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Head of Drama: The Memoir of Sydney Newman
The memoir of the creator of Doctor Who and a legend in British and Canadian TV and film
A major influence on the BBC and independent television in Britain in the 1960s, as well as on CBC and the National Film Board in Canada, Sydney Newman acted as head of drama at a key period in the history of television. For the first time, his comprehensive memoirs — written in the years before his death in 1997 — are being made public.
Born to a poor Jewish family in the tenements of Queen Street in Toronto, Newman’s artistic talent got him a job at the NFB under John Grierson. He then became one of the first producers at CBC TV before heading overseas to the U.K. where he revitalized drama programming. Harold Pinter and Alun Owen were playwrights whom Newman nurtured, and their contemporary, socially conscious plays were successful, both artistically and commercially. At the BBC, overseeing a staff of 400, he developed a science fiction show that flourishes to this day: Doctor Who.
Providing further context to Newman’s memoir is an in-depth biographical essay by Graeme Burk, which positions Newman’s legacy in the history of television, and an afterword by one of Sydney’s daughters, Deirdre Newman.
A major influence on the BBC and independent television in Britain in the 1960s, as well as on CBC and the National Film Board in Canada, Sydney Newman acted as head of drama at a key period in the history of television. For the first time, his comprehensive memoirs — written in the years before his death in 1997 — are being made public.
Born to a poor Jewish family in the tenements of Queen Street in Toronto, Newman’s artistic talent got him a job at the NFB under John Grierson. He then became one of the first producers at CBC TV before heading overseas to the U.K. where he revitalized drama programming. Harold Pinter and Alun Owen were playwrights whom Newman nurtured, and their contemporary, socially conscious plays were successful, both artistically and commercially. At the BBC, overseeing a staff of 400, he developed a science fiction show that flourishes to this day: Doctor Who.
Providing further context to Newman’s memoir is an in-depth biographical essay by Graeme Burk, which positions Newman’s legacy in the history of television, and an afterword by one of Sydney’s daughters, Deirdre Newman.
592 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 6, 2017
If, to paraphrase JFK, success has a hundred fathers and failure is an orphan, it should be no surprise to discover that ‘Doctor Who’ is normally credited with three creators: Sydney Newman, the then Head of BBC Drama; C. E. Webber, a BBC staff writer; and Donald Wilson, who as BBC Head of Serials helped Webber co-write the first format document for the programme.
If forced to say which of this trio was first among equals that position would have to be accorded to Newman, as without his vision and drive the project would never have come to fruition. ‘Doctor Who’ was, however, merely one highlight in Newman’s extraordinarily influential career in both Canadian and British broadcasting and film.
The scope of Newman’s achievement is reinforced by reading his detailed memoirs which have been published for the first time as ‘Head of Drama. The Memoir of Sydney Newman’ with contributions by (author of multiple ‘Doctor Who’ books) Graeme Burk.
In fact this really comprises two books for the price of one (together with a Foreword by Ted Kotcheff and an Afterword by Newman’s eldest daughter Deirdre). In the first ‘book’, over the course of twenty chapters, Newman details his life from his birth in 1917, into a poor Jewish family in Toronto, to his moving back to Canada in 1970. In the second ‘book’, rather awkwardly entitled ‘From the Saturday Serial, to the Wednesday Play, to the October Crisis, and Beyond’, Burk spends thirteen chapters covering much of the material Newman either omitted or skipped over lightly, beginning with Newman joining the BBC but taking the story up to Newman’s return to Britain as an independent producer in the 1980s.
Although he deprecatingly refers to his memoirs as “a mass of verbiage” and “what appears to be a rubbishly written book”, in fact Newman writes in an engaging and candid manner not only about himself but also about many of the famous people whose paths he crossed in the course of his professional career, including John Grierson, Norman McLaren, Eleanor Roosevelt, Basil Rathbone, Arthur Hailey, Ted Willis, Alun Owen and Harold Pinter.
Newman’s background in documentary film-making attracted him to the theatrical trend towards greater realism and led to his playing a major role in revolutionizing television drama, first at ABC with ‘Armchair Theatre’ and then at the BBC with the ‘Wednesday Play’, highlights of which included Ken Loach’s ‘Up the Junction’ (1965) and ‘Cathy Come Home’ (1966). Nor should one overlook Newman’s gift for devising popular drama series – not only evidenced by ‘Doctor Who’ but by ‘The Avengers’ during his time at ABC (although ‘Adam Adamant Lives!’ was a rare flop). It was thus Newman who presided over what is commonly regarded as British television drama’s ‘golden age’ and as such his importance for 1960s British TV is rivalled only by that of Sir Hugh Carleton Greene as the BBC’s Director General.
