Douglas Geoffrey Bridson (21 August 1910 – 19 October 1980), commonly known as D. G. Bridson, was a

radio producer A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. The job title covers several different job descriptions: *Content producers or executive producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature. The content producer might organize music cho ...

and author who became the "cultural boss of the BBC".

Biography

Grave of Douglas Geoffrey Bridson in Highgate Cemetery

Douglas Bridson (he was known to all as Geoffrey) started as a freelance writer then joined

BBC radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

as a Feature Programmes Assistant for their North Region in 1935. He became the influential BBC Programme Editor for Arts, Sciences, and Documentaries (Sound) from 1964 to 1967 and retired in 1969, having written or produced more than 800 programmes during his career. Many of his radio plays featured music by

Norman Fulton Robert Norman Fulton (23January 19095August 1980) was an English-born composer, broadcaster and teacher of Scottish ancestry. Life and career Fulton was born in London but educated in Scotland at Glasgow High School. From 1929 until 1933 he stu ...

. In his poems he made frequent reference to the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

where he had family. Of interest to all theatre people is the close relationship he had with

Joan Littlewood Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) was an English theatre director who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and is best known for her work in developing the Theatre Workshop. She has been called "The Mother of M ...

. He died on 19 October 1980 and his ashes are buried on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

to the right of the war memorial in the courtyard.

Works

* '' The March of the 45'' (1936) * ''The Bomb'' (1954), a documentary on the consequences of a nuclear war. * ''My People and Your People'' (1959), a "West Indian Ballad Opera" written with additional material from Jamaican writer

Andrew Salkey Andrew Salkey (30 January 1928 – 28 April 1995) was a Jamaican novelist, poet, children's books writer and journalist of Jamaican and Panamanian origin. He was born in Panama but was raised in Jamaica, moving to Britain in the 1952 to pursu ...

* ''The Negro in America'' (1964) * ''America since the Bomb'' (1966)

References

English radio producers 1910 births 1980 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery People from Stockport Mass media people from Manchester 20th-century English businesspeople {{BBC-stub