Overview

The memoir of the creator of Doctor Who and a legend in British and Canadian TV and film A major influence on the BBC and independent television in Britain in the 1960s, as well as on CBC and the National Film Board in Canada, Sydney Newman acted as head of drama at a key period in the history of television. For the first time, his comprehensive memoirs — written in the years before his death in 1997 — are being made public. Born to a poor Jewish family in the tenements of Queen Street in Toronto, Newman’s artistic talent got him a job at the NFB under John Grierson. He then became one of the first producers at CBC TV before heading overseas to the U.K. where he revitalized drama programming. Harold Pinter and Alun Owen were playwrights whom Newman nurtured, and their contemporary, socially conscious plays were successful, both artistically and commercially. At the BBC, overseeing a staff of 400, he developed a science fiction show that flourishes to this day: Doctor Who. Providing further context to Newman’s memoir is an in-depth biographical essay by Graeme Burk, which positions Newman’s legacy in the history of television, and an afterword by one of Sydney’s daughters, Deirdre Newman.

Full Product Details

Author:   Sydney Newman ,  Graeme Burk ,  Ted Kotcheff
Publisher:   ECW Press,Canada
Imprint:   ECW Press,Canada
Edition:   No Edition
ISBN:  

9781770413047

ISBN 10:   1770413049
Pages:   592
Publication Date:   05 September 2017
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Foreword by Ted Kotcheff // vii Head of Drama by Sydney Newman CHAPTER 1 His Unknown Queen Street // 3 CHAPTER 2 His Dreaded Three R’s // 12 CHAPTER 3 His Sinful Saturdays // 20 CHAPTER 4 My Father of the Doorstep // 32 CHAPTER 5 Nudes, Made Easy // 41 CHAPTER 6 Greetings, Comrade // 54 CHAPTER 7 Love and Other Discoveries // 62 CHAPTER 8 Hello, Hollywood! // 70 CHAPTER 9 Home, At Last // 89 CHAPTER 10 On Board the Film Board // 102 CHAPTER 11 Love + Art = NFB // 134 CHAPTER 12 TV — Friend or Foe? // 159 CHAPTER 13 Television, Here I Come! // 187 CHAPTER 14 Among Jarvis Street Virgins // 206 CHAPTER 15 The Play’s the Thing . . . ? // 232 CHAPTER 16 Land of Hope and Glory // 276 CHAPTER 17 ABC, The Avengers Until . . . ! // 323 CHAPTER 18 That Was the BBC that Was // 350 CHAPTER 19 In the Sprocket Hole // 391 CHAPTER 20 His Life Laid Out . . . Why? // 416 From the Saturday Serial, to the Wednesday Play, to the October Crisis, and Beyond by Graeme Burk CHAPTER 1 November 23, 1962 // 426 CHAPTER 2 An Outsider at the BBC // 429 CHAPTER 3 The Saturday Serial // 433 CHAPTER 4 “Mr. Who?” // 440 CHAPTER 5 Point of Crisis // 460 CHAPTER 6 “Agitational Contemporaneity” // 471 CHAPTER 7 Return of the Prodigal // 483 CHAPTER 8 “Le Boss Unilingue” // 488 CHAPTER 9 One Piece of Advice in Ten Being Taken // 507 CHAPTER 10 Yesterday’s Man // 514 CHAPTER 11 Marked by Letdowns // 518 CHAPTER 12 “Who created Dr. Who?” // 523 CHAPTER 13 Unfulfilled // 536 Notes on Sources // 541 Afterword by Deirdre Newman // 553 Acknowledgements // 560 Index // 561

Reviews

The most influential person in television in the `60s, someone who made an incalculable contribution to British culture. He was truly a great man. - Ted Kotcheff, from the foreword

-The most influential person in television in the '60s, someone who made an incalculable contribution to British culture. He was truly a great man.- -- Ted Kotcheff, from the foreword

The most influential person in television in the '60s, someone who made an incalculable contribution to British culture. He was truly a great man. -- Ted Kotcheff, from the foreword

Author Information

Sydney Newman received the Order of Canada in 1991. Graeme Burk is the author of three books on Doctor Who; he lives in Ottawa, Ontario. Ted Kotcheff is the author of Director’s Cut, a memoir of his life directing more than 50 television shows and 20 films; he lives in Los Angeles, California.

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