He was one of the producers and directors who shaped British television drama in its formative years and his background in film editing and directing helped to move television out of an era of studio-bound productions and towards programmes that owed more to cinema than to the stage.
[citation needed][1] Scott was born in East Sheen, Surrey, but was brought up in Isleworth, Middlesex, where he attended acting classes at the Italia Conti Academy.
As a teenager after the outbreak of the Second World War, he worked in the films division of the British Ministry of Information until he was called up for military service.
[2] However, as a newly commissioned Royal Artillery officer, his service was abruptly ended by an accident while training.
[2] Once recovered, he went back to filmmaking, and by 1947 was an editor on Brighton Rock, starring a young Richard Attenborough.