Sydney Newman
Sydney Newman | |
---|---|
Born | Sydney Cecil Nudelman[1] April 1, 1917 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Died | October 30, 1997 Toronto, Ontario, Canada | (aged 80)
Occupations |
|
Known for | Creation of The Avengers and Doctor Who |
Partner | Marion McDougall |
Awards | Order of Canada |
Sydney Cecil Newman OC (April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, Newman was appointed acting director of the Broadcast Programs Branch for the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) and then head of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). He also occupied senior positions at the Canadian Film Development Corporation and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and acted as an advisor to the Secretary of State.[2]
During his time in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, he worked first with
The Museum of Broadcast Communications describes Newman as "the most significant agent in the development of British television drama."[3] His obituary in The Guardian declared that "for ten brief but glorious years, Sydney Newman ... was the most important impresario in Britain ... His death marks not just the end of an era but the laying to rest of a whole philosophy of popular art."[4]
In
Early career in Canada
Early life and the NFB
Born in Toronto as Sydney Cecil Nudelman,[1] Newman was the son of a Russian-Jewish immigrant father who ran a shoe shop.[4][6]
After studying at Ogden Public School, which he left at the age of thirteen, he later enrolled in the
In 1938, he travelled to Hollywood, where he was offered a role with the
During the Second World War the head of the NFB, John Grierson, promoted Newman to film producer, working on documentaries and propaganda films, including Fighting Norway, which he directed. In 1944, he was made executive producer of Canada Carries On, a long-running series of such films.[7]
In 1949, the NFB invited him into television, then a new industry, on a one-year attachment to
CBC Television
One of Newman's reports on
Writing in 1990, the journalist Paul Rutherford felt that during his time at the CBC in the 1950s, Newman had been a "great champion of both realistic and Canadian drama."[12] He felt that Newman "came to fulfil the role of the drama impresario with the vision to push people to develop a high-quality and popular style of drama."[12]
Several of the General Motors Theatre plays, including Hailey's
ABC Weekend TV and ITV
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.[4] 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 reminisced to interviewers in 1988. "The only legitimate theatre was of the 'anyone for tennis' variety, which on the whole gave a condescending 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!'"[14]
Newman's principal tool for shaking up this established order was a programme which had been initiated before he had arrived at ABC, Armchair Theatre.[3] This anthology series was networked nationally across the ITV regions on Sunday evenings, and in 1959 was in the top ten of the ratings for 32 out of the 37 weeks it was broadcast, with audiences of over 12 million viewers.[8] 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 Charles Jarrott and Ted Kotcheff.[3] Writing in 2000, the television historian John Caughie stated that "Newman's insistence that the series would use only original material written for television made Armchair Theatre a decisive moment in the history of British television drama."[15]
In 1960 Newman devised a thriller series for ABC called
Newman's great success at ABC had been noted by the
BBC
Arrival and impact
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, although still substantially less than he had been paid at ABC.
In 1964 he and Kenneth Adam 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 by the likes of Dennis Potter, Jeremy Sandford and Ken Loach.[21] The strand attracted comment and debate for several of its productions, such as Cathy Come Home, a Tony Garnett production of a Jeremy Sandford script, which dealt with the issue of homelessness.[21] There were also problems caused by Newman bringing in freelance directors to work on the programme, who sometimes overspent on their plays to try and increase their impact; with staff directors this could be compensated by reducing the budget of a subsequent production, but for a freelancer there would be no such recourse.[20]
Shaun Sutton was one of the drama producers who worked under Newman at the BBC, and later succeeded the Canadian as Head of Drama. He later wrote that Newman "galvanised television drama ... [He created] a climate in which boldness paid."[22] In contrast, Don Taylor, who was a director in the drama department at the time, later claimed that he felt Newman was unsuited to the position of Head of Drama, writing: "To put it brutally, I was deeply offended that the premier position in television drama, at a time when it really was the National Theatre of the Air, had been given to a man whose values were entirely commercial, and who had no more than a layman's knowledge of the English theatrical tradition, let alone the drama of Europe and the wider world."[23]
Newman's biography at the Museum of Broadcast Communications website points out that much of the work Newman is credited for at the BBC was little different from that which had been undertaken by his predecessor Michael Barry, who "also attracted new young original writers ... and hired young directors ... However, it was the newness and innovation which Newman encouraged in his drama output that is most significant: his concentration on the potential of television as television, for a mass not a middlebrow audience."[3] The academic Madeleine Macmurraugh-Kavanagh has criticised some of the eulogistic views of Newman's time at the BBC, writing that: "When archive and press material emanating from the 1964–65 period is examined, an interesting gap appears between what Newman seemed likely to accomplish and what he finally did accomplish ... Also relevant to the mythology that has sprung up around Newman is the fact that his favoured dramatic material was interpreted by some as being rather less radical than it seemed."[24]
Doctor Who
In 1963 he initiated the creation of the science fiction television series Doctor Who.[25] The series has been described by the British Film Institute as having "created a phenomenon unlike any other British TV programme",[25] and by The Times newspaper as "quintessential to being British".[26] 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."[14]
