Lance Sieveking
Encyclopedia
Lance Sieveking was an English
writer
and pioneer BBC
radio
and television producer
. He was married three times, and was father to archaeologist Gale Sieveking
(1925-2007) and Fortean
-writer Paul Sieveking
(1949-).
, Middlesex
, and was a very creative child, writing from the age of six, and starting a novel aged 13 which would ultimately see print when he was 26. In-between, he "actively support[ed] the Suffragette
movement" before war broke out.
. Lance signed up with the Artists Rifles before "join[ing] the Royal Navy Air Service
, [and winning] the D.F.C
" before being "shot down over the Rhine" in 1917 and held as a German prisoner-of-war.
Upon his return to England, he attended St Catharine's College
, Cambridge, and was close friends with fellow-Cambridge student Eric Maschwitz
. The two were (with others) both editors on The new Cambridge chap book between 1920 and 1921.
, starting out as assistant to the Director of Education
, before "he went on to introduce the first running commentaries and adapt numerous classics for radio drama... it has been argued that the production of the first television play springs from his ingenuity". He was drama script editor for ten years (1940-50) before retiring "six years later in 1956".
He wrote The Stuff of Radio (1934), and his radio dramatisation of C. S. Lewis
' first (chronologically) Chronicles of Narnia title The Magician's Nephew
was approved by Lewis personally. In 1927, he designed "an eight-squared drawing meant to assist BBC radio's football commentators," (as well as listeners at home, who could get a copy of the same chart in the Radio Times. According to one BBC commentator, the chart is considered a possible origin of the phrase "back to square one". (although the OED credits the origin to the children's game of hopscotch
)
Another early BBC radio drama producer, Val Gielgud
, said of the "not altogether fortunate" Sieveking:
Harry Heuser interprets Gielgud's words in the following way:
In 1930, while radio drama was still relatively new, Sieveking found in the still-newer medium of television
a place in which he could experiment with new ideas. To that end, (in collaboration with Gielgud) he brought an adaptation of Luigi Pirandello
's short play L'uomo dal fiore in bocca (1923) to television as "The Man with the Flower in His Mouth", airing on 14 July 1930 - the first British television play. Very little of Sieveking's work survives in whole or in part (aside from some scripts - see below), but the short opening lines of this early work - narrated by Sieveking - have been saved for posterity and can be heard here. In 1967, "The Man.." was re-made, "authentically re-produced and presented by the original producer, Lance Sieveking, supported by the original art-work (by C R Nevinson) and music recording".
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and pioneer BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
. He was married three times, and was father to archaeologist Gale Sieveking
Gale Sieveking
Gale de Giberne Sieveking was a prehistoric archaeologist, best known for his work on flint and flint mines, particularly at sites such as Grimes Graves. He "played... an important part in the development of archaeology as a discipline" and particularly in the understanding of the prehistoric period...
(1925-2007) and Fortean
Charles Fort
Charles Hoy Fort was an American writer and researcher into anomalous phenomena. Today, the terms Fortean and Forteana are used to characterize various such phenomena. Fort's books sold well and are still in print today.-Biography:Charles Hoy Fort was born in 1874 in Albany, New York, of Dutch...
-writer Paul Sieveking
Paul Sieveking
Paul R.A. De Giberne Sieveking is a British journalist and former magazine editor.Until 2002, Sieveking was co-editor of the magazine The Fortean Times with its founder Bob Rickard. He joined the UK-based "Journal of the Unexplained" in 1978...
(1949-).
Biography
Lancelot De Giberne Sieveking, D.F.C was born on the 19th of March, 1896 in HarrowHarrow, London
Harrow is an area in the London Borough of Harrow, northwest London, United Kingdom. It is a suburban area and is situated 12.2 miles northwest of Charing Cross...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, and was a very creative child, writing from the age of six, and starting a novel aged 13 which would ultimately see print when he was 26. In-between, he "actively support[ed] the Suffragette
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
movement" before war broke out.
World War I
Sieveking (as well as his brother, Valentine Edgar Sieveking) served during World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Lance signed up with the Artists Rifles before "join[ing] the Royal Navy Air Service
Royal Naval Air Service
The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...
