Leonard Lewis
Encyclopedia
Leonard Jack Lewis was a British
producer
and director
. He was most active in television. He was the Executive/Series Producer for BBC
's EastEnders
during the early 1990s, though he had success with many other television programmes for both the BBC and ITV
. It has been said that Lewis believed in "the principles of public service broadcasting" and he has been described as a "gifted television producer with hidden directorial talents". After over 40 years working in the television industry, Lewis retired in 1995. He died in December 2005, aged 78.
in the RAF, he became an actor and worked in repertory
at the Manchester Library Theatre, Morecambe
and Ashton-under-Lyne
. He joined the BBC on a three-month holiday attachment in 1957. He worked with BBC Scotland
until 1963, when he moved to BBC London
as a staff director.
Lewis began directing and later producing for BBC television, on shows such as Z-Cars
(1965); Softly Softly
(1969–74) and Adam Adamant Lives!
(1966). In 1973 he directed and produced for the BBC's adaptation of Jack the Ripper, and he was also the executive producer
for the detective series, Barlow at Large
, and producer for Second Verdict
.
In 1976 he produced the BBC series When the Boat Comes In
, a north-east drama depicting the hard days of the twenties in the fictional town of Gallowshields. A top-rated series with a "brilliant" and "diverse" writing team, When the Boat Comes In was nominated for "Best Drama Series" at the 1976 BAFTAs, and is "fondly remembered as a poignant piece of social history". It has been said that Lewis had a "respect for text and for writers", which brought him "acclaim", but also "a personal and professional crisis" after the BBC ordered him to scrap his writing team for the next series of When the Boat Comes In. Unwilling to betray his colleagues and friends, Lewis resigned from the BBC on principle.
Lewis was "snapped up" by Yorkshire Television
, producing The Good Companions (1980) and Flambards
in 1979 — a 13-part historical drama series based on the novels by K.M. Peyton. Flambards was shown internationally to "great acclaim". He later returned to the BBC as a freelance, working on shows ranging from The Chinese Detective
(1982); Rockliffe's Babies
(1987–88); Juliet Bravo
(1981–83) and The Prisoner of Zenda
(1984) among others.
In 1990 Lewis began directing for BBC's flagship soap opera
, EastEnders
. By the end of 1991 he had been promoted to co-producer along with Helen Greaves, both taking over charge of the show following the departure of executive producer, Michael Ferguson
. Lewis and Greaves formulated a new regime for EastEndrers, giving the writers of the serial more authority in storyline progression, with the script department providing "guidance rather than prescriptive episode storylines". By the end of 1992 Helen Greaves left the serial and Lewis became executive and series producer. Among the notable storylines that aired under Lewis' tenure were, Arthur Fowler
's affair with Christine Hewitt
, Pat Butcher's drunk-driving accident, the death of Gill Fowler, Sharon Mitchell
's affair with her brother-in-law Phil Mitchell
, and the reintroduction of Cindy Beale
. Other characters introduced included, David Wicks
, Mandy Salter
, Richard Cole
, Sanjay Kapoor
, Christine Hewitt, Nigel Bates
, Natalie Price and the Jackson
family, while axings included Pete Beale
, and some of Tavernier family. Lewis decided to leave EastEnders in 1994 after the BBC controllers demanded an extra episode a week, taking its weekly airtime from 1hr (two episodes), to 1.5hrs (3 episodes). Lewis felt that producing an hour of "reasonable quality drama" a week was the maximum that any broadcasting system could generate without loss of integrity. Having set up the transition to the new schedule, the first trio of episodes — dubbed The Vic siege — marked Lewis' departure from the programme. He went on to retire completely in 1995.
, North London
, but moved to East Barnet
when he was about seven. He was educated at a local grammar school
, where he met his future wife, Jean. They married in 1950 and remained together til Lewis' death in 2005. He was a father to three daughters, Sian, Tessa and Maria.
