Mark Shivas (24 April 1938 – 11 October 2008) was a British television producer, film producer and executive.

Early life

Shivas was born in

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, London, Sutton, south-west of Croydon, north of Reigate, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Dow ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. His father was an English teacher; his mother was a librarian. He attended

Whitgift School Whitgift School is an independent day school with limited boarding in South Croydon, London. Along with Trinity School of John Whitgift and Old Palace School it is owned by the Whitgift Foundation, a charitable trust. The school was prev ...

in Croydon and read law at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

. Shivas wrote for the student magazine ''Oxford Opinions''.

Career

After abandoning a legal career, he co-founded the magazine ''Movie'' (1961–64), which used the French publication '' Cahiers du Cinéma'' as its model.Geoffrey McNa
"UK producer Mark Shivas dies age 70"
''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'', 14 October 2008 He was assistant editor (1962–64), and also contributed interviews and articles to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Shivas began his television career at

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

in 1964 as an assistant to the head of the story department, and later worked on the company's ''Cinema'' series as a producer and presenter. In 1969, he joined 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 drama department, and became one of the corporation's most successful and prolific producers. The costume drama '' The Six Wives of Henry VIII'' (1970) was nominated for three

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

s in 1972. Dennis Potter's '' Casanova'' (1971) was another success. Other productions he oversaw included the anthology series ''

Black and Blue ''Black and Blue'' is the thirteenth studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 23 April 1976, by Rolling Stones Records. This album was the first record after former guitarist Mick Taylor quit in December 1974. ...

'' (1973), which included the play '' Secrets'' by

Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award, BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knig ...

and

Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh actor, comedian, director, historian, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones a ...

. Critics disliked Shivas's production of '' The Borgias'' (1981) for the BBC; it suffered in comparison with the contemporary ''

Brideshead Revisited ''Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder'' is a novel by the English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of Charles Ryder, esp ...

'' on ITV. Shivas was head of drama at the BBC from 1988 to 1993; he then moved to run

BBC Films BBC Film (formerly BBC Films) is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It was founded on 18 June 1990, and has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including ''Truly, Madly, Deeply (film), Truly, ...

, which he had founded in 1990 as part of the Drama Department, and was executive producer of twenty films. In later years, he returned to producing as a freelancer. Some of his most noted later productions included the second series of

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. He has received numerous awards and honours including four BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Tony Awards. In 2005 he received the Socie ...

's ''

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

'' monologues in 1998 and the 2003

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

drama '' Cambridge Spies''.

Death

Shivas died from skin cancer (Melanoma) on 11 October 2008, aged 70.Philip Purser, Alan Bennett and Ronald Harwood
Obituary: Mark Shivas
''The Guardian'', 16 October 2008.

References

External links

*

filmed

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

event, March 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Shivas, Mark 1938 births 2008 deaths Alumni of Merton College, Oxford BBC executives BBC television producers People educated at Whitgift School Deaths from lung cancer