Ned Sherrin
Encyclopedia
Edward George "Ned" Sherrin CBE
(18 February 1931 – 1 October 2007) was an English
broadcaster, author and stage director. He qualified as a barrister
and then worked in independent television before joining the BBC
. He appeared in a variety of radio and television satirical shows and theatre shows, some of which he also directed.
in the Somerset Levels
, Sherrin attended Sexey's School
, in Bruton
, Somerset
. Although he read law at Exeter College, Oxford
and subsequently qualified as a barrister
, he became involved in theatre at Oxford
and joined British television at the founding of independent television in 1956, producing shows for ATV
in Birmingham
.
shows, he worked extensively in film production and television.
In 1962 he was responsible for the first satirical television series That Was The Week That Was
starring David Frost
and Millicent Martin
and its successors Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life
and BBC-3
. His other shows and films included Up Pompeii!
, Up the Front
, The Cobblers of Umbridge and The Virgin Soldiers. In 1978, he also hosted We Interrupt This Week, a lively and humorous news events quiz featuring two teams of well-known journalists and columnists sparring against one another. The show was a production of WNET/Channel 13 New York.
Sherrin produced and directed numerous theatre productions in London
's West End
, including Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell
and the landmark musical Side By Side By Sondheim
. He received an Olivier Award in 1984 for directing and conceiving The Ratepayers' Iolanthe, an adaptation by Sherrin and Alistair Beaton
of the Gilbert and Sullivan
opera Iolanthe
.
On BBC Radio 4
, from 1986, he presented a light entertainment show on Saturday mornings (latterly evenings) called Loose Ends
, and Counterpoint
, a quiz show about all types of music, until forced off the air when his voice succumbed to throat cancer.
He also toured the UK with his one man show An Evening of Theatrical Anecdotes.
Sherrin wrote two volumes of autobiography
, several books of quotation
s and anecdote
s, as well as some fiction; and several works in collaboration with Caryl Brahms
.
gay
, he was a patron of the London Gay Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Stephen Sondheim Society of Singapore up until 1995. Sherrin was awarded a CBE
in the 1997 New Year’s honours list.
He was diagnosed with unilateral vocal cord paralysis
in January 2007 and died of complications of throat cancer
on 1 October 2007, aged 76.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(18 February 1931 – 1 October 2007) was an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
broadcaster, author and stage director. He qualified as a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
and then worked in independent television before joining the 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...
. He appeared in a variety of radio and television satirical shows and theatre shows, some of which he also directed.
Early life
Born in a farming family at Low HamLow Ham
Low Ham is a village in the civil parish of High Ham in the English county of Somerset.At the time of the Domesday Book Low Ham was part of the estate of Serlo de Burcy, and was later known as Ham Burcy and Nether Ham.-Roman Villa:...
in the Somerset Levels
Somerset Levels
The Somerset Levels, or the Somerset Levels and Moors as they are less commonly but more correctly known, is a sparsely populated coastal plain and wetland area of central Somerset, South West England, between the Quantock and Mendip Hills...
, Sherrin attended Sexey's School
Sexey's School
Sexey's School is a state boarding school in Bruton, Somerset, England that also takes some day pupils from the surrounding area. Sexey's School is named after Hugh Sexey who, in 1599, was appointed as a Royal auditor to Elizabeth I and later as a Royal auditor to James I. Sexey's Hospital was...
, in Bruton
Bruton
Bruton is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated on the River Brue seven miles south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, ten miles north-west of Gillingham and twelve miles south-west of Frome in the South Somerset district. The town has a...
, 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...
. Although he read law at Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
and subsequently qualified as a barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, he became involved in theatre at Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and joined British television at the founding of independent television in 1956, producing shows for ATV
Associated TeleVision
Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
.
Career
Sherrin joined the BBC in 1957 as a temporary production assistant, then began working for them as a producer in "Television Talks" in 1963. Specialising in satiricalSatire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
shows, he worked extensively in film production and television.
In 1962 he was responsible for the first satirical television series That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was
That Was The Week That Was, also known as TW3, is a satirical television comedy programme that was shown on BBC Television in 1962 and 1963. It was devised, produced and directed by Ned Sherrin and presented by David Frost...
starring David Frost
David Frost (broadcaster)
Sir David Paradine Frost, OBE is a British journalist, comedian, writer, media personality and daytime TV game show host best known for his two decades as host of Through the Keyhole and serious interviews with various political figures, the most notable being Richard Nixon...
and Millicent Martin
Millicent Martin
Millicent Mary Lillian Martin is an English actress, singer and comedienne.Martin was born in Romford, England. She made her Broadway debut opposite Julie Andrews in The Boy Friend in 1954...
and its successors Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life
Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life
Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life is a BBC-TV satire programme produced by Ned Sherrin, which aired during the winter of 1964-1965, in an attempt to continue and improve on the successful formula of his That Was The Week That Was , which had been taken off by the BBC because of the coming...
and BBC-3
BBC-3 (TV series)
BBC-3 was a BBC television programme, devised and produced by Ned Sherrin and hosted by Robert Robinson, which aired for twenty-four hour-long editions during the winter of 1965-1966....