Lewis and his wife retired to Somerset
in 1995, where he remained active despite health problems. He had a keen interest in traveling, calligraphy and ice-cream making. He was also involved with his local community—three weeks before his death, his production of She Stoops to Conquer
, for the South Petherton Drama Group, received "rave reviews". He died suddenly on 2 December 2005, aged 78.
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...
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...
and director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
. He was most active in television. He was the Executive/Series Producer for 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...
's EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
during the early 1990s, though he had success with many other television programmes for both the BBC and ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
. It has been said that Lewis believed in "the principles of public service broadcasting" and he has been described as a "gifted television producer with hidden directorial talents". After over 40 years working in the television industry, Lewis retired in 1995. He died in December 2005, aged 78.
Career
After completing National serviceNational service
National service is a common name for mandatory government service programmes . The term became common British usage during and for some years following the Second World War. Many young people spent one or more years in such programmes...
in the RAF, he became an actor and worked in repertory
Repertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
at the Manchester Library Theatre, Morecambe
Morecambe
Morecambe is a resort town and civil parish within the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. As of 2001 it has a resident population of 38,917. It faces into Morecambe Bay...
and Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne
Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. Historically a part of Lancashire, it lies on the north bank of the River Tame, on undulating land at the foothills of the Pennines...
. He joined the BBC on a three-month holiday attachment in 1957. He worked with BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
until 1963, when he moved to BBC London
BBC London
BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London and parts of the surrounding area. Its output includes the daily BBC London News and the weekly Politics Show on television, the BBC London 94.9 radio station and local coverage of the...
as a staff director.
Lewis began directing and later producing for BBC television, on shows such as Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
(1965); Softly Softly
Softly, Softly (TV series)
Softly, Softly is a British television drama series, produced by the BBC and screened on BBC 1 from January 1966. It centred around the work of regional crime squads, plain-clothes CID officers based in the fictional region of Wyvern - supposedly in the Bristol and Chepstow area of the UK...
(1969–74) and Adam Adamant Lives!
Adam Adamant Lives!
Adam Adamant Lives! is a British television series which ran from 1966 to 1967 on the BBC. Proposing that an adventurer born in 1867 had been revived from hibernation in 1966, the show was a comedy adventure that took a satirical look at life in the 1960s through the eyes of an Edwardian .- Character...
(1966). In 1973 he directed and produced for the BBC's adaptation of Jack the Ripper, and he was also the executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
for the detective series, Barlow at Large
Barlow at Large
Barlow at Large is a British television programme broadcast in the 1970s, starring Stratford Johns in the title role.Johns had previously played Barlow in the Z-Cars, Softly, Softly and Softly, Softly: Taskforce series on BBC television during the 1960s and early 1970s...
, and producer for Second Verdict
Second Verdict
Second Verdict was a six-part BBC television series from 1976, of dramatised documentaries in which classic criminal cases and unsolved crimes from history were re-appraised by fictional police officers...
.
In 1976 he produced the BBC series When the Boat Comes In
When the Boat Comes In
When the Boat Comes In is a British television period-drama produced by the BBC between 1976 and 1981.The series stars James Bolam as Jack Ford, a First World War veteran who returns to his poverty-stricken town of Gallowshield in the North East of England in the 1920s.The memorable traditional...
, a north-east drama depicting the hard days of the twenties in the fictional town of Gallowshields. A top-rated series with a "brilliant" and "diverse" writing team, When the Boat Comes In was nominated for "Best Drama Series" at the 1976 BAFTAs, and is "fondly remembered as a poignant piece of social history". It has been said that Lewis had a "respect for text and for writers", which brought him "acclaim", but also "a personal and professional crisis" after the BBC ordered him to scrap his writing team for the next series of When the Boat Comes In. Unwilling to betray his colleagues and friends, Lewis resigned from the BBC on principle.
