Beryl Vertue's guest appearances

Beryl Vertue

Desert Island Discs

Arts & Ideas

Last Word

Desert Island Discs: Archive 2011-2015

Hilary Devey

Fidel Castro

Val McDermid

Chris Packham

Roger Graef

Murray Walker

Charles Jencks

Howard Jacobson

Steven Pinker

Wendy Beckett

John Barton

Terry Wogan

David Jones

Philip French

Margaret Rhodes

OwlTail

Phil Harvey

Flavio Carboni

Matthew Bannister onBeryl Vertue, the TV and film producer who brought us 'Men Behaving Badly' and 'Sherlock'. The actors Martin Clunes and Martin Freeman pay tribute.Flavio Carboni, the Italian wheeler dealer who was at the centre of many legal and political mysteries, including the death of the Vatican banker Roberto Calvi.Phil Harvey, the American businessman who set up a chain of sex shops to fund the provision of birth control to millions of people in the developing world.Lata Mangeshkar, who was seen as one of India’s most influential singers. She recorded songs in thirty six Indian languages.Producer: Neil George Interviewed guest: Simon NyeInterviewed guest: Martin ClunesInterviewed guest: Martin FreemanInterviewed guest: Philip Willan Interviewed guest: Simona ZecchiInterviewed guest: Christopher PurdyInterviewed guest: Anil SinananArchive clips used: BBC RADIO 3, Free Thinking 09/06/2021; Thames TV/Hartswood Films, Men Behaving Badly S01 E01 18/02/1992; BBC/Hartswood Films, Men Behaving Badly S06 E01 06/11/1997; BBC/Hartswood Films, Sherlock 2010; BBC RADIO 4, Desert Island Discs 20/01/2013; YouTube, Italian Dinner Party 2010; BBC ONE, PANORAMA: Called To Account 20/12/1982; BBC NEWS, Report on Roberto Calvi 06/10/2005; BBC NEWS, Bomb Explosion in Bologna 03/08/1980; DKT International, Phil Harvey: Pioneer of Social Marketing 28/09/2015; YouTube/Telly TalkIndia, Lata Mangeshkar Funeral 07/02/2022.

Matthew Bannister onBeryl Vertue, the TV and film producer who brought us 'Men Behaving Badly' and 'Sherlock'. The actors Martin Clunes and Martin Freeman pay tribute.Flavio Carboni, the Italian wheeler dealer who was at the centre of many legal and political mysteries, including the death of the Vatican banker Roberto Calvi.Phil Harvey, the American businessman who set up a chain of sex shops to fund the provision of birth control to millions of people in the developing world.Lata Mangeshkar, who was seen as one of India’s most influential singers. She recorded songs in thirty six Indian languages.Producer: Neil George Interviewed guest: Simon Nye Interviewed guest: Martin Clunes Interviewed guest: Martin Freeman Interviewed guest: Philip Willan Interviewed guest: Simona Zecchi Interviewed guest: Christopher Purdy Interviewed guest: Anil SinananArchive clips used: BBC RADIO 3, Free Thinking 09/06/2021; Thames TV/Hartswood Films, Men Behaving Badly S01 E01 18/02/1992; BBC/Hartswood Films, Men Behaving Badly S06 E01 06/11/1997; BBC/Hartswood Films, Sherlock 2010; BBC RADIO 4, Desert Island Discs 20/01/2013; YouTube, Italian Dinner Party 2010; BBC ONE, PANORAMA: Called To Account 20/12/1982; BBC NEWS, Report on Roberto Calvi 06/10/2005; BBC NEWS, Bomb Explosion in Bologna 03/08/1980; DKT International, Phil Harvey: Pioneer of Social Marketing 28/09/2015; YouTube/Telly TalkIndia, Lata Mangeshkar Funeral 07/02/2022.

