Code | DS/UK/502 |
Person Name | Willingale; Betty (1927-2021); Script Editor, Television Producer |
Dates | 1927-2021 |
Dates and Places | Born in Rotherhithe, London, 1927. Died in Battersea, London, 2021. |
Activity | Work:
Betty Willingale began working for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the library at Bush House (International division), 1944.
She later worked in the BBC Script Unit in the Script Library.
She was Script Editor for the BBC drama, 1962-1988, first for the producer Campbell Logan and later with Martin Lisemore, including on adaptations of 'I, Claudius,' 1976, 'Murder Most English,' 1976, and with Jonathan Powell on 'Wuthering Heights,' 1978, 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,' 1979, 'Pride and Prejudice, 1980'
She then became a Producer in her own right for the BBC, 1983-1988, including on 'Mansfield Park,' 1983 and 'Fortunes of War,' 1987.
After retiring from the BBC she worked as a consultant for Carnival Films, 1988-1992, with independent producer Brian Eastman including on 'Jeeves and Wooster,' 1990, for ITV.
For Carnival, she also worked as a Script Editor for 'Agatha Christie's Poirot', 1988-1990. Most notibly, she also worked a Producer for 'Midsomer Murders,' 1996-2009, starring John Nettles, broadcast on ITV.
As an interviewee, Betty made a number of television appearances herself:
2005, 'Drama Connections (I, Claudius)', Brendan O’Hara, BBC 2006, 'Super Sleuths' ('Midsommer Murders', etc), ITV [?2007, 'The Hunt for Middle England', Collette Camden, 2007] 2010, 'Bafta Tribute Special Award', Jonathan Powell interviewer 2010, 'The People’s Detective', ITV 2013, 'The Crime Thriller Club', ITV
Interviewed for the the British Entertainment History Project, BECTU Interview date(s): 5 Mar 2003 Interviewer/s: Darrol Blake, Rick Harley Https://historyproject.org.uk https://historyproject.org.uk/interview/betty-willingale |
Published Works | Script Editor for the BBC: 1962 Compact 1963 Rupert of Henzau 6 Episodes 1964 Silas Marner, 6 Episodes 1964 Smuggler’s Bay, 6 Episodes 1964 The Children of the New Forest 1965 The Count of Monte Cristo, 13 Episodes 1965 Alexander Graham Bell, 6 Episodes 1965 A Tale of Two Cities, 10 Episodes 1965 Poison Island, 6 Episodes 1965 Heiress of Garth, 6 Episodes 1965 Hereward the Wake, 16 Episodes 1966 David Copperfield, 13 Episodes 1970 Boy Meets Girl, 6 Episodes Of 21 1968 Treasure Island, 6 Episodes 1969 Dombey and Son, 13 Episodes 1975 North and South, 4 Episodes 1975 How Green was my Valley, 6 Episodes 1976 Our Mutual Friend, 7 Episodes 1976 I, Claudius, 3 Episodes 1978 The Birds Fall Down, 5 Episodes 1976 Murder Most English, 7 Episodes 1977 A Christmas Carol, 2 Episodes 1978 The Mayor of Casterbridge, 6 Episodes 1978 Wuthering Heights, 5 Episodes 1979 Crime and Punishment, 3 Episodes 1979 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, 7 Episodes 1979 Testament of Youth, 5 Episodes 1980 Pride and Prejudice, 5 Episodes 1980 Therese Raquin, 3 Episodes 1980 We, the Accused, 5 Episodes 1982 Sons and Lovers, 7 Episodes 1982 The Bell, 4 Episodes 1982 The Woman in White, 5 Episodes 1980 Smiley’s People, 7 Episodes 1982 Barchester Chronicles, 6 Episodes 1983 Old Men at the Zoo, 5 Episodes 1985 Bleak House, 7 Episodes
Producer for the BBC 1983 Mansfield Park, 6 Episodes 1986 Tender is the Night, 7 Episodes 1987 Fortunes of War, 12 Episodes
Consultant for Carnival, for ITV 1988-90 Forever Green, 12 Episodes 1988-92 Jeeves and Wooster, 21 Episodes 1992 Harnessing Peacocks
Script Editor for Carnival, for ITV 1988-90 Agatha Christie’s Poirot, 10 Episodes
Producer, for ITV 1995 The Vacillations of Poppy Carew 1996-2009 Midsomer Murders, 75 Episodes
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RefNo | Title |
BW/1 | Work for the BBC |
BW/1/1 | Readers Reports and script proposals |
BW/1/1/1 | Reader Reports A |
BW/1/1/2 | Reader Reports B |
BW/1/2 | Correspondence on BBC Productions |
BW/1/2/2 | 'I, Claudius,' 1976 |
BW/1/2/3 | 'Mayor of Casterbridge', 1978 |
BW/1/2/4 | 'The Barchester Chronicles', 1982 |
BW/1/2/5 | 'Mansfield Park', 1983 |
BW/3/26 | Draft letter from Betty Willingale to Waveney District council on behalf of Mr Adnams |
BW/1/2/6 | 'Bleak House,' 1985 |
BW/1/2/7 | 'Tender is the Night', 1985 |
BW/1/2/8 | 'Fortunes of War,' 1987 |
BW/1/3 | Other BBC Correspondence and ephemera |
BW/1/3/1 | 'Instructions' |
BW/1/3/10 | Press cutting, obituary to Edmund Wolf, Director of Programmes at the BBC |
BW/1/3/11 | Eulogy for Michael Barry |
BW/1/3/2 | Transcript, 'As broadcast': 'In Memoriam' |
BW/1/3/3 | Letter from Vincent [Tilsely] to Betty Willingale |
BW/1/3/4 | Poem, 'Trumpeter' by Herbert Corby |
BW/1/3/5 | Letter from Huw Weldon (BBC Television Centre) |
