Sydney Newman’s strongest work was giving original television a chance to reach a large audience. We rate the practical intelligence behind Doctor Who and his support for new writers and directors, while leaving the performers their share of the credit.
Fi1m perspective
In Doctor Who (1963), actors make absurd situations frightening by treating them as if they matter. We were unsettled by that seriousness, even when the premise invited a smile. The pacing can be stubborn, and the programme needs room to talk. But the Doctor’s changing temperament gives us a reason to return. Newman’s contribution begins with getting such a programme made; the pleasure of watching it owes a great deal to the people who followed.
His work on Armchair Theatre at ABC from 1958 favoured original contemporary plays written for television rather than adapted from the stage. Harold Pinter supplied several plays, and Ted Kotcheff was among the directors Newman nurtured. This is the part of his judgement we particularly value: trusting new writing to interest a large audience.
The Avengers (1961), which he created at ABC, took that appetite for original television into a continuing series. At the BBC, Doctor Who began as an answer to a gap in the Saturday schedule, a pleasingly ordinary reason to commission science fiction. Newman favoured family entertainment with educational or social content. That combination seems to us a sensible starting point, though it cannot excuse a dull stretch once the programme is on screen.
His BBC work also included initiating The Wednesday Play (1964), an anthology that made room for social-realist drama, including work by Ken Loach. Producer Verity Lambert was another talent he encouraged. These collaborators matter when assessing Newman, because so much of his achievement lay in recognising what other people might do. We would be wary of attributing every successful scene to the man who helped commission the programme.
His approach was sometimes criticised as overly commercial or lacking a deep theatrical tradition. Neither objection troubles us much: contemporary plays and popular science fiction are worthwhile things to put on television. The stubborn pace of Doctor Who is a more useful reservation, because it affects the evening rather than the reputation. Start there for the actors and the changing Doctor, provided a science-fiction adventure with plenty of conversation appeals.
Biography
Sydney Newman was a Canadian television producer and executive. Born Sydney Cecil Nudelman in Toronto on 1 April 1917, he began his career at the National Film Board of Canada before working in television at the CBC.
From 1958 he worked in Britain, first as supervisor of drama at ABC and then as Head of Drama at the BBC from 1962. In these roles he created the series The Avengers (1961) and Doctor Who (1963), and oversaw anthology drama strands including Armchair Theatre and The Wednesday Play.
Newman returned to Canada in 1970 and held senior positions at the CRTC, the National Film Board of Canada and the Canadian Film Development Corporation. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada and died in Toronto on 30 October 1997.