Fans of ‘Doctor Who’ will definitely want to read this book but it should also be of considerable interest to all those who watched TV in the 1960s or have discovered its delights since.
If forced to say which of this trio was first among equals that position would have to be accorded to Newman, as without his vision and drive the project would never have come to fruition. ‘Doctor Who’ was, however, merely one highlight in Newman’s extraordinarily influential career in both Canadian and British broadcasting and film.
The scope of Newman’s achievement is reinforced by reading his detailed memoirs which have been published for the first time as ‘Head of Drama. The Memoir of Sydney Newman’ with contributions by (author of multiple ‘Doctor Who’ books) Graeme Burk.
In fact this really comprises two books for the price of one (together with a Foreword by Ted Kotcheff and an Afterword by Newman’s eldest daughter Deirdre). In the first ‘book’, over the course of twenty chapters, Newman details his life from his birth in 1917, into a poor Jewish family in Toronto, to his moving back to Canada in 1970. In the second ‘book’, rather awkwardly entitled ‘From the Saturday Serial, to the Wednesday Play, to the October Crisis, and Beyond’, Burk spends thirteen chapters covering much of the material Newman either omitted or skipped over lightly, beginning with Newman joining the BBC but taking the story up to Newman’s return to Britain as an independent producer in the 1980s.
Although he deprecatingly refers to his memoirs as “a mass of verbiage” and “what appears to be a rubbishly written book”, in fact Newman writes in an engaging and candid manner not only about himself but also about many of the famous people whose paths he crossed in the course of his professional career, including John Grierson, Norman McLaren, Eleanor Roosevelt, Basil Rathbone, Arthur Hailey, Ted Willis, Alun Owen and Harold Pinter.
Newman’s background in documentary film-making attracted him to the theatrical trend towards greater realism and led to his playing a major role in revolutionizing television drama, first at ABC with ‘Armchair Theatre’ and then at the BBC with the ‘Wednesday Play’, highlights of which included Ken Loach’s ‘Up the Junction’ (1965) and ‘Cathy Come Home’ (1966). Nor should one overlook Newman’s gift for devising popular drama series – not only evidenced by ‘Doctor Who’ but by ‘The Avengers’ during his time at ABC (although ‘Adam Adamant Lives!’ was a rare flop). It was thus Newman who presided over what is commonly regarded as British television drama’s ‘golden age’ and as such his importance for 1960s British TV is rivalled only by that of Sir Hugh Carleton Greene as the BBC’s Director General.
Fans of ‘Doctor Who’ will definitely want to read this book but it should also be of considerable interest to all those who watched TV in the 1960s or have discovered its delights since.
October 13, 2017
When the publisher of this book contacted me to ask if I'd like to edit the memoir of the man who created Doctor Who, I was thrilled to be able to work on the book. And when I started reading it, I was fascinated by this man who was SO much more than just that. This is the memoir of Sydney Newman, written in the years before he died, and giving us an incredible journey into the art scene in Toronto in the early years of the NFB, heading to England in the 1950s where he developed shows for the BBC, and telling the story from his point of view of where shows like Doctor Who and The Avengers originated. Graeme Burk, noted Doctor Who expert and co-author of several books on the world's longest-running sci-fi show, has written an extensive 30,000-word essay at the end of the book that contextualizes Newman within the greater scope of television in the 1950s and 1960s while also filling in the years that are missing at the end of the book, and Burk reveals hitherto-unknown facts about the genesis of some of the greatest TV shows of all time, and what went on behind the scenes that Newman didn't mention in the book. It also contains an essay by Deirdre Newman, Sydney Newman's daughter, giving us a different angle of this man that is candid, revealing, yet loving. This is a look at a complicated and brilliant man, while taking us back to a completely different era of television and pop culture. It's a fantastic read, not only for fans of Doctor Who, but TV in general.
August 29, 2017
Thank you to the publishers for providing an ARC of the book through NetGalley.
I really liked this biography of Sydney Newman. I knew of Newman through Doctor Who, but this book shows his other accomplishments, especially during his time as Head of BBC Drama. It was well written, and enjoyable and informative. Well worth a read, especially for Doctor Who fans.
I really liked this biography of Sydney Newman. I knew of Newman through Doctor Who, but this book shows his other accomplishments, especially during his time as Head of BBC Drama. It was well written, and enjoyable and informative. Well worth a read, especially for Doctor Who fans.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews