. ... 1966 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. ... 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. ... 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... W. Somerset Maugham as photographed in 1934 by Carl Van Vechten. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Monty Pythons Flying Circus (aka Flying Circus or MPFC, known during the fourth season as Monty Python) was the popular BBC sketch comedy show from Monty Python. ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ...

In 1969, she left the staff of the BBC to join London Weekend Television, where she produced Budgie (1971-72) and Between the Wars (1973). In 1974 she returned to the BBC on a freelance basis to produce Shoulder to Shoulder, a series of six 75-minute plays about the suffragette movement of the early 20th century. Now known as ITV London (Weekends) London Weekend Television logo, 1978-1996 London Weekend Television Limited (LWT) is the ITV contractor for London, Friday 5:15pm to Monday, 5:59am. ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... 1973 was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... Suffragette with banner, Washington DC, 1918 The title of suffragette was given to members of the womens suffrage movement in the United Kingdom and United States, particularly in the years prior to World War I. The name was the Womens Social and Political Union (founded in 1903). ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

Thames Television and Euston Films

Later the same year, she joined the staff of Thames Television as their Head of Drama. During her time in this position, she oversaw several high-profile and successful contributions to the ITV network, including The Naked Civil Servant, Rumpole of the Bailey, Rock Follies and Edward and Mrs Simpson. In 1976 she had additionally been made responsible for overseeing the work of Euston Films, Thames' subsidiary film production company, at the time best known as the producers of The Sweeney. In 1979 she transferred to Euston full time as the company's Chief Executive, overseeing productions such as Quatermass (1979) and Minder (1979-94). The classic Thames Television logo (1969 - 1989), featuring a geographically incorrect montage of London landmarks. ... 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. ... The Naked Civil Servant is an autobiographical book by the gay icon Quentin Crisp and a TV movie based on the book. ... Rumpole of the Bailey is a television series created and written by British writer John Mortimer, QC and starring Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients. ... Rock Follies, and its sequel, Rock Follies of 77, was an innovative and groundbreaking comedy musical drama shown on British television in the mid 1970s. ... 1976 is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Euston Films was a British film and television production company. ... The Sweeney is a British television police drama focusing on two crime-fighting members of the Flying Squad, an elite branch of the British police force specialising in armed robbery and violent crime. ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ... The cover of the 2002 UK DVD release of the serial. ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ... Minder was a British comedy drama, made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television, and shown on ITV, that ran in ten series from 1979 to 1994. ... 1979 is a common year starting on Monday. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

She remained as Chief Executive of Euston Films until late 1983, in 1982 also rejoining the staff of parent company Thames Television as Director of Drama, and being given a seat on the company's board. In November 1982 however she left Thames (although remained at Euston until November the following year) to take up her first post in the film industry, as Director of Production for Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment. Her job here was somewhat frustrating as the British film industry was in one of its periodic states of flux, but she did manage to produce some noteworthy features, perhaps the best remembered being the 1986 John Cleese vehicle Clockwise. 1983 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A board of directors is a group of individuals chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company. ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed Film is a term that encompasses motion pictures as individual projects, as well as the field in general. ... The EMI Group is a major record label, based in Hammersmith, London, in the United Kingdom and with operations in over 25 other countries. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Cleese as Q in Die Another Day. ... Clockwise is a 1986 British comedy film starring John Cleese. ...

Cinema Verity

In late 1985 she had left Thorn EMI, frustrated at the lack of success and at restructuring measures being undertaken by the company, and established her own independent production company, Cinema Verity. Cinema Verity's first production was the 1988 feature film A Cry in the Dark, starring Sam Neill and Meryl Streep and based on the real life infamous 'dingo baby' case in Australia. Lambert herself produced the picture, and the following year Cinema Verity made its first significant mark in television when the sitcom May to December began its run on BBC ONE, eventually running for five years until 1994. 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cinema Verity is a British independent television and film production company, founded in 1986 by Verity Lambert, a well-known and highly successful television producer, who named the company after herself and as a pun on the expression cinéma vérité. The companys first major venture was the... 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Cry in the Dark (US and Europe title) or Evil Angels (Australian title) is a film based on the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain, a 10 week old child who went missing from a campground near Uluru (Ayers Rock) on August 17 1980. ... Sam Neill (born September 14, 1947) is an actor best known for his film and television performances. ... Streep in Silkwood (1983) Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress who has received numerous accolades for her work in movies and television and who, from the 1980s to the present day, has been regarded as one of the best in her field. ... A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... BBC One (or BBC1 as it was formerly styled) is the oldest television station in the United Kingdom, and indeed, the world. ... 1994 was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

During the 1990s, notable Cinema Verity productions included soap opera Eldorado, a co-production with the BBC set in a British expatriat community in Spain, which was critically mauled and lasted only a year from 1992 to 1993. Rather more successfully, Cinema Verity produced Alan Bleasdale's hard-hitting drama serial G.B.H. for Channel 4 in 1991, winning much acclaim and several awards. Lambert also attempted during the early 1990s to win the rights to independently produce Doctor Who for the BBC, although she was unsuccesful in this as the Corporation was tied up in negotiations with producer Philip Segal in the United States. More recent productions from the company have included The Cazalets (BBC ONE, 2001), co-produced by actress Joanna Lumley, whose idea it was to adapt the novels by Elizabeth Jane Howard. // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of Our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... Eldorado is a British soap opera that aired for only one year, from 6 July 1992 to 2 July 1993. ... 1992 is a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Alan Bleasdale (born March 23, 1946 in Liverpool, England, UK) is a British television dramatist, best known for several powerful social drama serials based around the lives of ordinary people. ... G.B.H. was a seven-part British television drama written by Alan Bleasdale, made by independent production company Cinema Verity and shown in the summer of 1991 on Channel 4. ... Channel 4 is a television broadcaster in the United Kingdom (see British television). ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events and trends The 1990s are generally classified as having moved slightly away from the more conservative 1980s, but keeping the same mind-set. ... Philip David Segal was born in Essex, England in the 1958. ... 2001 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Joanna Lumley and David McCallum as Sapphire & Steel. ... Elizabeth Jane Howard is an English novelist. ...

Lambert has also continued to work as a freelance producer outside of her own company, having produced the popular BBC One comedy / drama series Jonathan Creek by writer David Renwick ever since taking over the role for its second season in 1998. She has since produced eighteen episodes of the programme across four short seasons, plus two Christmas Specials. The most recent batch of episodes aired in early 2004, and at least one further season is expected at some point in the future. BBC One (or BBC1 as it was formerly styled) is the oldest television station in the United Kingdom, and indeed, the world. ... Jonathan Creek is a mystery television series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. ... David Renwick (born September 4, 1951 in Luton, Bedfordshire, UK) is a British television writer, best known for creation of the sitcom One Foot in the Grave and the mystery series Jonathan Creek He initially worked in a team with writing partner Andrew Marshall, the pair of them providing material... 1998 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 2002, she was awarded the Order of the British Empire for her services to television. 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in decreasing order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand...

External links

• Verity Lambert at the Internet Movie Database
• Biography on the British Film Institute's Screenonline website
• Video interview at the BBC.co.uk Jonathan Creek site (requires RealPlayer)
• Museum of Broadcast Communications encyclopedia entry
• Encyclopedia of Fantastic Film and Television entry