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 FridayÌýÌýÌý16:00-16:30
SundayÌý20:30-21:00Ìý(rpt)
Radio 4's weekly obituaries programme |
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This week |
FridayÌý05thÌýOctober 2007
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Ned Sherrin
Broadcaster, writer and director.ÌýÌý
Ned Sherrin’s career embraced satire with 'That Was The Week That Was', theatre as writer, director and performer broadcasting on both TV and radio – and a life as a wit, raconteur and bon viveur.Ìý
He began lifeÌýin the unlikely surroundings of the family farm in Somerset.Ìý After National Service, Ned Sherrin read law at Exeter College Oxford. He was preparing for a career as a barrister when a chance encounter with a fellow graduate led to a job at the newly founded commercial television company ATV. After a couple of years, Sherrin moved to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ where he worked on the Tonight programme with Cliff Mitchelmore, Fyfe Robertson and Alan Whicker.
In the early 1960s, Ned created 'That Was The Week That Was' – bringing satire to television for the first time. The bright young things assembled by Sherrin for TW3 included the 24 year old David Frost, the journalist Bernard Levin, the singer Millicent Martin and Willie Rushton from Private Eye magazine. The programme repeatedly caused friction between the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and the politicians it targetted, but quickly attracted audiences of ten million.
After it’s demise, Ned Sherrin produced other satirical programmes for TV, but his first love was always the theatre. He formed a creative partnership with the writer Caryl Brahms who was thirty years his senior. Together they produced three novels, 15 radio plays, five stage plays and six musicals.
In 1985, Radio 4 was looking for a programme to add lustre to its Saturday morning schedule, and the show which SherrinÌýwent on to presentÌýfor over 20 years was born:ÌýLoose Ends. Ìý
Matthew Bannister talks to his manager Deke Arlon,ÌýfirstÌýproducer of Loose Ends, Ian Gardhouse, and the composerÌýStephen Sondheim.
Ned SherrinÌýwas born February 18th 1931 and died October 1stÌý2007, aged 76
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Joe Mitty
Oxfam’s first paid employee who created the charity shop concept as a way of raising funds.
When Tony Blair presented Joe Mitty with a lifetime achievement award, he said that if things had been different, Joe could have been a multi-millionaire. But Joe wasn’t interested in making money for himself, instead he devoted his entrepreneurial skills to building up charity shops for Oxfam – starting at their very first shop in Oxford in 1949. When JoeÌýMitty arrived as Oxfam’s first paid employee the shop was takingÌý£500Ìýa year. Three years later, under Joe’s leadership, turnover had gone up to £10,000. In nearly forty years with the charity, Joe Mitty presided over the expansion of the chain of high street Oxfam shops. Today there are more than 750 and it is estimated they’ve raised £500 million for the charity’s work.
Matthew Bannister talks to former Oxfam Director General, Brian Walker.
Joe Mitty was born on May 7, 1919. He died on September 30, 2007, aged 88.
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Ronnie Hazelhurst
Musician and television theme tune composer.
If you watched any of the great TV comedy series of the 1970s and 80s there was a good chance that the signature tune was written by Ronnie Hazelhurst. From 'Are You Being Served' to 'Yes Minister' and from 'Only Fools and Horses' to 'The Two Ronnies', Ronnie Hazelhurst created the catchy, often jaunty themes that can still instantly conjure up images of those classic programmes. Born in Cheshire, heÌýleft school at the age of fourteen and took a job as a clerk in a cotton mill, but he was also playing the trumpet in a band and soon became a professional musician. In 1961 he joined the ´óÏó´«Ã½ as a staff arranger, rising to become Light Enterntainment Musical Director. He was alsoÌýclosely involved with the Eurovision Song Contest and conducted the UK entry on seven occasions.
Matthew Bannister talks to the composer Carl Davis who is a huge admirer of Ronnie Hazelhurst's work.
Ronnie Hazelhurst was bornÌýMarch 13th 1928 and died OctoberÌý1st 2007 aged 79.
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Tony Ryan
Businessman and founder of low cost airline, Ryanair.
Tony Ryan was the businessman who put Ireland at the forefront of the global aviation business and founded the no frills airline Ryanair. The son of a train driver from County Tipperary, he was just eighteen years old when his father died, leaving him as the main breadwinner of the family. Instead of going to university, he took a job as a management trainee at the national airline Aer Lingus. In 1974, he decided to branch out on his own, investingÌý£5000 of his own money in an aircraft leasing company called Guinness Peat Aviation – or GPA. The company started with a second hand Boeing 737 – but by 1991 it had a turnover of more thanÌýtwo billion dollars. But in 1992, the company faced a spectacular collapse when a planned flotation failed and its value plummeted. It was eventually sold to General Electric in the year 2000. By contrast, the low cost airline Ryanair – started by Tony Ryan with two partners in 1986 – showed steady growth. It really took off when Ryan appointed Michael O’Leary as Chief Executive and is now Europe’s largest budget airline.
Matthew Bannister talks to the former Irish politician Peter Sutherland, whoÌýwas a director of GPA and friend of Tony Ryan.
Tony Ryan was born February 2nd 1936 and died October 3rd 2007 aged 71.Ìý
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