Betty Willingale
Encyclopedia
Betty Willingale is a British
television producer
, formerly a script editor
, who is best known for her work on BBC
TV drama adaptations of classic literature.
She was a BBC script editor from the 1960s and worked on key BBC drama series and serials including North and South
(1975) and I, Claudius
(1976). She went on to form a strong working partnership with producer Jonathan Powell, script editing many of Powell's most successful drama serials including the hit adaptations of A Christmas Carol
(1977), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
(1979), The Barchester Chronicles
(1982) and The Old Men at the Zoo
(1983).
She was eventually given the chance to produce an adaptation of Mansfield Park
(BBC 1983), later producing adaptations of Tender Is the Night
(1985), Bleak House
(1985) and Fortunes of War
(1987), the latter two earned her BAFTA
nominations.
She continues to work as a Consultant Producer on the ITV detective drama Midsomer Murders
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
, formerly a script editor
Script editor
A script editor is a member of the production team of scripted television programmes, usually dramas and comedies. The script editor has many responsibilities including finding new script writers, developing storyline and series ideas with writers, ensuring that scripts are suitable for production...
, who is best known for her work on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
TV drama adaptations of classic literature.
She was a BBC script editor from the 1960s and worked on key BBC drama series and serials including North and South
North and South
North and South may refer to:Literature*North and South , novel by Elizabeth Gaskell*North and South , series of novels by John Jakes**North and South , first novel in the series...
(1975) and I, Claudius
I, Claudius (TV series)
I, Claudius is a 1976 BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves' I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Written by Jack Pulman, it proved one of the corporation's most successful drama serials of all time...
(1976). She went on to form a strong working partnership with producer Jonathan Powell, script editing many of Powell's most successful drama serials including the hit adaptations of A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
(1977), Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a 1974 British spy novel by John le Carré, featuring George Smiley. Smiley is a middle-aged, taciturn, perspicacious intelligence expert in forced retirement. He is recalled to hunt down a Soviet mole in the "Circus", the highest echelon of the Secret Intelligence...
(1979), The Barchester Chronicles
The Barchester Chronicles
The Barchester Chronicles is a 1982 British television serial produced by the BBC. It is an adaptation of Anthony Trollope's first two Barchester novels, The Warden and Barchester Towers, and was directed by David Giles...
(1982) and The Old Men at the Zoo
The Old Men at the Zoo
The Old Men at the Zoo is a novel written by Angus Wilson, first published in 1961 by Secker and Warburg, and by Penguin books in 1964. It was adapted into a 1983 BBC Television serial by scriptwriter Troy Kennedy Martin.-Cast:...
(1983).
She was eventually given the chance to produce an adaptation of Mansfield Park
Mansfield Park (1983 TV serial)
Mansfield Park is a 1983 British television drama serial, made by the BBC, and adapted from Jane Austen's novel of the same name, originally published in 1814. The serial was the first screen adaptation of the novel...
(BBC 1983), later producing adaptations of Tender Is the Night
Tender is the Night
Tender Is the Night is a novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. It was his fourth and final completed novel, and was first published in Scribner's Magazine between January-April, 1934 in four issues...
(1985), Bleak House
Bleak House (1985 TV serial)
Bleak House was the second adaptation by the BBC of the Charles Dickens novel of the same name. The novel was adapted by Arthur Hopcraft....
(1985) and Fortunes of War
Fortunes of War (tv series)
Fortunes of War is a 1987 BBC television adaptation of Olivia Manning's cycle of novels Fortunes of War. It stars Kenneth Branagh as Guy Pringle, lecturer in English Literature in Bucharest during the early part of the Second World War, and Emma Thompson as his wife Harriet...
(1987), the latter two earned her BAFTA
British Academy Television Awards
The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . They have been awarded annually since 1954, and are analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States.-Background:...
nominations.
She continues to work as a Consultant Producer on the ITV detective drama Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
.