, [and winning] the D.F.C
Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...
" before being "shot down over the Rhine" in 1917 and held as a German prisoner-of-war.
Upon his return to England, he attended St Catharine's College
St Catharine's College, Cambridge
St. Catharine’s College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473, the college is often referred to informally by the nickname "Catz".-History:...
, Cambridge, and was close friends with fellow-Cambridge student Eric Maschwitz
Eric Maschwitz
Albert Eric Maschwitz OBE , known as Eric Maschwitz and sometimes credited as Holt Marvell, was an English entertainer, writer, broadcaster and broadcasting executive.-Life and work:...
. The two were (with others) both editors on The new Cambridge chap book between 1920 and 1921.
BBC
He made his name with the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, starting out as assistant to the Director of Education
Director of Education
The Director of Education was a position in the Hong Kong Government, who heads the Education Department.- History:As a result of restructuring in 1983, the old Education Department was reorganised into the Education and Manpower Branch and the Education Department...
, before "he went on to introduce the first running commentaries and adapt numerous classics for radio drama... it has been argued that the production of the first television play springs from his ingenuity". He was drama script editor for ten years (1940-50) before retiring "six years later in 1956".
He wrote The Stuff of Radio (1934), and his radio dramatisation of C. S. Lewis
C. S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis , commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as "Jack", was a novelist, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland...
' first (chronologically) Chronicles of Narnia title The Magician's Nephew
The Magician's Nephew
The Magician's Nephew is a fantasy novel for children written by C. S. Lewis. It was the sixth book published in his The Chronicles of Narnia series, but is the first in the chronology of the Narnia novels' fictional universe. Thus it is an early example of a prequel.The novel is initially set in...
was approved by Lewis personally. In 1927, he designed "an eight-squared drawing meant to assist BBC radio's football commentators," (as well as listeners at home, who could get a copy of the same chart in the Radio Times. According to one BBC commentator, the chart is considered a possible origin of the phrase "back to square one". (although the OED credits the origin to the children's game of hopscotch
Hopscotch
Hopscotch is a children's game that can be played with several players or alone. Hopscotch is a popular playground game.- Court and rules :- The court :...
)
Another early BBC radio drama producer, Val Gielgud
Val Gielgud
Val Henry Gielgud was an English actor, writer, director and broadcaster. He was a pioneer of radio drama for the BBC, and also directed the first ever drama to be produced in the newer medium of television....
, said of the "not altogether fortunate" Sieveking:
- "He was perhaps over much influenced during his most impressionable years by G. K. ChestertonG. K. ChestertonGilbert Keith Chesterton, KC*SG was an English writer. His prolific and diverse output included philosophy, ontology, poetry, plays, journalism, public lectures and debates, literary and art criticism, biography, Christian apologetics, and fiction, including fantasy and detective fiction....
, and by the theory of that master of paradox that because some things were better looked at inside out or upside down such a viewpoint should invariably be adopted. Talented and imaginative beyond the ordinary, his eyes gazing towards distant horizons, he was liable to neglect what lay immediately before his feet."
Harry Heuser interprets Gielgud's words in the following way:
- "Sieveking was an audio-visionary, a trier of radiogenic techniques at whom actors and colleagues would "gaze with a certain dumb bewilderment" as he "exhorted them to play 'in a deep-green mood,' or spoke with fluent enthusiasm of 'playing the dramatic-control panel, as one plays an organ." There was not much use for such a one in radio. As Gielgud put it, even British radio broadcasting, "provided him with no laboratory in which experiments could be carried out." "
In 1930, while radio drama was still relatively new, Sieveking found in the still-newer medium of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
a place in which he could experiment with new ideas. To that end, (in collaboration with Gielgud) he brought an adaptation of Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written...
's short play L'uomo dal fiore in bocca (1923) to television as "The Man with the Flower in His Mouth", airing on 14 July 1930 - the first British television play. Very little of Sieveking's work survives in whole or in part (aside from some scripts - see below), but the short opening lines of this early work - narrated by Sieveking - have been saved for posterity and can be heard here. In 1967, "The Man.." was re-made, "authentically re-produced and presented by the original producer, Lance Sieveking, supported by the original art-work (by C R Nevinson) and music recording".
