...BBC producer/director Stewart Morris, who, despite all the stress, somehow made it to 78 before his death in 2009. An Old Wykehamist who turned down a place at Oxford in order to get on with life, his big break came in 1958 when he was asked to produce Drumbeat, the BBC's answer to Jack Good's ITV pop show, Oh Boy! Drumbeat proved a dud, but Morris's next assignment - Juke Box Jury - certainly didn't, and he spent the next 34 years turning out light entertainment shows for the BBC. According to a 2009 obituary in The Independent:
"...every programme with Morris was a rollercoaster ride, as artists and technicians knew he was a big, powerful man who was quick to criticise faults, although he handed out praise and was a wonderful drinking companion when it was all over."
Hilarious. My favourite bit is "Keep the DG in for Christ's sake". I'm not sure it was worth all that stress. No amount of getting the roller back or cueing the revolve could compensate for the fact that the song was a turkey, as was the Eurovision Song Contest.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Ex-KCS, it is always uplifting to witness a professional at the top of his game, a heart surgeon performing an operation perhaps, deftly weaving his magic.
Delete