Ken Riddington (8 May 1922 – 26 December 2014)Simon Farquha

''The Independent'', 12 March 2015. Some sources give his year of births as 1920. was an English

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

, who worked predominantly in BBC television drama from the 1970s onwards. Riddington was born in Leicester. Originally a stage actor, "truly dreadful" according to Riddington himself, he moved to a back stage role managing the Adelphi Theatre from 1950 and then directing the musical ''Rendezvous'' at the Comedy Theatre in 1952. Later, he managed the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...

and Palace Theatres in London's West End."House of Cards producer Ken Riddington dies"
''Ariel'', 8 January 2015 After a period as a BBC television floor manager in the early 1970s, he became a producer. His first project as a producer to gain recognition was the 10 part serial adaptation of '' Anna Karenina'' (1977). Subsequently Riddington produced several high-profile television series and serials, including '' A Horseman Riding By'' (1978), '' Tenko'' (1981), '' To Serve Them All My Days'' (1981), '' The Citadel'' (1983), '' Diana'' (1984), ''

The House of Eliott ''The House of Eliott'' is a British television series produced and broadcast by the BBC in three series between 31 August 1991 and 6 March 1994. The series starred Stella Gonet as Beatrice Eliott and Louise Lombard as Evangeline Eliott, two s ...

'' (1991) and Andrew Davies's adaptations of Michael Dobbs' '' House of Cards'' trilogy — ''House of Cards'' (1990), '' To Play the King'' (1993) and '' The Final Cut'' (1995). Riddington was involved with several other projects scripted by Davies, including ''

A Very Peculiar Practice ''A Very Peculiar Practice'' is a British surreal black-comedy drama set in the health centre of a university, produced by the BBC, which ran for two series in 1986 and 1988. The two series were followed by a 90-minute made-for-television film ...

'' (1986–88), a black comedy set in a university medical centre. For a time during the 1980s, he was the acting Head of Series & Serials in the BBC drama department, before returning to front-line producing work. Ending his period at the BBC at the age of 75, he and his wife Liz Riddington enjoyed twelve years of retirement before Ken moved to a London nursing home, where he was treated for dementia. Riddington died on 26 December 2014.

References

External links

* 1922 births 2014 deaths BBC television producers English television producers {{UK-tv-bio-stub