Papers
His papers (and those of his ancestors, dating from 1724-1971) are housed in the Lilly Library, and consist of "correspondence, radio plays, manuscripts for short stories, for novels, and for nonfiction works, diaries, drawings, and photographs" as well as "many photographs from the World War I period showing airplanes, North Africa and from Lance's captivity as a German prisoner-of-war."Television
- "Face of the Law" (writer) for Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents AKA Rheingold Theatre (Season 3, episode 5; 1954)
- "The Third Clue" (writer) (1934)
- Written by Frank Atkinson and Michael BarringerMichael BarringerMichal Barringer was a British writer, screenwriter and playwright. He also occasionally served as film director, directing four films early in his career...
from the novel "The Shakespeare Murders" by Neil Gordon. Starring: Basil SydneyBasil SydneyBasil Sydney was an English actor who made over fifty screen appearances, most memorably as Claudius in Laurence Olivier's 1948 film of Hamlet. He also appeared in classic films like Treasure Island , Ivanhoe and Around the World in Eighty Days , but the focus of his career was the legitimate...
, Molly LamontMolly LamontMolly Lamont was a British film actress.Lamont was born in Boksburg, Transvaal, South Africa. She began her career in British films in 1930 and for several years played small, often uncredited roles...
, Raymond LovellRaymond LovellRaymond Lovell was a Canadian-born film actor who performed in British produced films. He mainly played supporting roles, and was often seen as slightly pompous characters...
, et al.
- Written by Frank Atkinson and Michael Barringer
- "The Man with a Flower in His Mouth" (producer) (July 14, 1930)
- Directed by Val GielgudVal GielgudVal Henry Gielgud was an English actor, writer, director and broadcaster. He was a pioneer of radio drama for the BBC, and also directed the first ever drama to be produced in the newer medium of television....
; written by Luigi PirandelloLuigi PirandelloLuigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written...
from his L'uomo dal fiore in bocca. Starring the uncredited Earl Grey, Lionel Millard & Gladys Young.
- Directed by Val Gielgud
Radio Plays
- Saturday Night Theatre, Home ServiceHome ServiceHome Service are a British folk rock group, formed in late 1980 from a nucleus of musicians who had been playing in Ashley Hutchings' Albion Band. Their career is generally agreed to have peaked with the album Alright Jack, which is usually considered one of the finest products of the electric folk...
- "If", (Lord Dunsany/Lance Sieveking) with Lewis Stringer, Mollie Rankin & Leslie PerrinsLeslie PerrinsLeslie Perrins was an English actor who often played villains. In his long career, he appeared in well over 60 films...
(22.04.44) - "Robert's Wife", (St. John G. Ervine/Lance Sieveking) with Edith EvansEdith EvansDame Edith Mary Evans, DBE was a British actress. She was known for her work on the British stage. She also appeared in a number of films, for which she received three Academy Award nominations, plus a BAFTA and a Golden Globe award.Evans was particularly effective at portraying haughty...
& Laidman Browne (01.07.44) - "The Burgomaster of Stilemonde", (Maurice MaeterlinckMaurice MaeterlinckMaurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck, also called Comte Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911. The main themes in his work are death and the meaning of life...
/Lance Sieveking/Muriel Pratte) with Bryan PowleyBryan Powley-Selected filmography:* The Harbour Lights * The Old Curiosity Shop * Open Country * The Glorious Adventure * Moonlight Sonata * Strange Boarders * Old Mother Riley Joins Up...
, Richard Williams & Barry MorseBarry MorseHerbert "Barry" Morse was an Anglo-Canadian actor of stage, screen, and radio best known for his roles in the ABC television series The Fugitive and the British sci-fi drama Space: 1999...
(22.07.44) - "Thunder In The Air", (Robina Millar/Lance Sieveking) with Ivan Samson, Carl Bernard & Philip Cunningham (02.09.44)
- "General John Regan", (George A. BirminghamGeorge A. BirminghamGeorge A. Birmingham was the pen name of James Owen Hannay , Irish clergyman and prolific novelist.-Life and career:...
