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Howard Thomas
CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(5 March 1909 – 6 November 1986) was a Welsh radio producer and television executive.


Early career

Thomas began his career typing invoices for a firm of wire-drawers in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
. While doing that job, he taught himself to write newspaper articles and short plays. When some of these articles were published, he managed to get a job in the firm's advertising department. That job enabled Thomas to mix with advertising agents and through networking he obtained a position with F John Roe, one of Manchester's advertising agencies. He moved to the London agency F C Prichard Wood and Partners, and he continued to write articles, having a London entertainment column in the ''
Manchester Evening Chronicle ''Manchester Evening Chronicle'' was a newspaper established by Sir Edward Hulton, a Manchester City chairman, a newspaper proprietor and a racehorse owner. It started publication in 1897, was renamed ''Evening Chronicle'' in 1914 but stayed in M ...
''. This column was spotted by the
London Press Exchange The London Press Exchange was founded in 1892 by Frederick Higginbottom and Reginald J.Sykes, becoming a significant Government advertising agency during World War II. It merged with the Leo Burnett agency in 1969. The agency also produced promo ...
and he was hired by them as a copywriter.


Commercial radio

At London Press Exchange, Thomas worked in the commercial radio section, at first writing, then producing commercial packages for companies including
Cadbury's Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...
. These packages, usually of music or variety acts interspersed with subtle commercials for the sponsor, were then placed on
Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...
and similar
longwave In radio, longwave, long wave or long-wave, and commonly abbreviated LW, refers to parts of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave broadcasting band. The term is historic, dating from the e ...
broadcasters who could be heard in the UK. In this position, he came to the attention of 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. ...
...
, and he began to submit scripts and programme ideas to them while continuing to work for the international commercial broadcasters. However, at the outbreak of
World War II 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 opposin ...
, the commercial broadcasters closed and the advertising market contracted. Thomas kept his post at London Press Exchange, but effectively had no work to do. He attempted to fill time by writing books about the blackout and writing more articles for newspapers, and also worked for Publicity Films Limited producing
public information film Public information films (PIFs) are a series of government-commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the United Kingdom. The name is sometimes also applied, ''faute de mieux'', to similar films from other countries, ...
s.


BBC radio

On the outbreak of war, the BBC had closed its existing two Regional Programme and National Programme stations and replaced them with a single national station, the
Home Service Home Service is a British folk rock group, formed in late 1980 from a nucleus of musicians who had been playing in Ashley Hutchings' Albion Band. Their career is generally agreed to have peaked with the album ''Alright Jack'', and has had an ...
(now
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
). This move was criticised as it led to boredom amongst the listeners during the
Phony War The Phoney War (french: Drôle de guerre; german: Sitzkrieg) was an eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germ ...
, who were also faced with cinemas and sporting events being closed "for the duration" and the loss of the competition to the BBC. As the Phony War ended, the BBC decided to introduce an entertainment-based national radio station, primarily for the men under arms. The new service, the Forces Programme hired many new producers from the former commercial agencies, including Howard Thomas.


''Ack Ack Beer Beer''

Thomas's first assignment was to produce the programme ''Ack Ack Beer Beer'', an entertainment and variety programme for
anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
and
barrage balloon A barrage balloon is a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe collision risk to aircraft, making the attacker's approach more difficult. Early barra ...
emplacements. Both jobs featured very little action and therefore the BBC felt that 'lively' entertainment had to be provided for the crews. Under Thomas, the programme developed into a miscellany of variety, talk, music and comedy, using whatever talent was available near the evacuated Variety Department's studios in
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. On occasion this was no talent at all, and Thomas later told of an edition made up of him and his co-producer playing "
Shove ha'penny Shove ha'penny (or shove halfpenny), also known in ancestral form as shoffe-grote ['shove- groat' in Modern English], slype groat ['slip groat'], and slide-thrift, is a pub game in the shuffleboard family, played predominantly ...
", which had the side effect of reintroducing the game to the population.


''Sincerely Yours, Vera Lynn''

With Bristol now a victim of
the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...
, the Variety Department moved to Bangor in north Wales. However, feeling that opportunities for variety would be limited there, Thomas engineered a move back to London. In London he spotted singer
Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 191718 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is honorifically known as the " Forces' Sweetheart", having giv ...
in a stage show. He created a radio programme for her called ''Sincerely Yours, Vera Lynn'' where she sang popular tunes of the time, read out letters from servicemen and introduced entertainers. The show was a hit, both with the forces and the country at large, although the senior officers of both the
British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
strongly objected to the sentimental and "soppy" music and presentation. Nevertheless, the show helped turn the song "
We'll Meet Again "We'll Meet Again" is a 1939 song by English singer Vera Lynn with music and lyrics composed and written by English songwriters Ross Parker and Hughie Charles. The song is one of the most famous of the Second World War era, and resonated with ...
" into one of the best selling pieces of music throughout the war. The show also cemented Vera Lynn's title of "forces' sweetheart" and ensured that she would remain, as of 2006, something akin to a national treasure in the UK. To assuage critics of ''Sincerely Yours'', Thomas introduced the programme ''I Am John Bull'', featuring military marches and "strong" music. The programme was not successful.


