Beyond the Doctor
July 26, 2020 12:37 PM Subscribe
Verity Lambert is remembered mostly for the role she played in bringing Doctor Who to the screen, but her legacy runs far deeper. She defined a generation of British TV.
By Mefi's own garius!
By Mefi's own garius!
by 1985 she was in charge of her own independent television company, Cinema Verity
That is so awesome.
posted by The Tensor at 5:14 PM on July 26, 2020 [1 favorite]
That is so awesome.
posted by The Tensor at 5:14 PM on July 26, 2020 [1 favorite]
What a great read! What a career!
May to December and So Haunt Me are two of my sentimental favorites. I didn’t realize they were created by the same person.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:12 AM on July 27, 2020
May to December and So Haunt Me are two of my sentimental favorites. I didn’t realize they were created by the same person.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:12 AM on July 27, 2020
I will occasionally rant swearily on Twitter about how overlooked her career/impact on TV history has been.
Doctor Who wouldn't exist without her. She took a stupid idea, that no one else would touch with a barge-pole She made it work because she was going to take any opportunity offered to her with both hands, and knock it out the park. Firstly, to further her career and secondly to spite her haters and the secret whisperers who said she slept her way into her job.
And it worked because of that sheer bloody-mindedness to make it somehow work for the audience. I always loved this quote from her, about how Bill Hartnell used to go ape-shit about how it was all nonsense and he needed more background. Her response:
Well, I think in the end we said to him, “You know where you’re from, but you never let on. And the fact is we don’t know if you’re a criminal. Maybe you are a criminal. Would you like to be a criminal?” We literally spent hours and hours trying to find an explanation for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Finally, after about two days of headbashing, I said we’re not going to explain it. There is no explanation, and if we don’t give one, people will accept it. I mean, it’s bigger on the inside – how can you ever explain that? So we didn’t. And nobody ever asked.
But Who cursed her (although she always loved it - hence her attempt to bring it back with Peter Cook) as much as it has benefitted her, I think. Because it allowed people who didn't like the fact that she broke through into their world, and wouldn't be bullied by them, to give her a a bit of credit but not too much.
"Oh yes, well Verity did so well with Doctor Who" They'll say, then add something like: "Oh but of course she was only around at the beginning" or they'll imply that it's not serious TV. You saw it all the time when she was still alive, and you still see it now, often from those who should damn well know better (including Who writers, as well as fans).
Doctor Who was SciFi. It was 'fun' television. That's often the subtext. Somewhere they could give her credit, while still reserving 'serious' British TV's origin stories for male creators.
"Verity Lambert? Oh the Doctor Who lady?"
No.
The Sweeney.
Minder.
Rumpole of the Bailey.
Quatermass.
Widows.
The Naked Civil Servant.
GBH.
Jonathan Creek.
All those shows happened because of Verity Lambert, as did so many more.
Caroline Criado-Perez talks about how language and jobs become 'default male'. It happens with TV shows too. So much of Lambert's legacy is overlooked, because she could write, direct, produce and commission 'male' television better than 90% of the men she ever worked with. We've erased so many of her achievements from the narrative of television history because they don't fit (consciously or subconsciously) with what some people believe a female TV creator's role, and output, must have been like at the time.
It robs her of a legacy she deserves, but more importantly it robs girls and boys who aspire to be involved in TV today of someone to look up to. Someone who stuck two fingers firmly up to those who thought gender dictated what kind of career you could have in TV, and what kind of show you were allowed to create.
It's bullsh*t. Such absolute bullsh*t.
Anyway. Sorry. I'm getting sweary again now. I best go lie down in a dark room for a while and mutter to myself.
posted by garius at 8:46 AM on July 27, 2020 [11 favorites]
Doctor Who wouldn't exist without her. She took a stupid idea, that no one else would touch with a barge-pole She made it work because she was going to take any opportunity offered to her with both hands, and knock it out the park. Firstly, to further her career and secondly to spite her haters and the secret whisperers who said she slept her way into her job.
And it worked because of that sheer bloody-mindedness to make it somehow work for the audience. I always loved this quote from her, about how Bill Hartnell used to go ape-shit about how it was all nonsense and he needed more background. Her response:
Well, I think in the end we said to him, “You know where you’re from, but you never let on. And the fact is we don’t know if you’re a criminal. Maybe you are a criminal. Would you like to be a criminal?” We literally spent hours and hours trying to find an explanation for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. Finally, after about two days of headbashing, I said we’re not going to explain it. There is no explanation, and if we don’t give one, people will accept it. I mean, it’s bigger on the inside – how can you ever explain that? So we didn’t. And nobody ever asked.
But Who cursed her (although she always loved it - hence her attempt to bring it back with Peter Cook) as much as it has benefitted her, I think. Because it allowed people who didn't like the fact that she broke through into their world, and wouldn't be bullied by them, to give her a a bit of credit but not too much.
"Oh yes, well Verity did so well with Doctor Who" They'll say, then add something like: "Oh but of course she was only around at the beginning" or they'll imply that it's not serious TV. You saw it all the time when she was still alive, and you still see it now, often from those who should damn well know better (including Who writers, as well as fans).
Doctor Who was SciFi. It was 'fun' television. That's often the subtext. Somewhere they could give her credit, while still reserving 'serious' British TV's origin stories for male creators.
"Verity Lambert? Oh the Doctor Who lady?"
No.
The Sweeney.
Minder.
Rumpole of the Bailey.
Quatermass.
Widows.
The Naked Civil Servant.
GBH.
Jonathan Creek.
All those shows happened because of Verity Lambert, as did so many more.
Caroline Criado-Perez talks about how language and jobs become 'default male'. It happens with TV shows too. So much of Lambert's legacy is overlooked, because she could write, direct, produce and commission 'male' television better than 90% of the men she ever worked with. We've erased so many of her achievements from the narrative of television history because they don't fit (consciously or subconsciously) with what some people believe a female TV creator's role, and output, must have been like at the time.
It robs her of a legacy she deserves, but more importantly it robs girls and boys who aspire to be involved in TV today of someone to look up to. Someone who stuck two fingers firmly up to those who thought gender dictated what kind of career you could have in TV, and what kind of show you were allowed to create.
It's bullsh*t. Such absolute bullsh*t.
Anyway. Sorry. I'm getting sweary again now. I best go lie down in a dark room for a while and mutter to myself.
posted by garius at 8:46 AM on July 27, 2020 [11 favorites]
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posted by mixedmetaphors at 4:54 PM on July 26, 2020