Barrie Edgar

Edgar began working for the BBC when its television service resumed after the Second World War, remaining with the corporation until his retirement in 1979.

During the course of his career, he produced over 1,200 programmes, including multiple episodes of the long-running series Songs of Praise, Gardeners' World and Come Dancing.

[6][7] He was one of six studio managers at Alexandra Palace at the time,[8] and he continued in this role for three years, being involved in a variety of different broadcasts.

[2] His involvement in the coverage of the 1948 Summer Olympics in London led to an unexpected assignment as a commentator at the Empire Pool venue.

[2] Previously, outside broadcasts had been confined to London; Edgar produced the first from Birmingham, an amateur boxing match at the Delicia Stadium.

[8] When ITV launched in 1955, they attempted to persuade several producers to move to the new network; Edgar turned down their offers and remained at the BBC.

[3][10] Edgar's work remained diverse, covering national sporting events, the Miss World pageant, the general election in 1951, the funeral of Winston Churchill in 1965, and the first television broadcast from a submarine.

[8][9] Two of his favourite projects from this time were a series of programmes documenting the rebuilding of Coventry Cathedral between 1956 and 1962, after its wartime damage, and the annual carol service from King's College, Cambridge, which he produced between 1962 and 1968.

[3][6] A process of specialisation during the 1960s and 1970s meant that Edgar could not continue working across such a broad range of programming, with some of these areas such as sport and current affairs being given instead to other departments.

[3] He worked with several presenters, including Peter West and Terry Wogan, producing in total 164 episodes of this series.

In his retirement he sold hand-made picture frames to support Arthritis Research UK and managed the demonstration garden at the Pebble Mill Studios.