''Shipmates Ashore''

The BBC Forces Programme provided distinct programming for each of the armed services. However, the Merchant Navy, not being classed as an armed service and under the patronage of the
Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...
, was not included. Howard Thomas began a programme named ''Shipmates Ashore'' aimed at this audience. The programme was set in a Merchant Navy club and quickly became an effectively real club, with free beer and "companionship" for visiting merchant seamen. The show featured a mixture of music, singing, comedy and information (in the form of a "ship's newspaper") as well as providing a platform for discussion of issues of interest to the sailors. The programme was presented by
Doris Hare Doris Breamer Hare, MBE (1 March 1905 – 30 May 2000) was a British actress, comedian, singer, and dancer best known for portraying Mabel Butler in the British sitcom ''On the Buses'' and its film spin-offs, after replacing the original actres ...
.


''The Brains Trust''

As conceived by Howard Thomas and
Douglas Cleverdon Thomas Douglas James Cleverdon (17 January 1903 – 1 October 1987) was an English radio producer and bookseller. In both fields he was associated with numerous leading cultural figures. Personal life He was educated at Bristol Grammar School and ...
, ''
The Brains Trust ''The Brains Trust'' was an informational BBC radio and later television programme popular in the United Kingdom during the 1940s and 1950s, on which a panel of experts tried to answer questions sent in by the audience. History The series was ...
'' was a simple mixture of light
panel game A panel show or panel game is a radio broadcasting, radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on ''The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity conte ...
entertainment and heavier discussion of items of scientific, legal, medical and social importance. At that time, there was much discussion in the UK about the shape of the world and the country after the war, which reached its peak with the Beveridge Report and the 1945 landslide election of Attlee's
Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...
government. The programme featured Professor Cyril E. M. Joad, previously rejected for radio for his strange speaking voice; the writer and zoologist
Julian Huxley Sir Julian Sorell Huxley (22 June 1887 – 14 February 1975) was an English evolutionary biologist, eugenicist, and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century modern synthesis. ...
; and the loud and entertaining Archibald Bruce Campbell. The programme first aired under the title ''Any Questions?'' and drew a small audience and few questions. However, within a few weeks it had caught the zeitgeist of the nation, gaining an audience of 11½million. The series was extended from a run of 12 episodes into an open-ended series that ran into the 1950s. However, the popularity of the programme, dealing as it did with matters of controversy and politics, caused complaints of left-wing bias from within the BBC and from commentators outside. The BBC attempted to modify the format of the programme to avoid this but also sought to avoid damaging the shows popularity. With military criticism of ''Sincerely Yours'', general complaints about the bawdy humour in ''Shipmates Ashore'' and political criticism of ''The Brains Trust'', the BBC sought a scapegoat and pressured Howard Thomas to leave. In 1944, he resigned.


British Pathé

On leaving the BBC, Howard Thomas joined the
Associated British Picture Corporation Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appro ...
as head of
British Pathé British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
, the
newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, informa ...
and film company. Thomas relaunched the ailing ''Pathé Gazette'' as ''Pathé News'', began hiring new cameramen and pioneered the switch to
colour film Color photography is photography that uses media capable of capturing and reproducing colors. By contrast, black-and-white or gray- monochrome photography records only a single channel of luminance (brightness) and uses media capable only of ...
. He also arranged for the Pathé archives, then of little or no intrinsic value to the company, to be indexed and properly preserved for future use.


ABC-TV

By the 1950s, it was becoming clear that television was eroding the size of cinema audiences. Frustrated at his inability to convince the
Associated British Picture Corporation Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned appro ...
that it should either expand into production of popular feature films or bid for one of the new commercial broadcasting licences offered under the
Television Act 1954 The Television Act 1954 was a British law which permitted the creation of the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom, ITV. Until the early 1950s, the only television service in Britain was operated as a monopoly by the Britis ...
by the
Independent Television Authority The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" (ITV (TV network), ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA exi ...
(ITA), Howard Thomas began to look for roles in the new
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
companies that were being started. He was offered the job of General Manager of
Kemsley-Winnick Television Kemsley-Winnick Television was a consortium formed in 1954 to bid for the new commercial television broadcasting licences in the United Kingdom. The consortium was made up of producer Maurice Winnick, newspaper publisher Lord Kemsley, and the ...
, the new weekend contractor for the midlands and north of England. However, before he could take up the job, Lord Kemsley pulled out of the company and the contract lapsed. The ITA made a last-ditch attempt to get the Associated British Picture Corporation involved in commercial television as a replacement for Kemsley-Winnick. The board of the company was finally convinced to try, and signed a contract with the ITA on 21 September 1955 to form
Associated British Cinemas (Television) Limited 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 ...
(ABC) to take over the contract. Howard Thomas was appointed as managing director of the company and hired
Sydney Newman Sydney Cecil Newman (April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, Newman w ...
and Brian Tesler as his controllers of drama and light entertainment respectively.


