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Anna Margaret Home ( ; born 13 January 1938) is an English television producer and executive who worked for most of her career at the
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Early career

After graduating from
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, where she read Modern History at St Anne's College from 1956, Home joined the BBC in 1960. Initially working as a studio manager in
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
, Home joined BBC Television in 1964 as a researcher for '' Play School''. "At the time it was quite an achievement or a womanto get into university, not just the BBC", observed Home in 2013. With
Joy Whitby Joy Whitby (born 27 July 1930) is an English television producer and executive who has specialised in children's programmes during her career. Early life Whitby read History at St Anne's College, Oxford, and, after graduating, her first job wa ...
and
Molly Cox "Molly" Cox born Marie-Thérèse Henriette Cunningham became Marie-Thérèse Henriette Cox (19 October 1925 – 3 November 1991) was a British television producer for BBC children TV. Her successes include '' Play School'', '' Zokko!'' and '' Jac ...
, Home developed ''
Jackanory ''Jackanory'' is a BBC children's television series which was originally broadcast between 1965 and 1996. It was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, and the first story was the fairy-t ...
'', which began its long run in 1965. "At first people were unwilling to participate in this unknown programme", Home recalled in 1997. "But when actors realised it was the opportunity to have 15 minutes' solo experience on television, they began to queue up to get on it, and having done a ''Jackanory'' became a bit like having done your ''
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...
''." Comedy actor
Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 Car ...
, one of the most frequent participants in the series, recalled Home telling him: "Never sound as if you're patronizing the young." Committed to children's drama output, Home revived domestically produced children's drama after a period in which the idiom had been dormant on the BBC's television channels. She was involved in the direction of such children's serials as '' Mandog'' (1972), adapted by
Peter Dickinson Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE FRSL (16 December 1927 – 16 December 2015) was an English author and poet, best known for children's books and detective stories. Dickinson won the annual Carnegie Medal from the Library Association ...
from his own novel, because budgets did not allow her to contract more experienced people. '' The Changes'' (1975, made in 1973), a serial produced and adapted by Home from another Dickinson novel followed. By 1975, she was exclusively an executive producer of children's drama, and in this role commissioned the long-running ''
Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...
'' (1978-2008) which had been rejected by several ITV companies, including
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 ...
whose children's department was now headed by Joy Whitby, which had questioned why children should want to watch a drama about being at school. ''Grange Hill'' was initially a controversial series. "As the press launched into us and No 10 was complaining loudly to the DG," Home recalled, "the Department of Health became very interested – after all we were tackling just the issues they were concerned with, but better than they could."


Later career

For the 1982 ITV franchise round, she was a member of the consortium which became
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)"Anna Home OBE - Finance & Young Talent Programme"
, Sandgate Films and replaced
Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...
. After a period at TVS as programme controller (and head of the children's and youth department) between 1981 and 1986, she returned to the BBC as head of the children's television department, responsible for about 900 hours of programming per year. Home cancelled ''Play School'' in 1988 considering it "dated"; this decision received some flak at the time. Home retired from her post at the BBC in 1997; the last series she commissioned was ''
Teletubbies ''Teletubbies'' is a British children's television series created by Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport for the BBC. The programme focuses on four differently coloured characters known as the Teletubbies, named after the television screens on th ...
''. Home is the Chief Executive of the Children’s Film and Television Foundation, and chair of Save Kids' TV. In these roles she has become a campaigner for the retention of children's programmes on the BBC's main channels. Her book ''Into the Box of Delights'' (1993), a history of children's television, was conceived with this theme in mind. In 2009, she commented: "''Teletubbies'' just would not get commissioned now. Children's dramas and shows are just too expensive. Children need to see programmes which reflect their life and they are no longer experiencing this. As a result, children are losing their identities."


Honours

She won the
Eleanor Farjeon Award The Eleanor Farjeon Award is made for distinguished service to the world of British Children's literature, children's books and is given to someone whose commitment and contribution is deemed to be outstanding. Founded in 1966, it is presented annua ...
in 1989, was awarded an OBE in 1993 and received the BAFTA Special Award in 1996. The same year she received the
Women in Film and Television Women in Film & Television International (WIFTI) is a global network of non-profit membership chapters. Established in 1997, it is dedicated to advancing professional development and achievement for women working in all areas of film, video, and ot ...
Lifetime Achievement Award."Ms Anna Home OBE - Authorised Biography"
Debrett's


References


Further reading

* Anna Home ''Into the Box of Delights: History of Children's Television'', BBC Books, 1993,


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Home, Anna 1938 births Living people Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford BBC executives BBC television producers British television producers British women television producers Officers of the Order of the British Empire