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Photo of Sydney Newman

Sydney Newman

Producer, Director, Editor, Additional Credits
Born April 1, 1917Died October 30, 1997 (80 years)
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.

During his time in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, he worked first with the Associated British Corporation (ABC, now Thames Television), before moving across to the BBC in 1962, holding the role of Head of Drama with both organisations. During this phase of his career, he was responsible for initiating two hugely popular television programmes, the spy-fi series The Avengers and the science-fiction series Doctor Who, as well as overseeing the production of groundbreaking social realist drama series such as Armchair Theatre and The Wednesday Play.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications describes Newman as "the most significant agent in the development of British television drama." 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."

In Quebec, as commissioner of the NFB, he attracted controversy for his decision to suppress distribution of several politically sensitive films by French Canadian directors.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movies & Shows on Plex
  • The Avengers
Known For
  • Doctor Who (2005)
  • The Avengers
  • Doctor Who
  • The Avengers

Filmography

1983
Utilities · as Associate Producer
1965
1963
First Night (TV Series) · as Executive Producer
1962
Out of This World (TV Series)
1961
1960
1960
1960
Counter-Attack (TV Series)
1960
BBC Sunday-Night Play (TV Series) · as Executive Producer
1959
1956
Armchair Theatre (TV Series)
1952
1951
Eye Witness No. 30 · as Executive Producer
1951
Eye Witness No. 33 · as Executive Producer
1951
1951
1951
1949
1949
1949
1948
1947
1947
1947
1945
1944
1943

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