Verity Lambert
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Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
and film producer. Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of the science-fiction series ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' from 1963 until 1965. She left the BBC in 1969 and worked for other television companies, notably having a long association with
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
and its
Euston Films Euston Films is a British film and television production company. It was originally a subsidiary company of Thames Television, and operated from 1971 to 1994, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network ...
offshoot in the 1970s and 1980s. Her many credits as producer include ''
Adam Adamant Lives! ''Adam Adamant Lives!'' is a British adventure television series that ran from 1966 to 1967 on BBC 1, starring Gerald Harper in the title role. The series was created and produced by several alumni from ''Doctor Who''. Proposing that an adventur ...
'', '' The Naked Civil Servant'', ''
Rock Follies ''Rock Follies'' (together with its sequel, ''Rock Follies of '77'') was a musical drama shown on British television in the 1970s. The storyline followed the ups and downs of a fictional female rock band called the Little Ladies, as they strugg ...
'', ''
Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...
'', ''
Widows A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...
'', '' G.B.H.'', ''
Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the titular character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician while also solvi ...
'', ''
Love Soup ''Love Soup'' is a British television comedy drama produced by the BBC and first screened on BBC One in the autumn of 2005. It stars Tamsin Greig as Alice Chenery (a role written especially for her) and Michael Landes as Gil Raymond (Series 1 on ...
'' and ''
Eldorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...
''. She also worked in the film industry for
Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment EMI Films was a British film studio and distributor. A subsidiary of the EMI conglomerate, the corporate name was not used throughout the entire period of EMI's involvement in the film industry, from 1969 to 1986, but the company's brief conne ...
. From 1985 she ran her own production company,
Cinema Verity Cinema Verity was a British independent television and film production company, founded in 1985 by Verity Lambert, the television producer, who named the company after herself and as a pun on the expression 'cinéma vérité'. The company's first ...
. She continued to work as a producer until the year she died. Women were rarely television producers in Britain at the beginning of Lambert's career. When she was appointed to ''Doctor Who'' in 1963, she was
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 ...
's only female drama producer, as well as the youngest. The website of the
Museum of Broadcast Communications The Museum of Broadcast Communications (MBC) is an American museum, the stated mission of which is "to collect, preserve, and present historic and contemporary radio and television content as well as educate, inform and entertain through our archi ...
hails her as "not only one of Britain's leading businesswomen, but possibly the most powerful member of the nation's entertainment industry ... Lambert has served as a symbol of the advances won by women in the media". The
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's
Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lo ...
website describes Lambert as "one of those producers who can often create a fascinating small screen universe from a slim script and half-a-dozen congenial players."