Beryl Vertue CBE (pictured), Flavio Carboni, Phil Harvey, Lata Mangeshkar

From Frankie Howerd to Sherlock: Beryl Vertue is the producer of some classic TV shows including Men Behaving Badly. She took Steptoe and Son to America, negotiated for writer Terry Nation to retain some of the rights for his Dr Who Daleks creation, and back when she began in the 1960s, worked with a Who's Who of comedy writing talent at Associated London Scripts as well as representing Tony Hancock and Frankie Howerd as their agent.  As chairman of the family firm Hartswood Films, her more recent projects have included revamping Dracula and Sherlock for TV. She discusses the successes and failures she has had in her six decade career with Matthew Sweet and shares with him what it was like working with Ken Russell and Tina Turner on Tommy and what she thinks makes a good deal.Producer: Torquil MacLeodYou can find other conversations about classic TV in the Free Thinking archives includingQuatermass: Nigel Kneale's groundbreaking 1950s TV sci-fi series with Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat, Una McCormack , Claire Langhamer and Matthew Kneale https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b03yThe Goodies: Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, and Bill Oddie talk to Matthew Sweet about how humour changes and the targets of their TV comedy show which ran during the '70s and early '80s https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000hcbBritish TV and film producer Tony Garnett talks to Matthew Sweet about a career which encompassed the Wednesday Play for the BBC, This Life and Undercover.https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07h6r8l

From Frankie Howerd to Sherlock: Beryl Vertue is the producer of some classic TV shows including Men Behaving Badly. She took Steptoe and Son to America, negotiated for writer Terry Nation to retain some of the rights for his Dr Who Daleks creation, and back when she began in the 1960s, worked with a Who's Who of comedy writing talent at Associated London Scripts as well as representing Tony Hancock and Frankie Howerd as their agent. As chairman of the family firm Hartswood Films, her more recent projects have included revamping Dracula and Sherlock for TV. She discusses the successes and failures she has had in her six decade career with Matthew Sweet and shares with him what it was like working with Ken Russell and Tina Turner on Tommy and what she thinks makes a good deal. Producer: Torquil MacLeod You can find other conversations about classic TV in the Free Thinking archives including Quatermass: Nigel Kneale's groundbreaking 1950s TV sci-fi series with Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat, Una McCormack , Claire Langhamer and Matthew Kneale <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b03y" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b03y</a> The Goodies: Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden, and Bill Oddie talk to Matthew Sweet about how humour changes and the targets of their TV comedy show which ran during the '70s and early '80s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000hcb" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0000hcb</a> British TV and film producer Tony Garnett talks to Matthew Sweet about a career which encompassed the Wednesday Play for the BBC, This Life and Undercover. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07h6r8l" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07h6r8l</a>

TV producer Beryl Vertue is Kirsty Young's castaway on Desert Island Discs.In the famously fickle world of telly where last year's hero is this year's zero she has stood the test of time. Indeed in TV circles the noun "vertuosity" is defined as "the ability to make enormously successful sitcoms for British television and then sell the formats to the American market".The cast list of her working life is a who's who of quality broadcasting and includes Jack Lemmon, Galton &amp; Simpson, Frankie Howerd, Jack Nicholson and most recently Benedict Cumberbatch.She started out typing Goon Show scripts in the mid 50s, accidentally became an agent, and as a producer she has risen to the very top of her industry, with hits including the rock musical Tommy, the sit-com Men Behaving Badly and the drama series Sherlock.She says "it's terribly important not to know too many rules. If you know rules and obstacles you spend a lot of time dealing with them. If you don't know there's a rule you just do it."Producer: Alison Hughes.

TV producer Beryl Vertue is Kirsty Young's castaway on Desert Island Discs. In the famously fickle world of telly where last year's hero is this year's zero she has stood the test of time. Indeed in TV circles the noun "vertuosity" is defined as "the ability to make enormously successful sitcoms for British television and then sell the formats to the American market". The cast list of her working life is a who's who of quality broadcasting and includes Jack Lemmon, Galton &amp; Simpson, Frankie Howerd, Jack Nicholson and most recently Benedict Cumberbatch. She started out typing Goon Show scripts in the mid 50s, accidentally became an agent, and as a producer she has risen to the very top of her industry, with hits including the rock musical Tommy, the sit-com Men Behaving Badly and the drama series Sherlock. She says "it's terribly important not to know too many rules. If you know rules and obstacles you spend a lot of time dealing with them. If you don't know there's a rule you just do it." Producer: Alison Hughes.