Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Thomas Marcus Brownrigg
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 ...
DSO RN (Retired) (8 July 1902 – 9 October 1967) was a British
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 ...
officer before and during
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 ...
who later became the first General Manager of
Bracknell
Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...
New Town
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
Development Corporation before becoming the first General Manager of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
's first commercial television station,
Associated-Rediffusion
Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...
.
Naval career
Brownrigg began his naval career as a
midshipman
A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...
in 1919. He progressed through the ranks, becoming a
lieutenant
A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations.
The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...
in 1923 and a captain in 1942. He saw service on numerous ships, including pre-war stints on the flotilla leader
HMS ''Montrose'', the aircraft carrier , and the light cruiser
HMS ''Cairo''.
[Houterman, Hans and Koppes, Jeroe]
Unithistories.com
Netherlands (undated), Retrieved 27 November 2008.
World War II
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 opposin ...
, Brownrigg served on the battleship
HMS ''Warspite'' as Navigating Officer before taking a staff position under Admiral Sir
Andrew Cunningham in the planning department of the Naval Expeditionary Force, preparing for
D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
.
He then became commanding officer of
HMS ''Scylla'' for D-Day itself, whilst also serving as Flag Captain for the Eastern Task Force during the landings. He finished the war in command of the Royal Navy Air Station at
Rattray.
Post-war
After the war, Brownrigg served briefly on
HMS ''Theseus'' before taking a series of land-based naval positions. He served as Director of Plans for the
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
, Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief for the Mediterranean and finally, in 1952, being briefly
Naval Aide de Camp to
the Queen
In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to:
* Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death
The Queen may also refer to:
* Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
.
Nevertheless, he had made enemies within the Admiralty due to his idiosyncratic nature and failed to progress beyond the rank of captain. He was placed on the retired list in July 1952.
Bracknell New Town
Following his retirement from the navy, Brownrigg became General Manager of the
Bracknell
Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...
New Town
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
Development Corporation.
[Henry, Brian (Ed.) ''British Television Advertising: The First Thirty Years'' London: Century Benham 1986] With his experience in planning for
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...
, he was considered the ideal choice for implementing the development of a New Town as envisaged by
Patrick Abercrombie
Sir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie (; 6 June 1879 – 23 March 1957) was an English regional and town planner. Abercrombie was an academic during most of his career, and prepared one city plan and several regional studies prior to the Second World ...
and
Lord Reith
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...
in their eponymous reports.
Associated-Rediffusion
The experience of managing Bracknell was put to use in Brownrigg's next post, the one where he would, his war service notwithstanding, gain the most fame. 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 ...
had created the framework for commercial broadcasting in the United Kingdom.
[Graham, Russ ]
Vital vulgarity
, The Authority from Transdiffusion 1 April 2005, Retrieved 27 November 2008 British Electric Traction
British Electric Traction Company Limited, renamed BET plc in 1985, was a large British industrial conglomerate. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Rentokil in 1996, and the merged company is now known as Rent ...
's Broadcast Relay Services subsidiary and
Associated Newspapers
DMG Media (stylised in lowercase) is an intermediate holding company for Associated Newspapers, Northcliffe Media, Harmsworth Printing, Harmsworth Media and other subsidiaries of Daily Mail and General Trust. It is based at Northcliffe House in ...
formed a joint company,
Associated-Rediffusion
Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...
(A-R), to bid for a commercial television contract.
[Graham, Russ ]
A Short History
, Television House from Transdiffusion 1 January 2004, Retrieved 27 November 2008
Because of the extensive planning and construction involved, they approached Brownrigg to become their General Manager. He accepted and put his imprint across the entire structure and output of the company.
Contemporaries reported that he commanded A-R as though it were a battleship.
His "Official Office Memoranda", giving instructions and setting rules for everything down to the frequency of filing and the decoration on the walls,
[Copy of OOM](_blank)
, Transdiffusion archives became a legend throughout
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 ...
.
[Thomas, Howard ''With An Independent Air'' London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1977 ] Under his leadership, the company went from having one employee (himself) to becoming Europe's first and largest commercial television broadcaster in under a year.
[Graham, Russ ]
London Calling
, Television House from Transdiffusion 1 January 2004, Retrieved 27 November 2008 In that time, he supervised the conversion of the former headquarters of the
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...
, Adastral House, into
Television House
Television House is the former name of a building on Kingsway in London. From 1918, it was the base of the Air Ministry, and later from 1955, was the headquarters of Associated-Rediffusion/Rediffusion London, Independent Television News (ITN), ' ...
, A-R studios and administration headquarters, which also served as the headquarters for
ITN, the
TV Times
''TV Times'' is a British television listings magazine published by Future plc. It was originally published by Independent Television Publications, owned by the participating ITV companies. The magazine was acquired by IPC Media in 1989, which ...
and, at first,
Associated TeleVision
Associated Television was the original name of the British broadcaster ATV, part of the Independent Television (ITV) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to 1968, and ...
, A-R's main rival. At the same time, he was also actively involved in defining the station's identity, formulating the programme plans, creating an advertising market for television, chairing ITN and negotiating
industrial relations
Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade
unions, employer organizations, ...
with the film and broadcasting unions.
Many stories are told by old
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 ...
hands about Brownrigg's idiosyncrasies, especially his dominant - or domineering
[Bromsgrove, Mar]
Brian Masters MBE
, TV Heroes from Transdiffusion, Retrieved 27 November 2008 - manner,
his name-dropping, his willingness to generalise outrageously on any subject
and his requirement for very junior staff to salute him and his fellow directors. However, personal friends also point out that he had a great sense of humour and an ability to laugh at himself
- many of the
anecdote
An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...
s about him may therefore have derived from him in the first place.
Retirement
Brownrigg's A-R pitched itself as a formal, rigid broadcaster. In order to avoid comparison between A-R and the
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
networks, Brownrigg ensured that A-R was more "British" and "Empire" in its attitudes and identity than even 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. ...
...
. This had the desired effect, removing the accusation the commercial television would be "vulgar" or too light.
However, by the 1960s, increased competition and a change in spending-power demographics was evident in the United Kingdom. With the planned launch of
, the senior management of the company felt that the future lay in younger viewers. To counter the competition, they decided to relaunch the station as Rediffusion, London and introduce new programming aimed at younger people and a new identity designed to be less "stuffy" and more able to compete with BBC-2.
at the end of 1963, although he took on a directorship of the TV Times.
One of his last acts before his death was to condemn the
. His letter to
doesn't mention ''Rediffusion, London'' once - he stuck to calling the company he created "Associated-Rediffusion" until the end.