Kenith Trodd
Encyclopedia
Kenith Trodd is a British television producer particularly noted for a long association with television playwright Dennis Potter
.
The son of a crane driver, Trodd was raised in the Christian fundamentalist Plymouth Brethren
. A graduate of Oxford University
, Trodd began his career in television as an assistant to Roger Smith, script editor of The Wednesday Play
in 1964.
In 1968, with colleagues Tony Garnett
and Ken Loach
, he set up Kestrel Productions, a company which was affiliated with London Weekend Television
. From now on Trodd worked as a producer, and the short-lived Kestrel saw the beginning of Trodd's professional relationship with Dennis Potter with Moonlight on the Highway
(1969) and Lay Down Your Arms (1970), Potter's first play produced in colour. British Sounds (aka, See You at Mao, 1970), a film directed by Jean-Luc Godard
, which Trodd produced, had a particularly deleterious effect on Kestrel's relationship with LWT, who banned it.
Trodd returned to the BBC, and worked on Play for Today
. On an annual freelance contract, it was not renewed in 1976. The BBC's Personnel Department objected to Trodd's political contacts; he had attended meetings of the Workers' Revolutionary Party
, briefly fashionable for a small minority in the media, in the early 1970s, but had never joined the organisation. A letter signed by Trodd's colleagues was sent to Alasdair Milne
and Ian Trethowan
, Director General of the BBC, and the BBC backed down and Trodd was reappointed.
Following the success of Potter's serial Pennies from Heaven in 1978, Trodd and Potter reasserted their desire for autonomy and formed a new production company which had an arrangement with LWT. Budgetary problems meant that the connection was again short-lived, and only three Potter-scripted productions were completed, Blade on the Feather
, Rain on the Roof
and Cream in My Coffee
. .
Unlike Potter, Trodd was committed to the move to shooting television drama on film, instead of the multi-camera television studio, and oversaw nearly a dozen productions in the BBCs Screen Two strand. At the end of the 1980s, Trodd fell out with Potter over his Blackeyes
project, but the two men repaired their professional relationship shortly before Potter's death from cancer in 1994.
Trodd's other credits include the film A Month in the Country
(1987) adapted from the J. L. Carr
novel by Simon Gray
and Stephen Poliakoff
's Caught on a Train
(1980).
Dennis Potter
Dennis Christopher George Potter was an English dramatist, best known for The Singing Detective. His widely acclaimed television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. He was particularly fond of using themes and images from popular culture.-Biography:Dennis Potter was born...
.
The son of a crane driver, Trodd was raised in the Christian fundamentalist Plymouth Brethren
Plymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s. Although the group is notable for not taking any official "church name" to itself, and not having an official clergy or liturgy, the title "The Brethren," is...
. A graduate of Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, Trodd began his career in television as an assistant to Roger Smith, script editor of The Wednesday Play
The Wednesday Play
The Wednesday Play was an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. Every week's play was usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured...
in 1964.
In 1968, with colleagues Tony Garnett
Tony Garnett
Tony Garnett is a film producer who has worked in feature films and on British television. He was born in Birmingham, England, and studied psychology at the University of London....
and Ken Loach
Ken Loach
Kenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...
, he set up Kestrel Productions, a company which was affiliated with London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
. From now on Trodd worked as a producer, and the short-lived Kestrel saw the beginning of Trodd's professional relationship with Dennis Potter with Moonlight on the Highway
Moonlight on the Highway
Moonlight on the Highway is a television play by Dennis Potter, first broadcast on 12 April 1969 as part of ITV's Saturday Night Theatre strand...
(1969) and Lay Down Your Arms (1970), Potter's first play produced in colour. British Sounds (aka, See You at Mao, 1970), a film directed by Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Luc Godard is a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic. He is often identified with the 1960s French film movement, French Nouvelle Vague, or "New Wave"....