Early career in independent television

Lambert was born in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, the daughter of a
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
accountant, and was educated at
Roedean School Roedean School is an independent day and boarding school founded in 1885 in Roedean Village on the outskirts of Brighton, East Sussex, England, and governed by Royal Charter. It is for girls aged 11 to 18. The campus is situated near the Sus ...
. She left Roedean at sixteen with 6 O' levels and pursued a six months language course at the
University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...
enrolling at a secretarial college upon returning to London for eighteen months. She later credited her interest in the structural and characterisational aspects of scriptwriting to an inspirational English teacher. Lambert's first job was the typing of menus at the Kensington De Vere Hotel, which employed her because she had been to France and could speak French. In 1956, she entered the television industry as a secretary at
Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
's press office. She was sacked from this job after six months. Following her dismissal from Granada, Lambert took a job as a
shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...
-typist at
ABC Weekend TV ABC Weekend TV was the popular name of the British broadcaster ABC Television Limited, which provided the weekend service in the Midlands and Northern England regions of the Independent Television (ITV) network from 1956 to 1968. It was one ...
. She soon became the secretary to the company's Head of Drama and then a production secretary working on a programme called ''State Your Case''. She then moved from administration to production, working on drama programming on ABC's popular anthology series ''
Armchair Theatre ''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968. The Canad ...
'' and also early episodes of '' The Avengers'', both of which were then overseen by the new Head of Drama, Canadian producer
Sydney Newman Sydney Cecil Newman (April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, Newman w ...
. Catastrophic incidents could occur on
live television Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television over the Internet when content or programming is played continuously (not on demand) ...
of this era. On 28 November 1958, while Lambert was working as a Production Assistant on ''Armchair Theatre'', an actor died during a live broadcast of ''
Underground Underground most commonly refers to: * Subterranea (geography), the regions beneath the surface of the Earth Underground may also refer to: Places * The Underground (Boston), a music club in the Allston neighborhood of Boston * The Underground ...
'' and she had to take responsibility for directing the cameras from the studio gallery while director
Ted Kotcheff William Theodore Kotcheff (born April 7, 1931) is a Bulgarian-Canadian film and television director, writer and producer, known primarily for his work on British and American television productions such as ''Armchair Theatre'' and '' Law & Order ...
worked with the actors on the studio floor to accommodate the loss. In 1961, Lambert left ABC, spending a year working as the personal assistant to
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 ...
television producer
David Susskind David Howard Susskind (December 19, 1920 – February 22, 1987) was an American producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a TV talk show host. His talk shows were innovative in the genre and addressed timely, controversial topics beyond th ...
at the independent production company
Talent Associates Talent Associates, Ltd. (also known as Talent Associates-Paramount, Ltd. and Talent Associates-Norton Simon, Inc.), was a production company headed by David Susskind, later joined by Daniel Melnick, Leonard Stern and Ron Gilbert. Origins In the ...
in New York. Returning to England, she rejoined ABC with an ambition to direct, but remained a production assistant and found it impossible to gain promotion. She decided that, if she could not find advancement within a year, she would abandon television as a career.


BBC career


''Doctor Who''

In December 1962,
Sydney Newman Sydney Cecil Newman (April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, Newman w ...
left ABC to take up the position of Head of Drama at
