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 BBC television dramas have been produced and broadcast since even before the public service company had an officially established television broadcasting network in the United Kingdom. As with any major broadcast network, drama forms an importa ...

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 The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

from 1950 and then directing the musical ''Rendezvous'' at the

Comedy Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,

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 Theatre Palace Theatre, or Palace Theater, is the name of many theatres in different countries, including: Australia *Palace Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria *Palace Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales Canada *Palace Theatre, housed in the Robillard Block, Mo ...

s 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 ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, Анна Каренина, p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Tolstoy called it his first true novel. It was initially released in serial in ...

'' (1977). Subsequently Riddington produced several high-profile television series and serials, including ''

A Horseman Riding By ''A Horseman Riding By'' is a trilogy of historical novels written by R. F. Delderfield, first published between 1966 and 1968. Set in rural Devon, England, the novels span the years from the late 19th century through World War I, the interwar ...

'' (1978), '' Tenko'' (1981), ''

To Serve Them All My Days : ''For the 1980 television adaptation, see To Serve Them All My Days (TV series).'' ''To Serve Them All My Days'' is a novel by British author R. F. Delderfield. First published in 1972, the book was adapted for television in 1980. It has ...

'' (1981), ''

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

'' (1983), ''

Diana Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), ...

'' (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 Michael John Dobbs, Baron Dobbs (born 14 November 1948) is a British Conservative politician, media commentator and author, best known for his '' House of Cards'' trilogy. He has been a television and radio presenter and a senior corporate exe ...

' ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a struc ...

'' trilogy — ''House of Cards'' (1990), ''

To Play the King ''To Play the King'' is a 1993 BBC television serial and the second part of the ''House of Cards'' trilogy. Directed by Paul Seed, the serial was based on Michael Dobbs' 1992 novel of the same name and adapted for television by Andrew Davies. T ...

'' (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