Derrick John Goodwin (6 July 1935 – April 2022)Derrick Goodwin obituary
/ref> was an English

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

, writer and producer.

Biography

Early life

Goodwin was born in London and educated at St Mary's School, Hendon (now St Mary's and St John's Church of England School) and the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

. He had a BA in music (Hons) and undertook national service in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

Career

Goodwin began his career in stage management. He was an assistant director at the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

. Goodwin founded The Living Theatre company with

Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty ('' Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessn ...

Jill Gascoine Jill Viola Gascoine (11 April 1937 – 28 April 2020) was an English actress and novelist. She portrayed Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes in the 1980s television series '' The Gentle Touch'' and its spin-off series '' C.A.T.S. Eyes''. In the ...

and Brian Grellis, converting an old school in Leicester into a 200-seat open stage theatre. After two years, the building was needed for a new road scheme. A new theatre was built for their use by the city council, but the company never moved into it. Goodwin directed over a hundred theatre productions including plays by Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett, John Osborne, Anton Chekhov and several of his own plays, including four plays for children. Goodwin returned to the Royal Court to assist

David William David William (24 June 1926 – 28 July 2010) was a British Canadian actor and director. He was born Bryan David Williams in London, the only child of Eric Williams and Olwen Roose. His family was London-based wine merchants. He was educated ...

in the production of

Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...

's ''Naked'' and then was invited to become assistant director at the Open Air Theatre

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

. He was then appointed Artistic Director of the

Dundee Repertory Theatre Dundee Repertory Theatre, better known simply as the Dundee Rep, is a theatre and arts company in the city of Dundee, Scotland. It operates as both a producing house - staging at least six of its own productions each year, and a receiving house ...

. After two years at Dundee he was invited by David William to become his Associate Director at the

Citizens Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and is based in Glasgow, Scotland as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and has also included various ...

, Glasgow, mainly being responsible for the new Close Theatre Club which was also run by the Citizens' theatre board. He was then appointed Artistic Director of the

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

Arts Theatre. John Neville was about to become Artistic Director of the new Nottingham Playhouse, he also wanted to re-open the

Newcastle Playhouse Northern Stage is a theatre and producing theatre company based in Newcastle upon Tyne. It is surrounded by Newcastle University's city centre campus on King's Walk, opposite the students' union building. It hosts various local, national and int ...

and asked Goodwin to become its director. When John Neville decided to leave the Nottingham Playhouse, Goodwin also resigned and joined the

BBC television drama BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importa ...

department, where he directed episodes of ''

Thirty-Minute Theatre ''Thirty-Minute Theatre'' was a British anthology drama series of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, which was used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short running length, and which t ...

'' and ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debut ...

''. He then became a freelancer and with

Rodney Bewes Rodney Bewes (27 November 1937 – 21 November 2017) was an English television actor and writer who portrayed Bob Ferris in the BBC television sitcom ''The Likely Lads'' (1964–66) and its colour sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'' ...

co-wrote and directed several series of '' Dear Mother...Love Albert''. He directed the tour of ''

My Fat Friend ''My Fat Friend'' is a play by Charles Laurence. Plot The comedy is an ugly duckling tale about an overweight young woman who attracts the attention of a potential suitor. With the help of her friends/roommates, she undergoes a diet and exercis ...

'' for

Michael Codron Sir Michael Victor Codron (born 8 June 1930) is a British theatre producer, known for his productions of the early work of Harold Pinter, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Simon Gray and Tom Stoppard. He has been honoured with a Laurence Olivi ...

Ltd and the tour of '' Relatively Speaking'' for the

Oxford Playhouse Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F.G.M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road, North Oxfo ...

. In television, Goodwin was involved in producing and directing many series of both drama and situation comedy. In drama, his directing credits included ''

New Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London' ...

'', ''

Within These Walls ''Within These Walls'' is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison. Unlike later women-in-prison TV series, ...

'' and the '' Doctor Who'' serial '' The Invisible Enemy''. In comedy, he co-wrote, with Sid Green, the series '' Mixed Blessings'', which he also produced and directed. He directed and produced '' Thick as Thieves'', written by

Dick Clement Dick Clement (born 5 September 1937) is an English writer, director and producer. He became known for his writing partnership with Ian La Frenais for television series including '' The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?' ...

and

Ian La Frenais Ian La Frenais (born 7 January 1937) is an English writer best known for his creative partnership with Dick Clement. They are most famous for television series including ''The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', ''Porridg ...

, starring

John Thaw John Edward Thaw, (3 January 1942 – 21 February 2002) was an English actor who appeared in a range of television, stage, and cinema roles. He starred in the television series '' Inspector Morse'' as title character Detective Chief Inspector ...

and Bob Hoskins. He was then invited by the

Canadian Broadcasting Company The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government ...

to set up a new drama and entertainment department in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

. Whilst in Canada, he wrote and directed two half-hour films. He returned to England and directed many productions for the BBC,

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

and

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

. He was commissioned by Alan Ayckbourn to write a play, ''Abiding Passions'', which was directed by Ayckbourn at the Stephen Joseph Theatre,

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

. It was later re-cast and directed by Goodwin at the Palace Theatre,

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

. It also had a production at the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, Goodwin's last television series was for Alamo Productions and the BBC, ''Taking the Floor''. He later concentrated on writing for theatre and TV and also teaching theatre, television and film. Goodwin won many awards for theatre and television productions and was a

Fellow 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 ...

. He wrote a novel, ''I Got You Babe'', which is available as a free e-book.

References

External links

Derrick Goodwin
at doollee.com, The Playwrights Database
Derrick Goodwin
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

Film & TV Database * {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodwin, Derrick 1935 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Alumni of the Royal College of Music British television directors British theatre directors People from London