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 ...
, and the following year Lambert joined him at the corporation. Newman had recruited her to produce ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'', a programme he had personally conceived and initiated as an educational science-fiction serial for early Saturday evenings. The programme concerned the adventures of an old man travelling through space and time in his
TARDIS The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior ap ...
, disguised as a
police box A police box is a public telephone kiosk or callbox for the use of members of the police, or for members of the public to contact the police. It was used in the United Kingdom throughout the 20th century from the early 1920s. Unlike an ordinar ...
. In some quarters, the series was not expected to last longer than thirteen weeks. Although Lambert was not Newman's first choice to produce the series— Don Taylor and
Shaun Sutton Shaun Alfred Graham Sutton (14 October 1919 in Hammersmith, London – 14 May 2004 in Norfolk) was an English television writer, director, producer and executive, who worked in the medium for nearly forty years from the 1950s to the 1990s. His m ...
had both declined the position—he was very keen to ensure that Lambert took the job after his experience of working with her at ABC. "I think the best thing I ever did on that was to find Verity Lambert," he told ''
Doctor Who Magazine ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the followi ...
'' in 1993. "I remembered Verity as being bright and, to use the phrase, full of piss and vinegar! She was gutsy and she used to fight and argue with me, even though she was not at a very high level as a production assistant." When Lambert arrived at the BBC in June 1963, she was initially given a more experienced associate producer,
Mervyn Pinfield Mervyn Pinfield (28 February 1912 – 20 May 1966) was a British television producer and director who worked for the BBC during the 1950s and 1960s. By the time Pinfield joined the BBC to work in live drama at Alexandra Palace in the early ...
, to assist her. ''Doctor Who'' debuted on 23 November 1963 and quickly became a success for the BBC, chiefly on the popularity of the alien creatures known as
Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by writer Terry Nation and first appeared in the 1963 ''Doctor Who'' ...
s. Lambert's superior, Head of Serials Donald Wilson, had strongly advised against using the script in which the Daleks first appeared, but after the serial's successful airing, he said that Lambert clearly knew the series far better than he did, and he would no longer interfere in her decisions. The success of ''Doctor Who'' and the Daleks also garnered press attention for Lambert herself; in 1964, the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' published a feature on the series focusing on its young producer's looks: "The operation of the Daleks ... is conducted by a remarkably attractive young woman called Verity Lambert who, at 28, is not only the youngest but the only female drama producer at B.B.C. TV ... ll, dark and shapely, she became positively forbidding when I suggested that the Daleks might one day take over ''Dr. Who''." Lambert oversaw the first two seasons of the programme and the first part of the third, eventually leaving in 1965. "There comes a time when a series needs new input," she told ''Doctor Who Magazine'' thirty years later. "It's not that I wasn't fond of ''Doctor Who'', I simply felt that the time had come. It had been eighteen very concentrated months, something like seventy shows. I know people do soaps forever now, but I felt ''Doctor Who'' needed someone to come in with a different view." 15 episodes produced by Lambert—all episodes of ''
Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
'', two episodes of '' The Reign of Terror'', two episodes of '' The Crusade'', three episodes of ''
Galaxy 4 ''Galaxy 4'' is the first serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by William Emms and directed by Derek Martinus, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 11 Septem ...
'' and the standalone ''
Mission to the Unknown "Mission to the Unknown" is the second serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Derek Martinus, the single episode was broadcast on BBC1 on 9 October 19 ...
''— were not retained in the BBC Archives, mainly affecting her first year working on the show.


