Dennis Vance (18 March 1924 – 6 October 1983) was a British

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon ...

, director, and occasional actor. Born in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liv ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

, he began his career as an actor in the late 1940s, appearing in small film parts, such as Poet's Pub, in 1949, before switching to become a producer with

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

in the early 1950s. Later, in 1955 he became the first Head of Drama at the ITV contractor

ABC Weekend TV ABC Weekend TV was the popular name of the British broadcaster ABC Television Limited, which provided the weekend service in the Midlands and Northern England regions of the Independent Television (ITV) network from 1956 to 1968. It was one ...

, who went on air in 1956, serving the

Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the In ...

and the

North of England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

at weekends. He also produced episodes of '' The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1956), also directing a couple of episodes. At ABC, Vance oversaw the creation of the anthology drama series ''

Armchair Theatre ''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968. The Canad ...

'', which was networked nationally across the ITV regions on Sunday evenings. It became an important long running landmark in British television drama series. Vance, however, left the Head of Drama role in 1958 for a promotion within ABC, being replaced by Sydney Newman. Later in his career he returned to producing and directing work, helming episodes of programmes such as ABC's '' The Avengers'' (1961) and

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

' '' The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes'' (1971). He also produced and directed '' The Misfit'' and '' The Bass Player and the Blonde'' for ATV. He also directed episodes of 'Public Eye'. He had been a

Fleet Air Arm The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wi ...

pilot during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, and was married six times with one child from the first three marriages. He died in

Wimbledon, London Wimbledon () is a district and town of Southwest London, England, southwest of the centre of London at Charing Cross; it is the main commercial centre of the London Borough of Merton. Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes ...

in 1983, at the age of fifty-nine.

Filmography

* ''

Scott of the Antarctic Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

'' (1948) * ''

Trouble in the Air ''Trouble in the Air'' is a 1948 British comedy film directed by Charles Saunders and starring Freddie Frinton, Jimmy Edwards and Bill Owen.Chibnall & MacFarlane p. It was made at Highbury Studios as a second feature. The film's sets were des ...

'' (1948) * '' Warning to Wantons'' (1949) * '' Poet's Pub'' (1949) * '' Shadow of the Eagle'' (1950)

References

External links

* 1924 births 1983 deaths British television directors British television producers 20th-century British male actors People from Birkenhead 20th-century British businesspeople Fleet Air Arm personnel of World War II Fleet Air Arm aviators {{UK-tv-bio-stub