BW/1/3/6 | Article by Sydney Newman, Head of Drama Group, Television, titled, 'Plays for BBC-TV' |
BW/1/3/7 | Letter from 'Pamela' to 'Alison' |
BW/1/3/8 | Various items of correspondence from the BBC in 1988 (Betty's year of retirement) |
BW/1/3/9 | Letter from 'Craig' at BBC Television to Betty Willingale |
BW/2 | Work for ITV |
BW/2/2 | 'Jeeves and Wooster,' 1990 |
BW/2/3 | 'Harnessing Peacocks.' 1993 |
BW/2/4 | 'The Vacillations of Poppy Carew,' 1995 |
BW/2/5 | 'Midsomer Murders,' 1997 |
BW/3 | Correspondence |
BW/3/1 | Press cuttings and correspondence on the closure of the BBC Script Unit |
BW/3/9 | Letter from Beatrix Collingham to 'Madame la Patronne' |
BW/3/10 | Letter from Ian Curteis to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/12 | Letter from Rebecca Eaton to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/13 | Letter from Tim Fell, at Landmark Productions, to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/15 | Letter from John [John Foster] to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/16 | 4 postcards from Shelagh Fraser |
BW/3/17 | Correspondence from Richard Harris |
BW/3/18 | Letter from Ian Jones to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/21 | Correspondence with Alan Plater |
BW/3/22 | Letter, undated, from 'JP' [Jonathan Powell] to Betty |
BW/3/23 | Letter from Gillian [?Reynolds] to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/24 | Letter from Teresa Ransom to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/25 | Letter from Paul Vaughan to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/27 | Letter from Tim West to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/28 | Correspondence from the Writer's Guild to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/29 | Letter from 'Betty S' to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/30 | Round Robin letter from 'Shirley, John, Justine, Kaitlin, Sophie, Biggles and the cats' to Betty WIllingale. |
BW/2/1 | Notebook with notes on various projects including 'Forever Green, (1988-1990)' 'Jeeves and Wooster (1988-1992),' and 'Maigret (1992)' |
BW/3/32 | Postcard from 'Martin' to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/2 | Letter from Peter Barber-Fleming, at Saltire Film and Television Productions, to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/34 | One page of a letter from an unknown relative/friend to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/35 | Loose press cuttings and notes |
BW/3/3 | Letter from Taner Baybars to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/4 | Letters from John Bowen to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/6 | Correspondence from Jeremy Brock to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/5 | Printed 'thankyou' from the British Library |
BW/3/7 | Letter from Andrew Brown to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/8 | Letter from Antony Brown to Betty Willingale |
BW/4 | Photographs |
BW/4/1 | Loose photographs |
BW/4/2 | Framed photograph, of Serena Scott Thomas and Pater Davison, from 'Harnessing Peacocks', 1992 |
BW/5 | Awards and memorabilia |
BW/5/1 | Broadcasting Press Guild TV Award for 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' |
BW/5/2 | Framed drawing, celebrating the TV adaptation of Mansfield Park, by Jensen |
BW/5/3 | 'Certificate of Nomination' for The British Academy of Film and Television Arts, (BAFTA) for 'Bleak House' (The Best Drama Series) |
BW/5/4 | Framed award, Broadcasting Press Guild Television Awards, 1987, for 'Fortunes of War' (Best Drama Series or Serial) |
BW/5/5 | 'Certificate of Nomination' for The British Academy of Film and Television Arts, (BAFTA) for 'Fortunes of War', (Best Drama Series) |
BW/5/7 | Framed photograph, '34th Monte Carlo Television Festival: Nymphe D'Or , "Harnessing Peacocks"', (Best Television Film) |
BW/5/6 | Press cuttings relating to RTS [Royal Television Society] Awards, 1988 and 1993 |
BW/5/8 | Folder of material relating to the BAFTA celebration of the work and career of Betty Willingale |
BW/6 | Books |
BW/7 | Audio Visual |
BW/8 | Material about Betty Willingale |
BW/3/14 | Letter from Norma Flint to Betty Willingale |
BW/3/20 | Correspondence from the Monte-Carlo film festival, 1998 |
BW/1/1/3 | Reader Reports C |
BW/1/1/4 | Reader Reports D |
BW/1/1/5 | Reader Reports E-G |
BW/1/1/6 | Reader Reports H |
BW/1/1/7 | Reader Reports I-J |
BW/1/1/8 | Reader Reports K-L |
BW/1/1/9 | Reader Reports M-N |
BW/1/1/10 | Reader Reports O-R |
BW/1/1/11 | Reader Reports S |
BW/1/1/12 | Reader Reports T |
BW/1/1/13 | Reader Reports U-V |
BW/1/1/14 | Reader Reports W |
BW/1/1/15 | Reader Reports Z |
BW/1/2/1 | 'Little Dorrit,' 1975 |
BW | Betty Willingale Archive |