Other BBC productions

She moved on to produce another BBC show created by Newman, the swashbuckling action-adventure series ''
Adam Adamant Lives! ''Adam Adamant Lives!'' is a British adventure television series that ran from 1966 to 1967 on BBC 1, starring Gerald Harper in the title role. The series was created and produced by several alumni from ''Doctor Who''. Proposing that an adventur ...
'' (1966–67). The long development period of ''Adam Adamant'' delayed its production, and during this delay Newman gave her the initial episodes of a new
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
, '' The Newcomers'', to produce. Further productions for the BBC included a season of the crime drama ''Detective'' (1968–69) and a 26-part series of adaptations of the stories of
William Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...
(1969). In 1969 she left the staff of the BBC to join
London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...
, where she produced '' Budgie'' (1970–72) and ''Between the Wars'' (1973). She returned to the BBC on a freelance basis to produce ''
Shoulder to Shoulder ''Shoulder to Shoulder'' is a 1974 BBC television serial and book relating the history of the women's suffrage movement, both edited by Midge Mackenzie. The drama series grew out of discussions between Mackenzie and the actress and singer Georg ...
'' (1974), a series of six 75-minute plays about the
suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
movement of the early 20th century.


Thames Television and Euston Films

Later in 1974, Lambert became Head of Drama at
Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...
. During her time in this position she oversaw several high-profile and successful contributions to the
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 ...
network, including '' The Naked Civil Servant'' (1975), ''
Rock Follies ''Rock Follies'' (together with its sequel, ''Rock Follies of '77'') was a musical drama shown on British television in the 1970s. The storyline followed the ups and downs of a fictional female rock band called the Little Ladies, as they strugg ...
'' (1976–77), ''
Rumpole of the Bailey ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, o ...
'' (1978–92) and ''
Edward and Mrs Simpson ''Edward & Mrs. Simpson'' is a seven-part British television series that dramatises the events leading to the 1936 abdication of King Edward VIII, who gave up his throne to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson. The series, made by T ...
'' (1978). In 1976, she was also made responsible for overseeing the work of
Euston Films Euston Films is a British film and television production company. It was originally a subsidiary company of Thames Television, and operated from 1971 to 1994, producing various series for Thames, which were screened nationally on the ITV network ...
, Thames' subsidiary film production company, at the time best known as the producers of ''
The Sweeney ''The Sweeney'' is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective Ins ...
''. In 1979 she transferred to Euston full-time as the company's Chief Executive, overseeing productions such as ''
Quatermass Professor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional scientist, originally created by the writer Nigel Kneale for BBC Television. An intelligent and highly moral British scientist, Quatermass is a pioneer of the British space programme, heading the Brit ...
'' (1979), ''
Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...
'' (1979–94) and ''
Widows A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...
'' (1983). At Thames and Euston, Lambert enjoyed the most sustained period of critical and popular success of her career. ''The Naked Civil Servant'' won a
British Academy Television Award The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...
(BAFTA) for its star
John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...
as well as a
Broadcasting Press Guild The Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG) is a British association of journalists dedicated to the topic of general media issues. History The Guild was established in 1974 as a breakaway of The Critics' Circle. Currently it groups over 100 staff and fr ...
Award and a prize at the
Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international Television, Radio-broadcasting and Web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with the ...
; ''Rock Follies'' won a BAFTA and a
Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...
Award, while ''Widows'' also gained BAFTA nominations and ratings of over 12 million—unusually for a drama serial, it picked up viewers over the course of its six-week run. ''Minder'' became the longest-running series produced by Euston Films, surviving for over a decade following Lambert's departure from the company. Television historian Lez Cooke described Lambert's time in control of the drama department at Thames as "an adventurous period for the company, demonstrating that it was not only the BBC that was capable of producing progressive television drama during the 1970s. Lambert wanted Thames to produce drama series 'which were attempting in one way or another to tackle modern problems and life,' an ambition which echoed the philosophy of her mentor Sydney Newman."
Howard Schuman Howard Schuman (1928 - 2021) was an American sociologist and professor of sociology at the University of Michigan. He is known for his work on survey research, such as the design of polling questions. Education and career Schuman received his A.B. ...
, the writer of ''Rock Follies'', also later praised the bravery of Lambert's commissioning. "Verity Lambert had just arrived as head of drama at Thames TV and she went for broke," he told ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' newspaper in 2002. "She commissioned a serial, '' Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill'', for safety, but also '' Bill Brand'', one of the edgiest political dramas ever, and us ... Before we had even finished making the first series, Verity commissioned the second." Lambert's association with Thames and Euston Films continued into the 1980s. In 1982, she rejoined the staff of parent company Thames Television as director of drama, and was given a seat on the company's board. In November 1982 she left Thames, but remained as chief executive at Euston until leaving in November of the following year to take up her first post in the
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
industry, as director of production for
Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment EMI Films was a British film studio and distributor. A subsidiary of the EMI conglomerate, the corporate name was not used throughout the entire period of EMI's involvement in the film industry, from 1969 to 1986, but the company's brief conne ...
. Her job here was somewhat frustrating as the British film industry was in one of its periodic states of flux, but she did produce several feature films, including ''
Clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite ...
'' (1986). Lambert later expressed some regret on her time in the film industry in a feature for ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' newspaper. "Unfortunately, the person who hired me left, and the person who came in didn't want to produce films and didn't want me. While I managed to make some films I was proud of—
Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...
's ''
Dreamchild ''Dreamchild'' is a 1985 British drama film written by Dennis Potter, directed by Gavin Millar, and produced by Rick McCallum and Kenith Trodd. The film, starring Coral Browne, Ian Holm, Peter Gallagher, Nicola Cowper and Amelia Shankley, is ...
'', and ''Clockwise'' with John Cleese—it was terribly tough and not a very happy experience." Lambert was Chair of the British Film Institute Production Board from 1981 to 1982.


