Michael Björn Blakstad,

FRSA 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 ...

(18 April 1940 – 21 November 2023) was a British television producer who was Editor of ''

Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...

'' on the BBC.

Early life

Michael Björn Blakstad was born in

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

in Malaya on 18 April 1940. He was initially educated in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, then

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, where he lived. He was an only child. He attended

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

, where he gained a BA in Classics (Class III).

Career

BBC

Blakstad joined the BBC in 1963.BUFVC
/ref> In 1967 he directed the '' One Pair Of Eyes'' episode "Stay Baby Stay". He became the series editor of ''

'' in 1974, during what was the heyday of the series, as electronics became part of the working world.''Children in Crossfire'' which he wrote and produced, won an award in 1974 at the

Nyon Nyon (; outdated German language, German: or ; outdated Italian language, Italian: , ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Nyon District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilomet ...

International Documentary Film Festival, now called the

Visions du Réel Visions du Réel (Visions of Reality) is an internationally renowned documentary film festival held in April each year in Nyon, Switzerland. Established in 1969 as the Nyon International Documentary Film Festival, the event adopted its current na ...

. He was also series editor of ''

The Burke Special ''The Burke Special'' is a TV series broadcast on BBC1 in the United Kingdom from 15 June 1972 to 13 May 1976. The host was James Burke. The show had a "circus" format, with Burke on a radio microphone walking around interacting with a studio a ...

'', and '' The Risk Business'', about British industry. At ''Tomorrow's World'', he fell out with the long-established presenter

Raymond Baxter Raymond Frederic Baxter OBE (25 January 1922 – 15 September 2006) was an English television presenter, commentator and writer. He is best known for being the first presenter of the BBC Television science programme ''Tomorrow's World'', con ...

, who then left the programme.

ITV

From 1969 to 1971, he was a producer with

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 ...

. From 1981-84 he was director of programmes at

Television South Television South (TVS) was the ITV (TV network), ITV franchise holder in the South East England, South and South East of England between 1 January 1982 at 9.25 am and 31 December 1992 at 11.59 pm. The company operated under various names, ini ...

(TVS, the franchise from 1982–92), the franchise for the current

ITV Meridian ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at 12:00 am on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned an ...

(South) region.

Personal life and death

Blakstad married in 1965. His wife came from Cotescue Park, and they lived in

East Meon East Meon is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is west of Petersfield. The village is located in the Meon Valley approximately north of Portsmouth and southwest of London, on the headwaters ...

. He had a son and twin daughters. Blakstad died at a care home in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

on 21 November 2023, at the age of 83.

References

External links

*
BFI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blakstad, Michael 1940 births 2023 deaths Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford BBC science BBC television producers ITV people Mass media in Hampshire People from East Meon People from Penang British expatriates in Malaysia British expatriates in Australia