Lewis was "snapped up" by Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
, producing The Good Companions (1980) and Flambards
Flambards (TV series)
Flambards was a television series of 13 episodes which was broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1979 and in the United States in 1980. The series was based on the three Flambards novels of English author K. M...
in 1979 — a 13-part historical drama series based on the novels by K.M. Peyton. Flambards was shown internationally to "great acclaim". He later returned to the BBC as a freelance, working on shows ranging from The Chinese Detective
The Chinese Detective
The Chinese Detective is a British television series, transmitted by the BBC between 1981 and 1982 and created by Ian Kennedy Martin, who had previously devised The Sweeney and Juliet Bravo....
(1982); Rockliffe's Babies
Rockliffe's Babies
Rockliffe's Babies was a British television drama produced by the BBC which ran for two series between 1987 and 1988. The series was devised by Richard O`Keeffe and produced by Leonard Lewis. Writers included Richard O`Keeffe, Don Webb, Charlie Humphreys and Nick Perry...
(1987–88); Juliet Bravo
Juliet Bravo
Juliet Bravo is a British television series, which ran on BBC1 between 1980 and 1985. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over control of a police station in the fictional town of Hartley in Lancashire.-Programme name:...
(1981–83) and The Prisoner of Zenda
The Prisoner of Zenda
The Prisoner of Zenda is an adventure novel by Anthony Hope, published in 1894. The king of the fictional country of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus unable to attend his own coronation. Political forces are such that in order for the king to retain his crown his...
(1984) among others.
In 1990 Lewis began directing for BBC's flagship soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
. By the end of 1991 he had been promoted to co-producer along with Helen Greaves, both taking over charge of the show following the departure of executive producer, Michael Ferguson
Michael Ferguson (director)
Michael Ferguson is a British script writer, television director and television producer. Ferguson has been described as a “long term champion of realistic popular drama”. Ferguson was executive producer of the BBC soap opera, EastEnders between 1989 and 1991...
. Lewis and Greaves formulated a new regime for EastEndrers, giving the writers of the serial more authority in storyline progression, with the script department providing "guidance rather than prescriptive episode storylines". By the end of 1992 Helen Greaves left the serial and Lewis became executive and series producer. Among the notable storylines that aired under Lewis' tenure were, Arthur Fowler
Arthur Fowler
Arthur George Fowler is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Bill Treacher.The father of the Fowler family, Arthur was essentially a good man, but he made some foolish choices and he always ended up paying dearly for them, also being bossed to the brink of insanity by...
's affair with Christine Hewitt
Christine Hewitt
Christine Hewitt is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Elizabeth Power. Introduced in 1992 as a lonely divorcée who became besotted with married Arthur Fowler while he tended her garden...
, Pat Butcher's drunk-driving accident, the death of Gill Fowler, Sharon Mitchell
Sharon Rickman
Sharon Anne Rickman is a fictional character from the popular BBC1 soap opera EastEnders, played by Letitia Dean, who was a regular cast member for the first 10 years after the programme began on 19 February 1985. She returned in May 2001, and appeared on and off, having most recently appeared in...
's affair with her brother-in-law Phil Mitchell
Phil Mitchell
Philip James "Phil" Mitchell is a long-running fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Steve McFadden.Phil first arrived in Albert Square on 20 February 1990, and was soon joined by his brother, Grant, sister Sam and mother Peggy...
, and the reintroduction of Cindy Beale
Cindy Beale
Cindy Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michelle Collins.Cindy always had an eye for the lotharios of Walford and despite trying to settle down repeatedly with the more reliable Ian Beale, she was unable to remain faithful to him. She had a selfish...
. Other characters introduced included, David Wicks
David Wicks
David Wicks is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Michael French. He originally appeared between 1993 to 1996...
, Mandy Salter
Mandy Salter
Mandy Salter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nicola Stapleton. Introduced on 12 March 1992, Mandy was portrayed as a teenage tearaway. She was featured in storylines about homelessness, child and drug abuse. Her relationship with Aidan Brosnan was one of the...