Cinema Verity

In late 1985, Lambert left Thorn EMI, frustrated at the lack of success and at restructuring measures being undertaken by the company. She established her own independent production company,
Cinema Verity Cinema Verity was a British independent television and film production company, founded in 1985 by Verity Lambert, the television producer, who named the company after herself and as a pun on the expression 'cinéma vérité'. The company's first ...
. The company's first production was the feature film ''
A Cry in the Dark ''Evil Angels'' (released as ''A Cry in the Dark'' outside Australia and New Zealand) is a 1988 Australian drama film directed by Fred Schepisi. The screenplay by Schepisi and Robert Caswell is based on John Bryson's 1985 book of the same nam ...
'' (1988), starring
Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...
and
Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...
based on the " dingo baby" case in Australia. Cinema Verity's first television series, the BBC1
sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...
''
May to December ''May to December'' is a British sitcom which ran for 39 episodes, from 2 April 1989 to 27 May 1994 on BBC1. The series was created by Paul Mendelson and produced by Cinema Verity. The series was nominated for the BAFTA award for "Best Televi ...
'', debuted in 1989 and ran until 1994. The company also produced another successful BBC1 sitcom, ''
So Haunt Me ''So Haunt Me'' is a British television sitcom about a family that moves into a home occupied by the ghost of its previous resident, a middle-aged Jewish mother. The show was created by Paul Mendelson who was also credited on another British s ...
'', which ran from 1992 to 1994. Lambert executive produced Alan Bleasdale's hard-hitting drama serial '' G.B.H.'' (1991) commissioned by
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
which won several awards. However, her relationship with Bleasdale was not entirely smooth — the writer has admitted in subsequent interviews that he "wanted to kill Verity Lambert" after she insisted on the cutting of large portions of his first draft script before production began. However, Bleasdale subsequently admitted that she was right about the majority of the cut material, and when the production was finished, he only missed one small scene from those she had demanded be excised. A less successful Cinema Verity production was the soap opera ''
Eldorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...
'', a co-production with the BBC, set in a British
expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
community in Spain. At the time, it was the most expensive commission the BBC had given out to an independent production company. Launched with a major publicity campaign and running in a high-profile slot three evenings a week on BBC1, the series was critically mauled and lasted only a year, from 1992 to 1993. Lambert's biography at ''Screenonline'' suggests some reasons for this failure: "With on-location production facilities and an evident striving for a genuinely contemporary flavour, Lambert's costly Euro soap ''Eldorado'' suggested a degree of ambition ... which it seemed in the event ill-equipped to realise, and a potentially interesting subject tailed off into implausible melodrama. ''Eldorado's'' plotting ... was disappointingly ponderous. As a result, the expatriate community in southern Spain theme and milieu was exploited rather than explored." Other reviewers, even the best part of a decade after the programme's cancellation, were much harsher, with Rupert Smith's comments in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' in 2002 being a typical example. "A £10 million farce that left the BBC with egg all over its entire body and put an awful lot of
Equity Equity may refer to: Finance, accounting and ownership * Equity (finance), ownership of assets that have liabilities attached to them ** Stock, equity based on original contributions of cash or other value to a business ** Home equity, the dif ...
members back on the dole ... it will always be remembered as the most expensive flop of all time." In the early 1990s, Lambert attempted to win the rights to produce ''Doctor Who'' independently for the BBC; however, this effort was unsuccessful because the corporation was already in negotiations with producer Philip Segal in the United States. Cinema Verity projects that did reach production included ''
Sleepers ''Sleepers'' is a 1996 American legal crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 book of the same name. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin H ...
'' (BBC1, 1991) and ''
The Cazalets ''The Cazalets'' is a 2001 television drama series in six episodes (five episodes when broadcast in the US) about the life of a large privileged family in the years 1937 to 1947. Most of the action takes place in London, and at the family's large ...
'' (BBC One, 2001), the latter co-produced by actress
Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...
, whose idea it was to adapt the novels by
Elizabeth Jane Howard Elizabeth Jane Howard, Lady Amis (26 March 1923 – 2 January 2014), was an English novelist, author of 12 novels including the best-selling series ''The'' ''Cazalet Chronicles''. Early life Howard's parents were timber-merchant Major David L ...
. Lambert continued to work as a freelance producer outside of her own company. She produced the popular BBC One comedy-drama series ''
Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the titular character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician while also solvi ...
'', by writer
David Renwick David Peter Renwick (; born 4 September 1951) is an English author, television writer, actor, director and executive producer, best known for creation of the sitcom ''One Foot in the Grave'' and the mystery series ''Jonathan Creek''. He was awar ...
, ever since taking over the role for its second series in 1998. From then until 2004, she produced eighteen episodes of the programme across four short seasons, plus two Christmas Specials. She and Renwick also collaborated on another comedy-drama, ''
Love Soup ''Love Soup'' is a British television comedy drama produced by the BBC and first screened on BBC One in the autumn of 2005. It stars Tamsin Greig as Alice Chenery (a role written especially for her) and Michael Landes as Gil Raymond (Series 1 on ...
'', starring
Tamsin Greig Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Green Wing'', Beverly Lincoln in Br ...
and transmitted on BBC One in the autumn of 2005. Her last work was to produce the second series of ''Love Soup''. A dedication to her memory was shown after the first episode, broadcast on 1 March 2008. In the 2002
New Year's Honours list The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark thi ...
Lambert was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...
(OBE) for her services to film and television production, and the same year she received BAFTA's Alan Clarke Award for Outstanding Contribution to Television. She died of cancer five days before her 72nd birthday. She was due to have been presented with a lifetime achievement award at the Women in Film and Television Awards the following month.