/Lance Sieveking) with Cyril CusackCyril CusackCyril James Cusack was an Irish actor, who appeared in more than 90 films.-Early life:Cusack was born in Durban, Natal, South Africa, the son of Alice Violet , an actress, and James Walter Cusack, a sergeant in the Natal mounted police. His parents separated when he was young and his mother took...
, James StewartStewart GrangerStewart Granger was an English-American film actor, mainly associated with heroic and romantic leading roles. He was a popular leading man from the 1940s to the early 1960s rising to fame through his appearances in the Gainsborough melodramas.-Early life:He was born James Lablache Stewart in Old...
& Nita Hardy (17.03.45) - "Payment DeferredPayment DeferredPayment Deferred is a crime novel by C.S. Forester, first published in 1926.William Marble is a bank clerk living in south London, desperately worried about money and unable to control his wife Annie's spending. One evening without warning they are visited by his recently orphaned and very rich...
", (C.S. Forester/Lance Sieveking) with Ivor BarnardIvor BarnardIvor Barnard was an English film actor. In 1929 he appeared on stage in "Bird In Hand" at the Morosco Theatre in New York City. He appeared in 84 films between 1921 and 1953. He appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock film The 39 Steps in 1935. In 1943, he played the stationmaster in the Ealing war movie...
, Louise HamptonLouise Hampton-Selected filmography:* Nine Till Six * His Lordship Goes to Press * Goodbye, Mr. Chips * The House of the Arrow * Bedelia * Scrooge * Background -External links:...
& Patricia HayesPatricia HayesPatricia Lawlor Hayes, OBE was an English comedy actress.Hayes was born in Streatham, London. As a child Hayes attended Sacred Heart School in Wandsworth....
(14.04.45) - "Nothing But The Truth", (James H. Montgomery/Lance Sieveking) with Richard WilliamsRichard WilliamsRichard Williams is a Canadian animator. He is best known for serving as animation director on Disney/Amblin's Who Framed Roger Rabbit and for his unfinished feature film The Thief and the Cobbler...
, Cyril Gardiner, Valentine DyallValentine DyallValentine Dyall was an English character actor, the son of veteran actor Franklin Dyall. Dyall was especially popular as a voice actor, due to his very distinctive sepulchral voice, he was known for many years as "The Man in Black", narrator of the BBC Radio horror series Appointment With Fear.In...
, Gladys Spencer & Marjorie WestburyMarjorie WestburyMarjorie Westbury was an English radio actress and singer. Her career lasted over fifty years.Born in Oldbury, Worcestershire, she studied Voice at the Royal College of Music in London between 1927 and 1930. During the 1930s she made many radio broadcasts as a soprano from the BBC studios at...
(21.04.45) - "Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure", (Walter C. HackettWalter C. HackettWalter C. Hackett was an English playwright, several of whose stage works were adapted for film...
/Lance Sieveking) with Laidman Browne, Jane Barrett, Norman ShelleyNorman ShelleyNorman Shelley was an English actor, best known for his work in radio, in particular for the BBC's Children's Hour. He also had a recurring role as Colonel Danby in the long-running radio soap opera The Archers....
& Arthur RidleyArthur RidleyArthur William Ridley was an English cricketer. Ridley was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm underarm medium pace, who also played occasionally as a wicketkeeper....
(04.08.45) - "Laburnum GroveLaburnum GroveLaburnum Grove is a 1936 British comedy film, written by J. B. Priestley, directed by Carol Reed and starring Edmund Gwenn, Cedric Hardwicke and Victoria Hopper. To rid himself of his sponging relatives a man tells them he is really a forger which causes them to leave...
", (J.B. Priestley/Lance Sieveking) [unknown cast] (09.03.46) - "If", (Lord Dunsany/Lance Sieveking) with Ronald Sidney & Elsa Palmer (13.09.47)
- "Keep Murder Quiet", (Lance Sieveking & Selwyn JepsonSelwyn JepsonSelwyn Jepson was a British author, of the Far House, Farther Common, Liss, Hants.His father was the mystery/detective author Edgar Alfred Jepson , his mother was Frieda Holmes, daughter of the musician Henry Holmes. His sister Margaret , also a novelist, was the mother of Fay Weldon.Jepson was...
