Michael John Wilmot Appleton (30 December 1936 – 2 April 2020) was a British television producer and director who produced the

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

music series ''

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music series broadcast by the BBC. It was devised by producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough, and aired on BBC2 from ...

''.

Background

Appleton was born in

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, and moved in 1946 with his parents to

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. He attended

Wells Cathedral School Wells Cathedral School is an independent co-educational boarding and day school for 2–18 year olds located in Wells, Somerset, Wells, Somerset, England, which provides an all-round education alongside specialist music and chorister training. T ...

, before being conscripted into military service in Germany, where he learned

sound recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, Mechanical system, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of ...

techniques.

Career

Appleton joined the BBC in Bristol in 1958, working on radio programmes, and then transferred to the television service in London. He became a production assistant on the arts magazine programme '' Late Night Line-Up'', before focusing on the programme's spin-off music shows, '' Colour Me Pop'' and '' Disco 2'', produced by

Rowan Ayers Rowan Ayers (16 June 1922 – 5 January 2008) was a British television producer and executive. He was best known as producer of BBC's ''Line-Up'' and ''Late Night Line-Up'' in the 1960s. He was the originator of BBCs influential late night rock m ...

. Richard Williams, "Mike Appleton obituary"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 10 April 2020. Retrieved 21 April 2020 In 1971, Appleton became the producer of a new weekly programme on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

, ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. Appleton was responsible for the show's title and its format, including both live and pre-recorded performances by alternative rock acts, as well as interviews. One of its early presenters, Richard Williams, said: "Starting with virtually no budget and the smallest studio in the BBC’s Television Centre, Mike Appleton turned ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' into the most effective vehicle for the burgeoning rock culture of the 1970s." It continued to develop through the late 1970s and 1980s, with an expanded budget and an ability to reflect changing musical tastes. In December 1980, Appleton put together a tribute show to

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

, on the evening of his death. He was also responsible for ensuring that the shows were recorded for posterity rather than being discarded, as had been the previous practice.Keith Badman, "Old Grey Whistle Test'"
''Record Collector''. Retrieved 21 April 2020 The success of ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' led to Appleton working on special live shows by artists such as

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

and

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

, as well as the British end of the

Live Aid Live Aid was a two-venue benefit concert and music-based fundraising initiative held on Saturday, 13 July 1985. The event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia, a m ...

concert in 1985, for which he won a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs or BAFTA Awards, is an annual film award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to f ...

. When ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' ended in 1987 after 16 years, Appleton produced the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute concert the following year, before leaving the BBC to join The Landscape Channel. He also expanded his collection of old

phonograph A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

s and gramophones, claimed to be the best collection in Europe. He continued to direct until retiring in 2000.

Personal life and death

In 1967, Appleton married Lucille "Lulu" Lewin, a designer and psychotherapist. They had a daughter and a foster daughter. In retirement, he lived in

Cobham, Surrey Cobham () is a large village in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, centred south-west of London and northeast of Guildford on the River Mole, Surrey, River Mole. It has a commercial/services High Street, a significant number of pr ...

. On 2 April 2020, Appleton died at St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, during the

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Appleton, Mike 1936 births 2020 deaths BBC television producers British television producers Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England People educated at Wells Cathedral School People from Cobham, Surrey