Personal life

In 1973, Lambert married television director
Colin Bucksey Colin Bucksey is a British-born American film and television director. Career Since the 1970s, Bucksey has accumulated a number of credits in British TV, directing episodes of '' Crown Court'', ''Armchair Thriller'', ''Educating Marmalade'' an ...
, but the marriage collapsed in 1984, and they divorced in 1987. She had no children, once telling an interviewer, "I can't stand babies—no, I love babies as long as their parents take them away."


Legacy

In the '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'' sketch entitled "Buying a Bed", Eric Idle plays a salesman named "Mr Verity" and
Graham Chapman Graham Chapman (8 January 1941 – 4 October 1989) was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surreal comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two P ...
plays a salesman named "Mr Lambert". This sketch was part of Season 1, Episode 8, "Full Frontal Nudity", which was broadcast on
BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
on 7 December 1969. In 2000, ''The Naked Civil Servant'', finished fourth in a
British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
poll of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes of the 20th century. In the 2007 ''Doctor Who'' episode "
Human Nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...
", the Doctor (as
David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show '' Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...
) refers to his parents as "Sydney" and "Verity", a tribute to both Newman and Lambert. She is further honoured in the episode "The End of Time" when the Doctor visits the great-granddaughter of Matron Joan Redfern, the human love interest he gave up to reclaim his Time Lord memories in the episode "Human Nature"; the character is named "Verity Newman". In the 2007 Christmas special "
Voyage of the Damned ''Voyage of the Damned'' is a 1976 drama film directed by Stuart Rosenberg, with an all-star cast featuring Faye Dunaway, Oskar Werner, Lee Grant, Max von Sydow, James Mason, and Malcolm McDowell. The story was inspired by actual events conc ...
", a dedication to Lambert was shown before the rolling of the end credits. In April 2008,
BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
aired an evening-long tribute to Lambert's work at the network, including a documentary and repeats of her most popular programs. The 2008 DVD release of ''The Time Meddler'' contains the last commentary she made before her death, and a short documentary feature, ''Verity Lambert Obituary'', described as, "A concise essay looking back over the career of one of ''Doctor Whos co-creators." For ''Doctor Whos fiftieth anniversary in 2013, the BBC commissioned a drama about the creation of the programme, entitled ''
An Adventure in Space and Time ''An Adventure in Space and Time'' is a 2013 British biographical television film, starring David Bradley, Brian Cox, Jessica Raine and Sacha Dhawan. Directed by Terry McDonough, and written by regular ''Doctor Who'' writer Mark Gatiss, it p ...
''. Lambert was played by actress
Jessica Raine Jessica Raine (born Jessica Helen Lloyd; 20 May 1982) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles as Jenny Lee in the television series ''Call the Midwife'' (2012–2014) and Verity Lambert in the television film '' An Adventure in ...
. On 23 July 2014, a blue heritage plaque was unveiled by the
Doctor Who Appreciation Society The ''Doctor Who'' Appreciation Society (DWAS) is a society for fans of the television series '' Doctor Who''. It was founded in May 1976, emerging from the Westfield College ''Doctor Who'' Appreciation Society and the editors and readers of the ...
and the Riverside Trust, at
Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having closed for redevelopment i ...
in
Hammersmith, London Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...
. The plaque commemorates Lambert at Riverside and elsewhere. The plaque was unveiled by her longtime friend and colleague, director
Waris Hussein Waris Hussein (''né'' Habibullah; born 9 December 1938) is a British-Indian television and film director. At the beginning of his career he was employed by the BBC as its youngest drama director. He directed early episodes of ''Doctor Who'', inc ...
, and the unveiling was attended by many friends and associates from over the years. When Riverside Studios was closed for redevelopment later that year the plaque was placed into storage. In 2022 it was reinstalled on the exterior of the building and unveiled at a ceremony attended by many people from the world of TV including Waris Hussein, Steven Moffat and Michael Grade (recently appointed Ofcom chair).


