Charles Denton (born 20 December 1937) is a British film and television producer and executive.

Early career

He first worked for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

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freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

Richard Marquand Richard Alfred Marquand (22 September 1937 – 4 September 1987) was a British film and television director active in both US and UK film productions, best known for directing 1983's ''Return of the Jedi''. He also directed the critically accla ...

John Pilger John Richard Pilger (; born 9 October 1939) is an Australian journalist, writer, scholar, and documentary filmmaker. He has been mainly based in Britain since 1962. He was also once visiting professor at Cornell University in New York. Pilger ...

World in Action ''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its producti ...

ATV, Central and Zenith

ATV

Denton came under extreme political and diplomatic pressure from both the British and Saudi governments both before and after ATV part-financed and produced the drama-documentary ''

Death of a Princess ''Death of a Princess'' is a British 1980 drama-documentary produced by ATV in cooperation with WGBH in the United States. The drama is based on the true story of Princess Mishaal, a young Saudi Arabian princess and her lover who had been pu ...

'' shown on 9 April 1980. The British ambassador to Saudi Arabia was requested to leave the country, and remained away from his post for several months. In 1981, he sacked

Noele Gordon Joan Noele Gordon (25 December 1919 – 14 April 1985) was an English actress and television presenter. She played the role of Meg Mortimer (originally Richardson) in the long-running British soap opera '' Crossroads'' from 1964 to 1981, wit ...

star of the soap opera ''

Crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...

'', a decision which antagonised viewers: "'I got excrement through the post'", he once said.Sue Summer
"Hired to make drama out of a crisis"
''The Independent'', 21 July 1993 As an act of revenge Gordon sang a 'love song' to him at the ATV End of Year Party. In the 1982 franchise round, the ITV Midlands broadcaster ATV turned into

Central Independent Television ITV Central, previously known as Central Independent Television, Carlton Central, ITV1 for Central England and commonly referred to as simply Central, is the Independent Television franchisee for the Midlands. It was created following the rest ...

, with Denton remaining in his post. He is an admirer of his former ATV boss,

Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 ...

: "'Those times of meeting Lew in his office at 6.30am and watching him eat his grapefruit were among the happiest working days of my life ... ATV lost its franchise because it was too populist, but Lew would be sensationally right for ITV now.'" Towards the end of the 1970s, Denton had begun working in the film industry, becoming the managing director of Black Lion Films, also a Grade company. The most notable film he worked on during this time was ''

The Long Good Friday ''The Long Good Friday'' is a 1980 British gangster film directed by John Mackenzie from a screenplay by Barrie Keeffe, starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren. Set in London, the storyline weaves together events and concerns of the late 1970s, ...

'' (1980), starring

Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor. His work included lead roles in films and television series such as '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Long Good Friday'' (1980), ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), ''Who ...

, but the film was unappreciated by Denton's superiors, and was sold to

HandMade Films HandMade Films was a British film production and distribution company. Notable films from the studio include ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'', ''Time Bandits'', ''The Long Good Friday'' and ''Withnail and I''. History Foundation HandMade Fil ...

becoming their second successful film. In 1984 Denton left Central to become chief executive of

Zenith Productions Zenith Productions (later Zenith Entertainment) was a British independent film and television production company. Zenith created content for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and UKTV, including a number of series such as ''Inspector Morse'' for ITV ...

, which was initially financed by Central as one of its programme-making subsidiaries, and partly intended to become involved in the revival of the British film industry which had resulted from

Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service i ...

's investment in films intended for a brief circuit release before a first television screening as part of its regular Film on 4 seasons. Zenith produced a number of successful feature film including ''

Personal Services ''Personal Services'' is a 1987 British comedy film directed by Terry Jones and written by David Leland, about the rise of a madam of a suburban brothel which caters to older men. The story is inspired by the real experiences of Cynthia Payne, ...

'' and ''

Wish You Were Here Wish You Were Here may refer to: Film, television, and theater Film * ''Wish You Were Here'' (1987 film), a British comedy-drama film by David Leland * ''Wish You Were Here'' (2012 film), an Australian drama/mystery film by Kieran Darcy-Smith ...

''. It was sold to

Carlton Television Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Televi ...

in 1989 with Denton remaining in his post.

Later career

In 1993, Carlton sold Zenith and Denton left to re-join the BBC in the role as Head of Drama; by then dramas shot on videotape using the multi-camera technique were largely restricted to soap operas. Denton's time at BBC Drama coincided with some flops, such as the expensive ''Rhodes'' (1996) receiving a negative press, but some critical and popular successes such as the adaptation of ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...

'' (1995) with

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...

as Mr Darcy.Paul Fiel
"Shock waves set to hit quality of radio"
''The Independent'', 8 June 1996 He left the Head of Drama post in 1996, reportedly in protest at the changes carried through by the Corporation's Director General at the time,

John Birt John Birt, Baron Birt (born 10 December 1944) is a British television executive and businessman. He is a former Director-General (1992–2000) of the BBC. After a successful career in commercial television, initially at Granada Television an ...

, with Denton complaining of Birt's "'Orwellian'" regime at the BBC. Denton was a member of the

Arts Council of England The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...

during 1996–1999 and worked for a time for BBC Films. He is a fellow of the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

and of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

References

External links

Biography on UK Film Council site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denton, Charles 1937 births BBC executives British television producers British film producers Living people