Just months into starting the podcast, I was fortunate enough to meet up with the legendary writer and producer Paul Jackson at BFI Southbank for an early episode of Beyond The Title. Knowing Paul since 2010 when I embarked upon a screenplay based on the life and work of the legendary Sir Bill Cotton, I’ve been lucky enough to witness his great wisdom and insight on many occasions. Therefore compiling a producer’s series on the podcast wouldn’t have felt right without his contribution. After all, producing is in his blood as a result of his father T. Leslie Jackson being somewhat of a pioneer of television production during the early 1950’s. Beginning his career as a cable basher at Alexandra Palace, T. Leslie Jackson became one of the most trusted Light Entertainment producers of his generation and set a key example to the young Paul that a career in TV was now an option.
It wasn’t long before T. Leslie Jackson was promoted and became responsible for quiz and Light Entertainment shows. Early attempts at the quiz show format were incredibly basic with titles such as Animal Vegetable Mineral which were used as testcards for future formats. Yet T. Leslie Jackson was tasked with developing US imports including What’s My Line and This Is Your Life which both became successful vehicles for the legendary Eamonn Andrews. Surrounded by luminaries of British television including Ronnie Waldman and Eric Maschwitz, T. Leslie Jackson would become one of the most influential television producers of his generation and helped to set the benchmark to televisual entertainment for years to come.
As Paul got older, he frequented Television Centre regularly and watched his father running the studio floor. This was when he fell in love with the art of entertainment and the opportunity to watch the seminal That Was The Week That Was offered him access to some of the most famous comics in Britain. Meeting the all conquering David Frost at such a pivotal time in his career was something astonishing for the young Paul who at this time couldn’t have foreseen that two decades later he would be working alongside this great entertainment figure. This is just one of the many reasons why Paul Jackson’s career remains so remarkable.
Joining the BBC himself in 1970, Paul found himself in the midst of Bill Cotton’s legendary Light Entertainment department which was responsible for The Generation Game, Morecambe and Wise, Dave Allen, The Two Ronnies and Parkinson. Following a brief stint as assistant floor manager for Morecambe and Wise, Paul joined the team on The Two Ronnies and climbed the ranks from Assistant Floor Manager all the way up to executive producer in a period of fifteen years. In doing this, he became firm friends with both Corbett and Barker and had a ringside seat on their special dynamic. From Ronnie Barker acting as his guarantor on his first mortgage application to Paul being instrumental to both their memorial services at Westminster Abbey, this close friendship between the three men transcended entertainment and the love for Corbett and Barker still surrounds him today.
The changing times at the BBC meant that The Two Ronnies were now being looked after by others which allowed Paul to contemplate new ideas. By this time Don Ward’s Comedy Store in Soho had begun to attract attention from a wide audience and the press and the performers who had become synonymous with the club had started to look further afield. Paul was among one of the first TV producers to realise the potential in the stars of Alternative Comedy and in 1982 he produced a sitcom which would bring a new generation to Light Entertainment. The Young Ones starring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson rebelled against the fixed concepts of sitcom and rewrote the rule book for comedy.
By this time, Paul had moved into a senior role at the BBC and Ed Bye and Marcus Plantin were running individual shows. Having never considered a role away from the corporation, he always thought the BBC would surround his entire career. However, a meeting with the legendary John Howard-Davies would make him consider new territory. This coincided with a conversation with the legendary David Bell who was then the Head of Light Entertainment at LWT would ultimately tempt him away from the corporation. The Cannon and Ball Show had risen out of the embers of the thwarted Bruce’s Big Night and gave comedy legends; Tommy Cannon and Bobby Ball their first TV vehicle. Paul was now tasked with updating the format for a 1980’s audience and in doing so got a close insight into the magic of this well loved double act. Bobby Ball was one of Britain’s finest clowns and Tommy Cannon is a remarkable straight man and singer so to see this magic up close was a real honour for Paul.
While at LWT, Paul was alerted to the theatrical agency Noel Gay expanding their presence and incorporating a production company into their outfit. Joining Noel Gay in 1987 when he founded Noel Gay Television alongside the agency director Alex Armitage, Paul set about creating an entertainment division which ultimately became responsible for Red Dwarf. With Paul’s mentor: the legendary Sir Bill Cotton now unveiled as the company’s chairman, Noel Gay Television had all the right ingredients to succeed. Despite this stellar outfit, the company failed to match the reputation of its senior management, Noel Gay TV never lived up to its billing. However, Red Dwarf remains one of its biggest creations and the agency is still thriving today under the leadership of Alex Armitage.
Returning to the BBC in the late nineties, Paul was one of the producers responsible for the corporation’s millennium night coverage hosted by Michael Parkinson and Gaby Roslin. For part of this, he produced an all star comedy special The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything which took an irreverent look at the defining events of the last century presented by Angus Deayton. The highlight of this came when Paul reunited Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker for a twist on the famous Class Sketch from The Frost Report with Stephen Fry playing John Cleese’s upper class character. This proved the perfect way to bow out of his glittering BBC career and what better way to say farewell than with the double act which had arguably defined his career.
In 2000 Paul swapped sides again and became Head of Entertainment at LWT and the first show to be put under the spotlight was the Saturday juggernaut Blind Date. By this time the format was looking dated and the unpredictable outlook of the network meant that big changes were on the horizon for ITV as a whole. As an entertainment purist, Paul believed that it should be the legendary Cilla Black who ultimately should have full control of her own destiny and following an informal lunch with her son and manager Robert, it was agreed that the future of the show lay in Cilla’s hands. The queen of British television chose a live episode of Blind Date to announce her departure from the show which had defined the latter part of her career which satisfied Paul greatly. After the episode, Paul took to the studio floor to mark such a significant moment in the history of British television and was delighted that the entertainment legend had bowed out on her terms.
Paul Jackson continued to be a pivotal figure in British television until retirement in 2010. It’s very seldom to encounter a figure behind the camera with the same presence, passion and showmanship as those in front of it. The embodiment of six decades of the best of British television, cultivating TV royally, developing new stars and genres and producing hours and hours of high quality entertainment, Paul Jackson surely has to be one of the most influential and important TV producers of all time. Yet above all, I’m proud to call him a friend!
Beyond The Title