Selected filmography

* ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' (1963–1965), producer * ''
Adam Adamant Lives! ''Adam Adamant Lives!'' is a British adventure television series that ran from 1966 to 1967 on BBC 1, starring Gerald Harper in the title role. The series was created and produced by several alumni from ''Doctor Who''. Proposing that an adventur ...
'' (1966–1967), producer * ''Detective'' (1968), producer * ''
Take Three Girls ''Take Three Girls'' is a television drama series broadcast by BBC1 between 1969 and 1971 that follows three young women sharing a flat in " Swinging London" (located at 17 Glazbury Road, West Kensington, W14). It was BBC1's first colour drama s ...
'' (1969), producer * ''W. Somerset Maugham'' (1969–1970), producer * '' Budgie'' (1971), producer * ''Between the Wars'' (1973), producer * ''The Silver Mask'' (1973), producer * ''A.D.A.M.'' (1973), producer * ''Achilles Heel'' (1973), producer * ''After Loch Lomond'' (1973), producer * ''Shoulder to Shoulder'': ''Sylvia Pankhurst'' (1974), producer * '' The Naked Civil Servant'' (1975), executive producer * ''
Rock Follies ''Rock Follies'' (together with its sequel, ''Rock Follies of '77'') was a musical drama shown on British television in the 1970s. The storyline followed the ups and downs of a fictional female rock band called the Little Ladies, as they strugg ...
'' (1976), executive producer * ''Couples'' (1976), executive producer * ''
The Norman Conquests ''The Norman Conquests'' is a trilogy of plays written in 1973 by Alan Ayckbourn. Each of the plays depicts the same six characters over the same weekend in a different part of a house. ''Table Manners'' is set in the dining room, ''Living Toget ...
'' (1977), producer * ''
ITV Playhouse ''Playhouse'' is a British television anthology series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour ...
'': ''Roadrunner'' (1977), executive producer * ''The Sailor's Return'' (1978), executive producer * ''
Charlie Muffin ''Charlie Muffin'' is a 1979 made-for-TV film based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Brian Freemantle. In the U.S., the picture was later re-released under the title ''A Deadly Game''. A Euston Films production, the movie features Da ...
'' (1979), executive producer * ''
Quatermass Professor Bernard Quatermass is a fictional scientist, originally created by the writer Nigel Kneale for BBC Television. An intelligent and highly moral British scientist, Quatermass is a pioneer of the British space programme, heading the Brit ...
'' (1979), executive producer * ''
The Knowledge Taxicabs are regulated throughout the United Kingdom, but the regulation of taxicabs in London is especially rigorous with regard to mechanical integrity and driver knowledge. An official report observed that: "Little however is known about ...
'' (1979), executive producer * ''A Performance of Macbeth'' (1979), executive producer * ''Fox'': ''King Billy'' (1980), executive producer * ''
The Flame Trees of Thika ''The Flame Trees of Thika'' is a British television serial of seven 50-minute episodes made by Euston Films for Thames Television in 1981. It was adapted by John Hawkesworth from the 1959 book of the same title by Elspeth Huxley, and is set i ...
'' (1981), executive producer * '' Saigon: Year of the Cat'' (1983), producer * ''The Nation's Health'' (1983), executive producer * '' Reilly: Ace of Spies'' (1983), executive producer * ''
Widows A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word can so ...
'' (1983), executive producer * ''
Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...
'' (1979–1984), executive producer * ''