, which Trodd produced, had a particularly deleterious effect on Kestrel's relationship with LWT, who banned it.
Trodd returned to the BBC, and worked on Play for Today
Play for Today
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
. On an annual freelance contract, it was not renewed in 1976. The BBC's Personnel Department objected to Trodd's political contacts; he had attended meetings of the Workers' Revolutionary Party
Workers' Revolutionary Party (UK)
The Workers Revolutionary Party is a minute Trotskyist group in Britain. In the mid-1980s, it split several ways.-The Club:The WRP grew out of the faction Gerry Healy and John Lawrence led in the Revolutionary Communist Party which urged that the RCP enter the Labour Party. This policy was also...
, briefly fashionable for a small minority in the media, in the early 1970s, but had never joined the organisation. A letter signed by Trodd's colleagues was sent to Alasdair Milne
Alasdair Milne
Alasdair David Gordon Milne is a former BBC producer who became Controller of BBC Scotland, the BBC's Director of Programmes and then Director-General of the BBC in July 1982. His resignation was forced by the BBC Governors in January 1987, following pressure from the Thatcher government...
and Ian Trethowan
Ian Trethowan
Sir Ian Trethowan was a British journalist, radio and television broadcaster and administrator who eventually became Director-General of the BBC...
, Director General of the BBC, and the BBC backed down and Trodd was reappointed.
Following the success of Potter's serial Pennies from Heaven in 1978, Trodd and Potter reasserted their desire for autonomy and formed a new production company which had an arrangement with LWT. Budgetary problems meant that the connection was again short-lived, and only three Potter-scripted productions were completed, Blade on the Feather
Blade on the Feather
Blade on the Feather is a television drama by Dennis Potter, broadcast by ITV on 19 October 1980 as the first in a loosely-connected trilogy of plays exploring language and betrayal...
, Rain on the Roof
Rain on the Roof
Rain on the Roof is a television drama by Dennis Potter, broadcast by ITV on 26 October 1980.It is the second in a loosely-connected trilogy of plays exploring language and betrayal produced for London Weekend Television by the independent company Potter and producer Kenith Trodd established after...
and Cream in My Coffee
Cream in My Coffee
Cream in My Coffee is a television drama by Dennis Potter, broadcast on ITV on 2 November 1980 as the last in a loosely-connected trilogy of plays exploring language and betrayal. A juxtaposition between youth and old age, the play combines a non-linear narrative with the use of popular music to...
. .
Unlike Potter, Trodd was committed to the move to shooting television drama on film, instead of the multi-camera television studio, and oversaw nearly a dozen productions in the BBCs Screen Two strand. At the end of the 1980s, Trodd fell out with Potter over his Blackeyes
Blackeyes
Blackeyes is a multi-layered novel which was later adapted as a TV drama by British playwright Dennis Potter. The TV version was highly controversial at the time....
project, but the two men repaired their professional relationship shortly before Potter's death from cancer in 1994.
Trodd's other credits include the film A Month in the Country
A Month in the Country (film)
A Month in the Country is a 1987 British film directed by Pat O'Connor. The film is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by J. L. Carr, and stars Colin Firth, Kenneth Branagh, Natasha Richardson and Patrick Malahide...
(1987) adapted from the J. L. Carr
J. L. Carr
Joseph Lloyd Carr ; who called himself "Jim" or even "James," was an English novelist, publisher, teacher, and eccentric.-Biography:...
novel by Simon Gray
Simon Gray
Simon James Holliday Gray, CBE , was an English playwright and memoirist who also had a career as a university lecturer in English literature at Queen Mary, University of London, for 20 years...
and Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, widely judged amongst Britain's foremost television dramatists.-Early life and career:...
's Caught on a Train
Caught on a Train
Caught On A Train is a British television play written by Stephen Poliakoff and directed by Peter Duffell, based on an overnight train journey across Europe, and following the route of a journey Poliakoff had himself made from London to Vienna...
(1980).