Christopher Parsons
Christopher Parsons OBE | |
---|---|
Born | Christopher Eugene Parsons 23 August 1932 |
Died | 8 November 2002 Littleton-upon-Severn, Gloucestershire, England | (aged 70)
Nationality | English |
Education | Mount Radford School |
Alma mater | University College of the South West of England |
Occupations |
|
Known for | Head of the BBC Natural History Unit |
Christopher Eugene Parsons
Film-making career
After obtaining a degree in science from the
In 1957 he was one of the founding members of the
Parsons accompanied his friend
When Attenborough began commissioning ambitious landmark documentary series for BBC Two on subjects as diverse as science, economics and art history, Parsons decided that natural history would make an ideal subject for such a venture, and drafted the synopsis of a 13-part series he called Life on Earth.[5] In 1970, he travelled to London to persuade Attenborough to present the series, only to discover that both of them had had the same idea. Financing and filming challenges delayed production, and it was not until 1979 that Life on Earth finally reached the screen. The series drew widespread acclaim and helped to establish the reputation of the Natural History Unit. When it was rewarded with departmental status in 1979, Parsons became the first official Head of the Unit (previous leaders were called senior producers).[6]
In 1982, he received an award for programme excellence from the Royal Television Society and was appointed OBE for his outstanding services to broadcasting.[7] The same year, his history of the first 25 years of the Natural History Unit, True to Nature, was published. After stepping down from his role as Head in 1983, he was appointed to develop commercial opportunities for the BBC by utilising the growing library of archive natural history footage. He set up Wildvision to sell re-packaged programmes and videos internationally, and helped to establish BBC Wildlife magazine in 1983.[6]
Parsons left the BBC in 1988 to return to film production, making for large-format films for museums, zoos and aquaria. In the 1990s he produced a number of IMAX nature documentaries, working with the IMAX Natural History Film Unit and West Eagle Films. These included Mountain Gorillas (1992), The Secret of Life on Earth (1992) and Survival Island (1996), the latter a second collaboration with David Attenborough.[6] His final film was a millennium project about his home village of Littleton-upon-Severn in Gloucestershire.[1]
Other projects
In 1982, Parsons and Peter Scott co-founded the
From 1995 to 2000 he was a Director of Wildscreen, overseeing the building of
His final project was a long-standing passion to establish an electronic database of all the world's species, first mooted in the early 1980s before the necessary technology was available.[10] The resulting website, ARKive, went live in May 2003.[11][12] Parsons never lived to see the fruition of the project, succumbing to cancer in November 2002 at the age of 70. In 2003, the World Land Trust, of which he had been a Trustee,[13] dedicated a rainforest reserve in Ecuador in his memory.[14]
Film and TV credits
The following is a list of Parsons's main productions:[15]
- The Unknown Forest (1960) – producer
- The Major (1963) – producer
- Two in the Bush (1962) – producer
- Unarmed Hunters (1964) – producer
- Look (1955–1964) – editor and producer
- A Bull Named Marius (1966) – producer
- Catch Me A Colobus (1966) – producer
- Animal People (1967) – producer
- The Man Who Loved Giants (1971) – producer
- Animals in Action (1973) – producer
- Their World (1973) – presenter and producer
- The World About Us (1968–1976) – series editor
- Life on Earth (1979) – executive producer
- Mountain Gorillas (IMAX) (1992) – producer
- The Secret of Life on Earth (IMAX) (1994) – producer
- Survival Island (IMAX) (1996) – producer
References
- ^ a b Paine, Barry (14 November 2002). "Obituary: Christopher Parsons". The Guardian.
- ^ "TV shows make 'influential' list". BBC News. 23 July 2004.
- ^ "Life on Earth: The Infinite Variety (1979)". WildFilmHistory. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
- ^ a b "Wildscreen History". wildscreen.org.uk. Archived from the original on 8 September 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
- ^ a b c "Obituaries: Chris Parsons". The Daily Telegraph. 26 November 2002.
- ^ a b c d "UWE Awards Honorary Degree to Christopher Parsons OBE". UWE press office. 13 November 2001.
- ^ a b c "Christopher Parsons profile". WildFilmHistory. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
- ^ "Sir David Attenborough visits Wildscreen at-Bristol for the first time". at-Bristol press release. 10 August 1998. Archived from the original on 23 February 2001. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
- ^ Jury, Louise (1 August 1999). "A Bug's Life: now for the sequel". The Independent.
- ^ Gilchrist, Jim (17 May 2003). "The animals came in bit by byte". The Scotsman.
- ^ "Digital Noah's Ark launched". BBC News. 20 May 2003.
- ^ "About ARKive: Wildscreen". ARKive.org. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
- ^ Burton, John. "Christopher Parsons 1932-2002". World Land Trust. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
- ^ "Rainforest Saved in Memory of Christopher Parsons". World Land Trust. Archived from the original on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
- ^ "Christopher Parsons filmography". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2009.