When Controller of BBC Television
After the series had been conceived, Newman initially approached Don Taylor[31] and then Shaun Sutton[32] 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 she readily accepted his offer. As Lambert became the youngest—and only female—drama producer at the BBC,[33] there were some doubts as to Newman's choice, but she became a success in the role. Even Newman clashed with her on occasion, however, particularly over the inclusion of the alien Dalek creatures on the programme.[34] Newman had not wanted any "bug-eyed monsters" in the show,[35] but he was placated when the creatures became a great success.[36]
In the 2007 Doctor Who episode "
Other work and departure
Newman also had success with more traditional BBC fare such as the
However, the British film industry was entering a period of decline, and none of Newman's projects ever went into production. ABPC was taken over by
Return to Canada
Chairman of the NFB
His first post upon returning to his home country was an advisory position with the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) in Ottawa, where he battled Canada's private broadcasters, especially CTV, over new Canadian content regulations.[10] This lasted for only a few months, before in August 1970 he became the new Government Film Commissioner, the Chairman of the National Film Board of Canada, returning to the same institution for which he had worked in the 1940s.[10] In this role, he experienced considerable problems in Quebec resulting from the fact that he did not speak French, at a time when the NFB's French Program branch was attracting young Quebec nationalist filmmakers.[5][10] Some staff members also felt that he had been away from the NFB for too long,[5] while the filmmaker Denys Arcand felt that Newman did not understand Quebec culture.[10]
Newman was able to improve the NFB's relations with broadcaster CBC, securing prime time television slots for several productions,
Newman had a mixed record with French-language films. He defended Pierre Perrault's Un pays sans bon sens! to a committee of parliament in 1971,[43] but the same year personally rejected the release of Michel Brault's film about the October Crisis, Orders (Les Ordres).[43] This was despite the fact that the film had already been approved by the board's French-language committee, and it was not eventually released until Brault personally released it in 1974.[43]
Newman himself had been regarded as a possible terrorist abduction target during the October Crisis, and armed guards had patrolled the headquarters of the NFB.[5] Newman was concerned about the idea of releasing films with Quebec nationalist themes, such as Groulx's 24 heures ou plus, at such a tense political time, worried about what the Canadian public would think.[44] Although it was Newman's deputy André Lamy who in some cases drew the monolingual Newman's attention to the controversial nature of French language productions, it was Lamy himself who later permitted the release of some of these same films after he succeeded Newman as Government Film Commissioner.[45]
When Newman's contract with the NFB came to an end in 1975, it was not renewed.[10] Film historian Gerald Pratley claims that by this point, the NFB was "an almost-forgotten institution" due to "the stupor that had overtaken it."[46] The writer Richard Collins felt that "the very experiences that enabled [Newman] to recognize the nature of the NFB's problem and the need for a change of diction and reorientation to the tastes of Canadians had left him out of touch with Canada."[47] For his part, Newman felt that the NFB's French program had not made enough effort to communicate with people in English Canada or to make films that were relevant to "the ordinary men, who have no particular axe to grind."[48]
Newman went on to become a Special Advisor on Film to the Secretary of State,[7] and from 1978 until 1984 he was Chief Creative Consultant to the Canadian Film Development Corporation.[7]
Later years
Newman was awarded the Order of Canada in 1981, the country's highest civilian honour.[20] Shortly thereafter he returned to live in Britain again for some time following the death in 1981 of his wife Elizabeth McRae, to whom he had been married since 1944.[20][49] His main reason for going back to the UK was to attempt, unsuccessfully, to produce a drama series about the Bloomsbury Group for the new Channel 4 network.[20]
In 1986, the then Controller of BBC One, Michael Grade, unhappy with the current state of Doctor Who, wrote to Newman to enquire whether he had any ideas for reformatting the series, which was at the time struggling in the ratings and with its star Colin Baker about to be fired by Grade. On 6 October 1986, Newman wrote back to Grade with a suggestion that he take direct control of the series as executive producer, that Patrick Troughton should return to the role of the Doctor for a season, and then regenerate into a female, with Newman suggesting either Joanna Lumley, Dawn French or Frances de la Tour to succeed Troughton. Grade then suggested that Newman meet the current Head of Drama, Jonathan Powell, for lunch to discuss the Canadian's ideas. Newman and Powell did not get on well, however, and nothing came of their meeting.[50] Newman was also unsuccessful in an attempt to have his name added to the end credits of the show as its creator. Acting Head of Series & Serials Ken Riddington, to whom Newman's request had been referred, wrote to him that "Heads of Department who originate programmes have to be satisfied with the other rewards that flow from doing so."[50]
Newman returned to Canada again in the 1990s, where he died of a heart attack in Toronto in 1997, aged 80.[20] At the time of his death, his partner was Marion McDougall.[49]
Legacy
In September 2003, a version of Newman played by actor Ian Brooker appeared in the straight-to-CD
For the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who in 2013, BBC television commissioned a dramatisation of the events surrounding the creation of the series, entitled An Adventure in Space and Time and written by Mark Gatiss. Newman was portrayed by Scottish actor Brian Cox.[53]
A biography of Newman by Ryan Danes, titled The Man Who Thought Outside the Box, was released in April 2017 by Digital Entropy Publishing.[54]
Notes
- ^ a b Burk, Graeme (April 2017). "Who created Doctor Who?". Doctor Who Magazine (510). Panini Comics: 65.