. His other shows and films included Up Pompeii!
Up Pompeii!
Up Pompeii! is a British television comedy series broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring Frankie Howerd. The first series was written by Talbot Rothwell, a scriptwriter for the Carry On films, and the second series by Rothwell and Sid Colin. Two later specials were transmitted in 1975 and...
, Up the Front
Up the Front
Up the Front is a 1972 British comedy film. It is the third film spin-off from the TV series Up Pompeii! , directed by Bob Kellett, it stars Frankie Howerd as Lurk , a coward who is hypnotised into...
, The Cobblers of Umbridge and The Virgin Soldiers. In 1978, he also hosted We Interrupt This Week, a lively and humorous news events quiz featuring two teams of well-known journalists and columnists sparring against one another. The show was a production of WNET/Channel 13 New York.
Sherrin produced and directed numerous theatre productions in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
, including Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell
Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell
Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell is a play by Keith Waterhouse about real-life journalist Jeffrey Bernard. Bernard was still alive at the time the play was first performed in the West End in 1989.Bernard wrote the "Low Life" column in The Spectator...
and the landmark musical Side By Side By Sondheim
Side By Side By Sondheim
Side by Side by Sondheim is a musical revue featuring the songs of Broadway and film composer Stephen Sondheim. Its title is derived from the song "Side by Side by Side" from Company.-History:...
. He received an Olivier Award in 1984 for directing and conceiving The Ratepayers' Iolanthe, an adaptation by Sherrin and Alistair Beaton
Alistair Beaton
Alistair Beaton is a Scottish left wing political satirist, journalist, radio presenter, novelist and television writer. At one point in his career he was also a speechwriter for Gordon Brown....
of the Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
opera Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
.
On BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, from 1986, he presented a light entertainment show on Saturday mornings (latterly evenings) called Loose Ends
Loose Ends (radio)
Loose Ends is a British radio programme originally broadcast on Saturday mornings, and then transmitted early Saturday evenings from 1998 by BBC Radio 4. It was hosted by Ned Sherrin until he became ill in late 2006 with a reported throat infection, and later throat cancer...
, and Counterpoint
Counterpoint (radio)
Counterpoint is a BBC Radio 4 quiz. Questions are about music, from classical, jazz, pop, musicals, and all other forms of music. It was originally hosted by Ned Sherrin...
, a quiz show about all types of music, until forced off the air when his voice succumbed to throat cancer.
He also toured the UK with his one man show An Evening of Theatrical Anecdotes.
Sherrin wrote two volumes of autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, several books of quotation
Quotation
A quotation or quote is the repetition of one expression as part of another one, particularly when the quoted expression is well-known or explicitly attributed by citation to its original source, and it is indicated by quotation marks.A quotation can also refer to the repeated use of units of any...
s and anecdote
Anecdote
An anecdote is a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always presented as based on a real incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place...
s, as well as some fiction; and several works in collaboration with Caryl Brahms
Caryl Brahms
Caryl Brahms, born Doris Caroline Abrahams was an English critic, novelist, and journalist specialising in the theatre and ballet. She also wrote film, radio and television scripts....
.
Personal life
OpenlyComing out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, he was a patron of the London Gay Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Stephen Sondheim Society of Singapore up until 1995. Sherrin was awarded a CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in the 1997 New Year’s honours list.
He was diagnosed with unilateral vocal cord paralysis
Vocal cord paresis
Vocal cord paresis is weakness of one or both vocal folds. Symptoms of paresis include hoarseness; vocal fatigue; mild to severe reduction in vocal volume; pain in the throat when speaking; shortness of breath; aspiration with frequent resultant coughing, and in extreme cases may cause death...
in January 2007 and died of complications of throat cancer
Head and neck cancer
Head and neck cancer refers to a group of biologically similar cancers that start in the upper aerodigestive tract, including the lip, oral cavity , nasal cavity , paranasal sinuses, pharynx, and larynx. 90% of head and neck cancers are squamous cell carcinomas , originating from the mucosal lining...
on 1 October 2007, aged 76.
External links
- Obituary: Ned Sherrin - The Times
- Bio at Screenonline.org.uk
- Obituary: Ned Sherrin - BBC News
- Ned Sherrin: a Tribute - BBC Radio 4
- Ned Sherrin: That Was The Life That Was - The Times
- Veteran broadcaster Ned Sherrin dies of cancer - The Telegraph
- Ned Sherrin: author and beloved broadcaster - The Telegraph
- Ned Sherrin, stalwart of Radio 4, dies aged 76 - The Independent
- Obituary and Tribute - Lastingtribute.co.uk
- Ned Sherrin, Creator of Mock News ‘Week,’ Dies at 76 - The New York Times
- Obituary: Ned Sherrin - The Guardian
- Ned Sherrin: your memories and his legacy - The Guardian
- Ned Sherrin - The Sondheim Society