Thames Television

In 1966, the ITA announced that the pattern of broadcasting for Independent Television was to change from 1968. All contractors would be required to reapply for their contracts, and, though there would be one more contract available than before (for
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
), the previous weekend splits in the three central regions of London, the midlands and the north of England would be altered. The London split would change to Friday evenings (rather than the self-contained weekend it had previously been) and the midlands and the north would be redivided into three whole-week regions. ABC's contract area would therefore cease to exist. Howard Thomas had planned for ABC Television to apply for the extended London weekends contract (with an application for the Midlands seven-day contract as a stand-by). However, the appearance of a consortium of major figures from the BBC and
Rediffusion Rediffusion was a business that distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, the first ITV (commercia ...
under the leadership of
David Frost Sir David Paradine Frost (7 April 1939 – 31 August 2013) was a British television host, journalist, comedian and writer. He rose to prominence during the satire boom in the United Kingdom when he was chosen to host the satirical programme ' ...
made this difficult. The London Television Consortium (later
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 unt ...
) won the contract, and the ITA was left with no place for ABC. The ITA's solution was to ask ABC and Rediffusion to merge to form a new company. They specified that ABC would have a slim majority of the shares, and that the managing director would be Howard Thomas. In practice, the merger proved impossible due to outside interests held by both parent companies. Instead, the parent companies formed a joint company called Thames Television Holdings Limited (trading as Thames Television), which took over the staff of ABC in
Teddington Teddington is a suburb in south-west London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. In 2021, Teddington was named as the best place to live in London by ''The Sunday Times''. Historically in Middlesex, Teddington is situated on a long m ...
and a minority of staff from Rediffusion. Management and on-screen talent was mainly provided by ABC. Thames retained the London weekdays licence until 31 December 1992.


Retirement

The Independent Broadcasting Authority set a limit on the age of managing directors of ITV companies, specifying that they retire at the age of 75. When Howard Thomas reached this age, Thames Television Holdings (the company that held the shares in Thames formerly held by the now-defunct Associated British Picture Corporation) promoted him from Thames Television to become chairman of Thames Television International – then a subsidiary of Thames but previously known as
EMI Films EMI Films was a British film studio and distributor. A subsidiary of the EMI conglomerate, the corporate name was not used throughout the entire period of EMI's involvement in the film industry, from 1969 to 1986, but the company's brief conne ...
and, before that, the remains of the former ABC owner Associated British Picture Corporation.


Family

Howard Thomas married Hilda in 1934 and they had two daughters, Rosemary and Carol. He was appointed a
Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in 1967.


See also

* The Avengers *
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 Canadi ...
*
Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...


References

* Thomas, Howard ''With An Independent Air'' London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1977 * Sendall, Bernard ''Independent Television in Britain: Volume 1 – Origin and Foundation 1946–62'' London: The Macmillan Press Ltd 1982 (reprinted 1984) pp68, 82–84, 312, 359 *Briggs, A. ''The history of broadcasting in the United Kingdom'', 3 (1970) · Howard *Potter, J. ''Companies and programmes, 1968–80'', vol. 4 of ''Independent television in Britain (1982–90)'' London: The Macmillan Press Ltd 1990 * Graham, Russ
Thomas: Independent broadcaster
TVHeroes from Electromusications by Transdiffusion 2005, accessed 3 February 2006 * Bowden-Smith, Chris (Ed.
ABC at Large
Telemusications from Transdiffusion 2002, accessed 3 February 2006 * Elen, Richard

undated, accessed 3 February 2006 * Elen, Richard
British Film Institute Screenonline – Thames
undated, accessed 3 February 20 *''Daily Telegraph'' (7 November 1986) *''The Times'' (7 November 1986)


External links

*
ABC at Large

Talk of Thames

British Pathé
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Howard 1909 births 1986 deaths BBC radio producers British film producers British radio producers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People from Monmouthshire Welsh television executives International Emmy Directorate Award 20th-century Welsh businesspeople