Beryl Vertue and Paul Jackson onstage at the BFI, February 26
2013
As the culmination of a season of programming throughout the
month, the BFI held a special in conversation session last night
with Beryl Vertue OBE, executive producer of Sherlock and
chairman of Hartswood Films. Interviewed by Paul Jackson and filled
with brilliant anecdotes and dry humour, it offered a masterclass
from one of the UK's greatest producers of television
entertainment, in front of an audience including members of
Sherlock's production crew like Mark Gatiss, Sue Vertue, Stephen
Thompson, David Arnold, Arwel Wyn Jones, Elaine Cameron and indeed,
much of the major staff of Hartswood Films. While the BFI recorded
the entire session and will be uploading video highlights in the
coming days, we can offer a summary of memorable moments from the
event.
After an excellent and exhaustive video reel showcasing the
myriad projects she had contributed to, Beryl initially recounted
her unexpected entry into the television landscape, marked by her
reluctance to apply for a job due to the distance she would have to
travel on the trolley bus to and from work every day. Interviewed
by British comedy legend Spike Milligan, she became agent to him
and other stars such as Eric Sykes, Tony Hancock and Frankie
Howerd.
Beryl rather impishly revealed her part in the copyright
circumstances of iconic Doctor Who villains the Daleks,
which saw the use of the aliens signed over to their creator Terry
Nation instead of being retained by the BBC - she simply removed
the line regarding ownership from the contract as it didn't appear
important, and jokingly implied the headaches she had caused for
her future son-in-law Steven Moffat without even realising.
Beryl Vertue
Her first signed contract though came when she joined the Robert
Stigwood Organisation as the company's Deputy Chairman, and from
there she travelled the world selling original format television to
different networks around the globe - the most notable being the
long running Sanford and Son and All in the
Family in the USA, based off Stigwood's original British
classics Steptoe and Son and 'Til Death Do Us
Part respectively . While part of Stigwood she also produced
numerous US TV Movies, as well as Tommy, where she was
instrumental in securing the appearance of Tina Turner in the cast
- memorably recounted by Beryl as an 'odd' visit to see the
singer's abusive husband Ike, where she decided to remain 'very
British' during the negotiation.
Beryl also recounted the creation of Hartswood Films, which she
set up after Robert Stigwood decided to close down his company.
Named for the Grade II listed building Hartswood Manor, where she
grew up, and taking its logo from a tree found on the grounds, the
company was relatively quiet for nearly five years before Beryl
picked up a copy of the comedy novel Men Behaving Badly by
Simon Nye, and after a false start with ITV and a resurrection on
the BBC, Hartswood had its first major hit. From there the rest is
well documented, taking in further successes like Is it
Legal?; Carrie and Barry; and Coupling
written by her new son-in-law Steven Moffat, before the creation of
Sherlock.
Aptly ending with the final rooftop scene from S2E3: The
Reichenbach Fall, Paul Jackson put it to Beryl that despite
the apparent death of Sherlock that we had just witnessed on the
huge screen of BFI NFT1, how was it possible for Benedict
Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman to return for the imminent start of
filming of Series Three in the next couple of weeks? Pointing to
the Hartswood ranks in the audience, she simply said "If I told
you, they'd probably all kill me."
This article will be updated with links to the BFI video of
the event in the near future.
