 Although often overlooked, Michael Barry is an important figure in the
development of British television drama. He joined the BBC as a television
producer in 1938, when just to be working in television was to be a pioneer. He
produced 21 plays, most performed live at least twice, before leaving in 1939 to
serve in the Second World War. Returning in 1946, he produced his own adaptation
of The Silence of the Sea for the television service's re-opening night (tx.
7/6/1946). Giving a sympathetic portrait of a German officer in occupied France,
it was a brave choice for its time.
Over the following years, he strove to bring a depth and vitality to his
productions, making early use of back-projection and models. He had an important
role pioneering drama documentary, producing Robert Barr's I Want to be an Actor
(tx. 6/10/1946) and his own teleplay I Want to be a Doctor (tx. 20/5/1947),
which became an early classic of the medium. He had successes working with
novelist Charles Terrot, crafting The Passionate Pilgrim (tx.7/8/1949), about
one of Florence Nightingale's nurses, and Shout Aloud Salvation (tx. 15/4/1951),
depicting the roots of the Salvation Army, from Terrot's historical research.
He was appointed Assistant Head of Television Drama in 1951, becoming full
head the following year. His priorities as head were to attract new writers to
the medium and to improve the general quality of the department's output. He
created the Drama Script Section and engaged writers keen to create plays
specially for television, such as Nigel Kneale and Iain MacCormick. He also
vastly expanded the pool of producer/directors, hiring those, like Rudolph
Cartier and Don Taylor, who would create some of the department's best work.
Under Barry's leadership, the Drama department expanded to the point that it
produced over 200 hours of original drama in 1961. It was a period of "drive,
organization and artistic skill", as The Times wrote upon Barry's death, which
bred such innovative programming as An Age of Kings (1960) and popular series
like Maigret (1960-63). In 1956, Barry was awarded the OBE in recognition of his
work.
He resigned suddenly in 1961. Ever the gentleman, he never commented publicly on his reasons, but it was rumoured that he was unwilling to follow the instruction to take a more populist line in drama. He briefly became programme
controller to Irish Television before teaching at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
Oliver Wake
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FILM & TV CREDITS