- ^ "Sydney Newman". NFB Profiles. National Film Board of Canada. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
- ^ a b c d Jacobs, Jason. "Newman, Sydney". Museum of Broadcast Communications. Archived from the original on March 2, 2006. Retrieved January 22, 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Gilbert, W Stephen (November 3, 1997). "Obituary: Sydney Newman – TV's feisty dramatiser". The Guardian. p. 15.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8020-6833-0.
- ^ "Sydney Newman". Canadian Film Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Vahimagi, Tise. "Newman, Sydney (1917–1997)". Screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
- ^ a b c d "Sydney Newman: Obituary". The Times. November 1, 1997. p. 25.
- ^ ISBN 0-7735-1365-5.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Bradburn, Jamie (July 11, 2009). "Historicist: The Adventures of Sydney Newman". Torontoist.com. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
- ^ Patskou, Paul (August 2007). "CFL – The Television Years". Canadian Communications Foundation. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ^ ISBN 0-8020-6647-X.
- ^ Nelson, James (April 7, 1975). "Viewers Should Tell CBC What They Like: Hirsch". Ottawa Citizen. p. 2.
- ^ a b Cook, Benjamin (January 12, 2006). "Chaos and Creation in the Junkyard". Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition. In Their Own Words (12). Panini Comics: 5.
- ISBN 0-19-874218-5.
- ^ a b Clark, Anthony. "Police Surgeon (1960)". Screenonline. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ^ a b Clark, Anthony. "Avengers, The (1961–69)". Screenonline. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ^ Luckett, Moya. "The Avengers". Museum of Broadcast Communications. Archived from the original on December 4, 2010. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ^ Howe, Stammers, Walker; p. 162 and p. 164
- ^ a b c d e f g Miall, Leonard (November 4, 1997). "Obituary: Sydney Newman". The Independent. London. p. 22. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
- ^ a b Wake, Oliver. "Wednesday Play, The (1964–70)". Screenonline. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ISBN 0-563-20011-1.
- ISBN 0-413-61510-3.
- ISBN 1-86064-683-2.
- ^ a b Clark, Anthony. "Doctor Who (1963–89, 2005–)". Screenonline. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ^ Moran, Caitlin (June 30, 2007). "Doctor Who is simply masterful". The Times. London. p. 4. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ^ Howe, Stammers, Walker; p. 166
- ^ Howe, Stammers, Walker; pp. 171–72
- ^ Howe, Stammers, Walker; p. 173
- ISBN 978-1-77041-304-7.
- ^ Hearn, Marcus (December 22, 1993). "The Dawn of Knowledge". Doctor Who Magazine (207). Marvel UK: 8–18.
- ^ a b c d Hearn, Marcus (January 14, 1998). "A Cross Between Genghis Khan and a Pussy Cat". Doctor Who Magazine (260). Panini Comics: 26–31.
- ^ Griffiths, Peter (January 17, 1996). "Maiden Voyage". Doctor Who Magazine (234). Marvel UK: 4–9.
- ^ Hayward, Anthony (November 26, 2007). "Verity Lambert". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on November 27, 2007. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ^ Griffiths, Nick (April 2008). "Tribute to Verity Lambert". Radio Times. Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ^ "Doctor Who (before the Tardis)". BBC. November 19, 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ^ Writer – Paul Cornell; Producer – Susie Liggat; Director – Charles Palmer (May 26, 2007). "Human Nature". Doctor Who. Cardiff. BBC One.
- ^ Crompton, Sarah (March 27, 2002). "Granada's Grand Undertaking". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
- ISBN 0-87413-194-4.
- ^ a b McIntosh, Andrew (June 30, 2005). "Sydney Newman". The Film Reference Library. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved January 25, 2010.
- ^ ISBN 0-7190-5861-9.
- ISBN 0-253-31282-5.
- ^ ISBN 0-7190-6396-5.
- ^ "1972". National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
- ^ "1976". National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
- ISBN 0-87413-194-4.
- ISBN 0-8020-6772-7.
- ^ "Ferment at the National Film Board". Cinema Canada: 10.
- ^ doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/68398. Retrieved January 26, 2010. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ ISBN 0-7535-0128-7.
- ^ "Deadline". Big Finish Productions. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
- ^ a b "Doctor Who Unbound – Deadline". Doctor Who Reviews. Archived from the original on April 3, 2013. Retrieved February 16, 2013.
- ^ "Doctor Who: Mark Gatiss reveals casting for An Adventure in Space and Time". Radio Times. January 29, 2013. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
- ^ "The Man Who Thought Outside the Box".
References
- Danes, Ryan The Man Who Thought Outside the Box: The Life and Times of Doctor Who Creator Sydney Newman. ISBN 978-0993094217
- ISBN 0-426-20430-1.
- Dunkley, Christopher. A hard act to follow. "Financial Times." Wednesday November 5, 1997 (page 23).