, Richard Cole
Richard Cole (EastEnders)
Richard Cole is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Ian Reddington between 1992 and 1994.-Storylines:...
, Sanjay Kapoor
Sanjay Kapoor (EastEnders)
Sanjay Kapoor is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Deepak Verma.Sanjay the market trader had an eye for the ladies and a weakness for gambling...
, Christine Hewitt, Nigel Bates
Nigel Bates
Nigel Bates is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Paul Bradley from 1992 to 1998. Introduced in 1992 by Leonard Lewis, the character was incorporated gradually and brought back as a regular following a brief stint due to a popular reception. He was depicted as a...
, Natalie Price and the Jackson
Carol Jackson
Carol Ann Jackson is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Lindsey Coulson. The character was introduced in 1993 as part of a new problem family. Coulson decided to quit the role in 1997, but she returned temporarily in 1999 as part of a storyline that marked Carol's...
family, while axings included Pete Beale
Pete Beale
Peter "Pete" Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Peter Dean. He made his first appearance in the programme's first episode, on 19 February 1985. The character was created by Tony Holland, one of the creators of EasEnders; he was based on a member of...
, and some of Tavernier family. Lewis decided to leave EastEnders in 1994 after the BBC controllers demanded an extra episode a week, taking its weekly airtime from 1hr (two episodes), to 1.5hrs (3 episodes). Lewis felt that producing an hour of "reasonable quality drama" a week was the maximum that any broadcasting system could generate without loss of integrity. Having set up the transition to the new schedule, the first trio of episodes — dubbed The Vic siege — marked Lewis' departure from the programme. He went on to retire completely in 1995.
Personal life
Lewis was born on 29 November 1927, in TottenhamTottenham
Tottenham is an area of the London Borough of Haringey, England, situated north north east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:Tottenham is believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota's hamlet became Tottenham...
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
, but moved to East Barnet
East Barnet
East Barnet is an area of North London within the London Borough of Barnet bordered by New Barnet, Cockfosters and Southgate. It is a largely residential suburb whose central area, known locally as the Village, contains a variety of shops, public houses, restaurants and services. East Barnet is...
when he was about seven. He was educated at a local grammar school
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
, where he met his future wife, Jean. They married in 1950 and remained together til Lewis' death in 2005. He was a father to three daughters, Sian, Tessa and Maria.
Lewis and his wife retired to Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
in 1995, where he remained active despite health problems. He had a keen interest in traveling, calligraphy and ice-cream making. He was also involved with his local community—three weeks before his death, his production of She Stoops to Conquer
She Stoops to Conquer
She Stoops to Conquer is a comedy by the Irish author Oliver Goldsmith, son of an Anglo-Irish vicar, first performed in London in 1773. The play is a great favourite for study by English literature and theatre classes in Britain and the United States. It is one of the few plays from the 18th...
, for the South Petherton Drama Group, received "rave reviews". He died suddenly on 2 December 2005, aged 78.
Selected filmography
- Z-Cars (1965)
- Adam Adamant Lives! (1966)
- Softly, Softly (1969–1974)
- Barlow at Large (1973)
- Jack the Ripper (1973)
- When the Boat Comes In (1976)
- Flambard (1979)
- The Good Companions (1980)
- The Chinese Detective (1982)
- Juliet Bravo (1981–83)
- Tales of the UnexpectedTales of the Unexpected (TV series)Tales of the Unexpected is a British television series originally aired between 1979 and 1988, made by Anglia Television for ITV. Filming began in 1978.The series was an anthology of different tales...
(1983) - The Prisoner of Zenda (1984)
- Brat Farrar (1986)
- Rockliffe's Babies (1987–88)
- The Franchise Affair (1988)
- EastEnders (1991–94)
- Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time (1993)
External links
- Leonard Lewis at the British Film InstituteBritish Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...