) with Hermione BaddeleyHermione BaddeleyHermione Baddeley was an English character actress of theatre, film and television. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Room at the Top and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here...
& Leslie PerrinsLeslie PerrinsLeslie Perrins was an English actor who often played villains. In his long career, he appeared in well over 60 films...
(17.09.49) - "Silence In Heaven", (Lance Sieveking) with Norman ShelleyNorman ShelleyNorman Shelley was an English actor, best known for his work in radio, in particular for the BBC's Children's Hour. He also had a recurring role as Colonel Danby in the long-running radio soap opera The Archers....
& Gladys Young (29.04.50) - "The Secret BattleThe Secret BattleThe Secret Battle is a novel by A. P. Herbert, first published in 1919. The book draws upon Herbert's experiences as a junior infantry officer in the First World War, and has been praised for its accurate and truthful portrayal of the mental effects of the war on the participants...
", (A.P. Herbert/Lance Sieveking) with David SpenserDavid SpenserDavid Spenser is a Sri Lankan born British actor. He is the elder brother of actor Jeremy Spenser.-Selected filmography:* The Earth Dies Screaming * Some May Live * Battle Beneath the Earth...
, Simon Lack, Ronald Simpson & Laidman Browne (02.02.57) - "A Private Volcano", (Lance Sieveking) with Norman ShelleyNorman ShelleyNorman Shelley was an English actor, best known for his work in radio, in particular for the BBC's Children's Hour. He also had a recurring role as Colonel Danby in the long-running radio soap opera The Archers....
& Frank WindsorFrank WindsorFrank Windsor is an English actor, mainly on television.He attended Queen Mary's Grammar School, Walsall. He began his career on radio and made an appearance in a 1953 film of Henry V...
(20.07.57)
- "If", (Lord Dunsany/Lance Sieveking) with Lewis Stringer, Mollie Rankin & Leslie Perrins
- "Mr. Leadbetter's VacationMr. Ledbetter's VacationMr. Ledbetter's Vacation is a short story written by H. G. Wells in 1894. The story deals with the internal human conflict between rationality and the irrational fear of the unknown.-Publication:...
", (H.G. Wells/Lance Sieveking) Produced by Martyn C. Webster [unknown cast] (unknown date;pre-1954)- 30mins. "..adapted by L.S. and based on a short story by H.G.Wells. Mr. Leadbetter is in holy orders, and for more years than he cares to remember has led a virtuous, worthwhile and very dull life. After drinking a little more than is good for him whilst on holiday, he rashly decides to commit a crime. It has consequences he could never have imagined - he ends up on the other side of the world." (This broadcast was repeated by NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in their "Showcase" series, on the 16th of October 1954.)
- 30mins. "..adapted by L.S. and based on a short story by H.G.Wells. Mr. Leadbetter is in holy orders, and for more years than he cares to remember has led a virtuous, worthwhile and very dull life. After drinking a little more than is good for him whilst on holiday, he rashly decides to commit a crime. It has consequences he could never have imagined - he ends up on the other side of the world." (This broadcast was repeated by NBC
- "Journey to the Centre of the Earth", (Jules VerneJules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
/Lance Sieveking) [unknown cast] (broadcast in 7 episodes of 40min between 25.5.62 - 6.7.62; also re-edited to 180min) - "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde", (Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
/Lance Sieveking) with Cyril ShapsCyril Shaps-Biography:Shaps was born in Highbury, London; he was of Polish ancestry and his father was a tailor.He was a child broadcaster, providing voices for radio commercials at the age of 12. After grammar school and Army service he trained at RADA and then worked for two years as an announcer, producer...
, Richard Williams, Manning Wilson, Gordon Davies, James Thomason & Geoffrey LumsdenGeoffrey LumsdenGeoffrey Lumsden was a British character actor who had a lengthy career on television.By some way his best known role was Captain Square in Dad's Army, the pompous commander of the Eastgate platoon of the Home Guard who was a rival of Captain Mainwaring.He appeared in a few episodes, though...
(8.2.1956)