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Philip Donnellan (9 February 1924 – 15 February 1999) was an English documentary film-maker.
Described in his ''Guardian'' obituary as "one of the greatest of all documentarists", Donnellan worked with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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for over four decades, producing around 80 documentary films and programmes, most reflecting working-class lives.
The son of an Irish headmaster, Donnellan grew up in Surrey. After
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 opposing ...
, in which he fought in
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, he became a journalist, then a BBC radio announcer. He began interviewing working people, such as the fisherman
Sam Larner
Samuel James Larner (18 October 1878 – 11 September 1965) was an English fisherman and traditional singer from Winterton-on-Sea, a fishing village in Norfolk, England. His life was the basis for Ewan MacColl's song ''The Shoals of Herring'', ...
, who had a vast repertoire of traditional songs. The two programmes Donnellan made for the BBC of these songs introduced them to
Ewan MacColl.
From there, Donnellan diversified into television, focusing on working people; his first film was ''Joe The Chainsmith'', and his 1962 ''Private Faces'' was a portrait of a
Durham Durham most commonly refers to:
*Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham
*County Durham, an English county
* Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States
*Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...
miner. He also filmed public figures such as
Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman who served as the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1949 to 1963. From 1946 to 1966, he was the first leader of the Christian Dem ...
,
Jawaharlal Nehru
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat—
*
*
*
* and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
and
Charles de Gaulle; these were well received but he found them less satisfying. His continual addressing of political issues led to many editorial disputes, but Donnellan kept his film-making base at
Pebble Mill
Pebble Mill Studios was the BBC's television studio complex located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, which served as the headquarters for BBC Birmingham from 1971 until 2004. The nine-acre site was opened by Princess Anne o ...
in Birmingham, which meant he could present his films to the BBC controllers as ''faits accomplis''.
Donnellan continued to be entertaining and provocative: ''Where Do We Go From Here?'' dealt with the question of the 'Gypsy menace' (travelling people), ''Gone for a Soldier'' (1980) was a 105-minute montage of ordinary soldiers' diaries and letters, and he made film versions of the
radio ballads The radio ballad is an audio documentary format created by Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger, and Charles Parker in 1958. It combines four elements of sound: songs, instrumental music, sound effects, and, most importantly, the recorded voices of those w ...
''Shoals of Herring'' (1972), ''The Fight Game'' and ''The Big Hewer'' (1973) with MacColl and
Peggy Seeger
Margaret "Peggy" Seeger (born June 17, 1935) is an American folk singer. She has lived in Britain for more than 60 years, and was married to the singer and songwriter Ewan MacColl until his death in 1989.
First American period
Seeger's father ...
.
Philip worked frequently with Ewan MacColl, Peggy Seeger and Charles Parker - all three who had created the original ''Radio Ballads (1958-63)''. An early venture had been a series of six programmes ''Landmarks (''1964) looking at life from cradle to the grave. ''BD8: The Enclosed World of the Blind'' (1967) and ''Stories and Songs of A Scots Family'' ''Group'' (1978) also featured the singers and folk song '' ''
Additionally, ''The Other Music'' (1981) chronicled the folk song revival 1945-1981 from its roots in the British folk tradition. This, alongside ''The Passage West'', which explored the experience of Irish emigres, were made alongside the folklorist
Doc Rowe.
Philip also became executive producer in a four part series ''The Good Old Way'' (1983) compiled and edited by Andrew Johnston from footage originally shot for ''The Other Music''.
He also co-founded and chaired the West Midlands Gypsy Liaison Group.
References
*W Stephen Gilbert, 'Obituary: Philip Donnellan: Let the people speak', ''The Guardian'' (London), 1 March 1999, p. 16.
External links
The Friends of Philip Donnellan*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donnellan, Philip
British male journalists
1924 births
1999 deaths
British documentary filmmakers
BBC people
British Army personnel of World War II