thisweek35

[thisweek35]

Foreword

It is diffiult to view This Week objectively, for it has been so prominent a part of my life and that of ITV. I have been closely involved with the series (and TV Eye) for at least 30 of its 35 years on air - as a viewer, director, producer and currently as Thames Television's Director of Programmes.

So many outstanding journalists, directors and technicians have brought their talents to the programme, helping build its reputation for intelligence, courage and integrity. The series can count on its credits names such as James Cameron, Robert Kee, John Morgan, Jeremy Issacs, Jonathan Dimbleby, Desmond Wilcox, Phillip Whitehead, Peter Williams and Peter Taylor.

Aside from professionalism and dedication, perhaps the greatest contribution they and their colleagues have made to the series has been their passion for the subject in hand. The personal determination to investigate circumstances, expost scandal or illuminate the truth of a situation has earned This Week wide respect.

That degree of commitment to the craft of television journalism and film making has also given the programme an impact far beyond the screen, so much so that This Week cometimes makes headlines itself. 'Dying For A Fag' was perhaps the most devastating programme about cigarette manufacturers that has ever been made. 'Ethiopia: The Unknown Famine' brought the crisis to world attention, precipitating the collapse of the Ethiopian government.

'Time For Murder' highlighted a miscarriage of justice in the Maxwel Confait case.Nor should we overlook This Week's authoritative coverage of Northern Ireland, an involvement which was to lead to the BAFTA award winning 'Death On The Rock' in 1988.

In 1956 the inaugural producer of This Week, Caryl Doncaster, remarked about the vitality of programmes, 'They must be presented with on-the-spot emphasis, filmed illustration and lively, unfettered comment'. This Week has brought hard-hitting stories to the mid-evening schedules of ITV, proviiding an informed, lucid critique ofoften complex national and international issues for its broad viewing public. From personal experience I know that sustaining such a standard of output, week in, week out, is a singular achievement.

Teamwork has always been the keynote of This Week operations and I am proud to have been part of that team. At a time of stocktaking such as the present, I am inclined to think most of those who are no longer with us - John Morgan, Llew Gardner, who died recently and Alan Stewart, killed on location in the Sudan so tragically young. But I also know that every one of the hundreds of people who have worked on This Week will always have for me a special claim of comradeship: even those I've never met.

Television is ephemeral, current affairs even more so. It is fitting that through the National Film Archive and the Thames Television Programme Library the work produced by This Week teams is assured of a permanent place in the television canon. This Week itself continues to preserve the calibre of current affairs journalism that has earned it a significant place in the public service television system of which Britain is justifiably proudl.