Career
He went on to produce and direct a wide variety of factual programmes and documentary films, including episodes of This Week, then the Independent Television current affairs flagship and also contributed to the acclaimed World At War Series. He was one of the founding fathers of Euston Films, the film production company established by Thames Television in the early 1970s. Whilst there he produced The Sweeney, Special Branch and Quatermass Series, together with a number of theatrical and television films, as well as writing and/or directing films and series episodes for both Independent Television and the British Broadcasting Corporation. In 1984, he was appointed Controller of Drama at Central Television and, subsequently, Managing Director of Central Films.
In this dual role, he acted as executive producer on an extensive range of films and series for Independent Television. These included Inspector Morse, Soldier Soldier, Peak Practice, Sharpe, Brother Cadfael, Chancer, Gone to The Dogs, Kavanagh Queen's Counsel and Thieftakers.
Following the acquisition of Central Television by Carlton Communications, he opted to assume a freelance role. He continued to write and develop new television drama and films as an executive producer.
As such, he was responsible for the Heat Of The Sun Series, the Morse film The Wench Is Dead, the television films: Into the Blue, Goodnight Mr. Tom and The Waiting Time, together with a Kavanagh Queen's Counsel film special, the Monsignor Renard Series and The Remorseful Day, the final episode in the Morse canon.
In 2004/5 he was responsible for developing The Brief, a legal series.
He acted as executive producer on two series of The Brief. He also acted as executive producer on Lewis, a television format derived from the Morse Series. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Television Society (RTS) in 1992.
He was Chairman of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) in 1994 and 1995.
In the same year he was awarded the RTS Baird Medal for outstanding contribution to British Regional Television. In the 1997 New Year’s Honours List, he was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for services to Broadcast Television.
In July, 2015, the University of Nottingham awarded him the honorary degree of doctor of letters.