Morons from Outer Space ''Morons from Outer Space'' is a 1985 British comedy-science fiction film directed by Mike Hodges and starring Griff Rhys Jones, Mel Smith, Joanne Pearce, Jimmy Nail and James B. Sikking. Plot The story begins on a small spaceship docking with ...
'' (1985), executive producer * ''
Clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite ...
'' (1986), executive producer * ''Link'' (1986), executive producer * '' Evil Angels'' (''A Cry in the Dark'') (1988), producer * ''American Roulette'' (1988), executive producer * ''Coasting'': ''Offshore'' (1990), producer * '' G.B.H.'' (1991), executive producer * ''
Sleepers ''Sleepers'' is a 1996 American legal crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 book of the same name. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin H ...
'' (1991), executive producer * ''
Boys from the Bush ''Boys From The Bush'' is a British television series produced by the BBC. It was created and written by Douglas Livingstone. Two series of ten episodes each were made between 1991 and 1992. Although never achieving mainstream success, the serie ...
'' (1991), producer * ''
Eldorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...
'' (1992), producer * ''Comics'' (1993), producer * ''
Class Act ''Class Act'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Randall Miller and starring hip-hop duo Kid 'n Play. An urban retelling of Mark Twain's ''The Prince and the Pauper'', the film was written by Cynthia Friedlob and John Semper from a s ...
'' (1994), producer * '' Heavy Weather'' (1995), producer * ''Temp'' (1995), producer * ''
She's Out ''Widows'' is a British primetime television crime drama that was broadcast in 1983 and 1985, produced by Euston Films for Thames Television and aired on the ITV network. Two six-part series were written by crime writer Lynda La Plante. The ex ...
'' (1995), producer * ''
A Perfect State ''A Perfect State'' was a 1997 British situation comedy starring Gwen Taylor, Richard Hope, Trevor Cooper, Emma Amos and Danny Webb. It debuted on BBC1 on Thursday 27 February 1997 and ran for seven episodes. Taylor took the leading role of ...
'' (1997), executive producer * ''
Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the titular character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician while also solvi ...
'' (1998–2004), producer * ''
The Cazalets ''The Cazalets'' is a 2001 television drama series in six episodes (five episodes when broadcast in the US) about the life of a large privileged family in the years 1937 to 1947. Most of the action takes place in London, and at the family's large ...
'' (2001), producer * ''
Love Soup ''Love Soup'' is a British television comedy drama produced by the BBC and first screened on BBC One in the autumn of 2005. It stars Tamsin Greig as Alice Chenery (a role written especially for her) and Michael Landes as Gil Raymond (Series 1 on ...
'' (2005–2007), producer * ''Doctor Who: A Happy Ending'' (2006), script editor


References


External links

*
Video interview at the BBC.co.uk ''Jonathan Creek'' site
(requires RealPlayer)


Verity Lambert Archive Interview at the Doctor Who Appreciation Society
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Verity 1935 births 2007 deaths 20th-century English businesswomen 20th-century English businesspeople 21st-century English businesswomen BAFTA winners (people) BBC television producers British women television producers British television producers Businesspeople from London Deaths from cancer in England English film producers English Jews English television producers Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Roedean School, East Sussex University of Paris alumni