Nancy Thomas (23 August 1918 – 7 January 2015) was a British television producer known for her work within the Talks Department of

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 ...

. Thomas was born in Ranikhet, British India, to Charles D'Arcy Bingham and Bertha (née Birkbeck). Her father had been stationed as an army colonel in Ranikhet, a

hill station A hill station is a town located at a higher elevation than the nearby plain or valley. The term was used mostly in colonial Asia (particularly in India), but also in Africa (albeit rarely), for towns founded by European colonialists as refuges ...

located in the present-day state of Uttarakhand. She was sent back to the United Kingdom as a child, where she lived with relatives and attended the Berkhamsted School for Girls in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. After leaving school she trained and worked as a shorthand typist, and in 1935 joined the National Gallery in London and worked for Kenneth Clark, then its director.Bernard Adam
"Nancy Thomas: Producer and director who overcame prejudice to establish a career at the BBC that lasted for more than three decades"
''The Independent'', 6 February 2015 Thomas was among the few women who worked in production at the BBC's

Lime Grove Studios Lime Grove Studios was a film, and later television, studio complex in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The complex was built by the Gaumont Film Company in 1915. It was situated in Lime Grove, a residential street in Shepherd's Bush, and ...

during the 1950s. Thomas produced programming presented by

David Attenborough Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...

and Huw Wheldon. Thomas was known for her work with the BBC's arts programming, especially '' Monitor'', which Wheldon edited, contributing pieces on art, architecture, and sculpture.

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Nancy 1918 births 2015 deaths British television producers British women television producers People from Belgravia People from Almora district