Michael David Cobham (11 May 1930 – 25 March 2018) was a British film and TV producer and director, best known for the film ''

Tarka the Otter ''Tarka the Otter: His Joyful Water-Life and Death in the Country of the Two Rivers'' is a 1927 novel by English writer Henry Williamson, first published by G. P. Putnam's Sons with an introduction by Sir John Fortescue. It won the Hawthornd ...

''. He was also a

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

er.

Early life

Cobham was educated at

Stowe School The Stowe School is a public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13–18 in the countryside of Stowe, England. It was opened on 11 May, 1923 at Stowe House, a Grade I Heritage Estate belonging to the British Crown. ...

, where he played for the school cricket team, before going up to

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

to read natural sciences.

Cricket career

He played

minor counties cricket The National Counties, known as the Minor Counties before 2020, are the cricketing counties of England and Wales that do not have first-class status. The game is administered by the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), which comes unde ...

for

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

in the 1948

Minor Counties Championship The NCCA 3 Day Championship or National County Championship is a season-long competition in England and Wales that is contested by the members of the National Counties Cricket Association (NCCA), the so-called national counties (previously ca ...

, making five appearances. He later made an appearance in

for the

Free Foresters Free Foresters Cricket Club is an England, English amateur cricket club, established in 1856 for players from the Midland counties of England. It is a 'wandering' (or nomadic) club, having no home ground. The Free Foresters were founded by the ...

against

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Fenner's Fenner's is Cambridge University Cricket Club's ground. History Cambridge University Cricket Club had previously played at two grounds in Cambridge, the University Ground and Parker's Piece. In 1846, Francis Fenner leased a former cherry orc ...

in 1953. He bowled ten wicket-less overs in Cambridge University's first-innings, before taking the wickets of

Mike Bushby Michael Howard Bushby (29 July 1931 – 8 February 2020) was an English cricketer. He played 43 first-class matches for Cambridge University Cricket Club between 1952 and 1954. An opening batsman, Mike Bushby captained Cambridge University in ...

and

Dennis Silk Dennis Raoul Whitehall Silk (8 October 193119 June 2019) was an English first-class cricketer and a public school headmaster, as Warden of Radley College, from 1968 to 1991. He was a close friend of the poet Siegfried Sassoon, of whom he spoke ...

in their second-innings to finish with figures of 2 for 21 from seven overs. He failed to score while batting, being dismissed in the Free Foresters' first-innings by Myles Arkell and

Raman Subba Row Raman Subba Row (29 January 1932 – 17 April 2024) was an English cricketer who played for the national team, Cambridge University, Surrey and Northamptonshire. Life and career Born in Streatham, Surrey, England on 29 January 1932, to an I ...

in their second-innings.

Filmmaking career

Cobham directed the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's first wildlife film ''The Vanishing Hedgerows'' in 1972 with

Henry Williamson Henry William Williamson (1 December 1895 – 13 August 1977) was an English writer who wrote novels concerned with wildlife, English social history, ruralism and the First World War. He was awarded the Hawthornden Prize for literature in 1928 ...

noting changes brought about by new farming methods. At the

Monte-Carlo Television Festival The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is held every year in June in the Monaco, Principality of Monaco at the Grimaldi Forum, under the Honorary Presidency of H.S.H. Albert II, Prince of Monaco, Prince Albert II of Monaco. The opening ceremony ...

, it won a silver nymph in the category for documentaries. ''Tarka the Otter'' is a 1979 British

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by Cobham, based on the 1927 novel of the same name by Williamson. ''Tarka the Otter'' was voted 98th in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

’s poll of the ''100 Greatest Family Films''. He also directed and produced the children's TV series ''

Bernard's Watch ''Bernard's Watch'' (informally known as ''Bernard'' in the reboot series) is a British children's drama series about a young boy who could stop time with a magical pocket watch. The show was created by Andrew Norriss and was produced for seve ...

'', '' Brendon Chase'', ''The Secret World of Polly Flint'', ''

Out of Sight ''Out of Sight'' is a 1998 American action comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Scott Frank, adapted from Elmore Leonard's 1996 novel. The first of several collaborations between Soderbergh and actor George Clooney, it was ...

'', ''

Woof! ''Woof!'' is a British children's television series produced by Central Independent Television about the adventures of a boy who shapeshifts into a dog. Based on the book by Allan Ahlberg (who wrote several episodes of the series), it was dire ...

'' and the wildlife-orientated ''Seal Morning'' (1986). His wildlife films include ''The Goshawk'' (1968), and ''

To Build a Fire "To Build a Fire" is a short story by American author Jack London. There are two versions of this story. The first one was published in 1902, and the other was published in 1908. The story written in 1908 has become an often anthologized class ...

'' (1969), narrated by

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American director, actor, writer, producer, and magician who is remembered for his innovative work in film, radio, and theatre. He is among the greatest and most influential film ...

. He also directed a BBC series about Japan, ''In the Shadow of Fujisan'' (

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

1987 and

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

2009). Other projects included ''One Pair of Eyes'' (1970) about the sculptor John Skeaping, ''Survival in Limbo'' (1976) starring

Duncan Carse Verner Duncan Carse (28 July 1913 – 2 May 2004) was an English explorer and actor known for surveying South Georgia Island, South Georgia and for the portrayal of Special Agent Dick Barton on BBC Radio. Early life Carse was born on 28 July 1 ...

, and he was also the director/producer for BP's film of

Donald Campbell Donald Malcolm Campbell, (23 March 1921 – 4 January 1967) was a British speed record breaker who broke eight absolute world speed records on water and on land in the 1950s and 1960s. He remains the only person to set both world land a ...

's Land Speed Record attempt at Utah in 1960.

Books

Cobham's first book, ''A Sparrowhawk's Lament: How British Breeding Birds of Prey Are Faring'', was published in 2014; his next book, ''Bowland Beth: The Life of an English Hen Harrier'', a study of the persecution of the

hen harrier The hen harrier (''Circus cyaneus'') is a bird of prey. It breeds in Palearctic, Eurasia. The term "hen harrier" refers to its former habit of preying on free-ranging fowl. It bird migration, migrates to more southerly areas in winter. Eurasian ...

on the grouse moors of the

Forest of Bowland The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells and formerly the Chase of Bowland, is an area of gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England, with a small part in North Yorkshire (however ro ...

, was published in 2017.

Death

Cobham died of a stroke on 25 March 2018 at the age of 87. He is survived by his wife

Liza Goddard Louise Elizabeth Goddard (born 20 January 1950), professionally known as Liza Goddard, is an English television and stage actress, best known for her work in the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Goddard was born in Smethwick, Staffordshire.Before ...

, ex-president of the Hawk and Owl Trust, of which he was vice-president.

References

External links

*
David Cobham Youtube ChannelBFI Filmography
Cobham, David * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cobham, David 1930 births 2018 deaths People from Bridlington People educated at Stowe School Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge English cricketers Berkshire cricketers Free Foresters cricketers British film directors British film producers 20th-century British businesspeople Cricketers from the East Riding of Yorkshire