Verity Lambert 1935-2007

TV producer Verity Lambert has died at the age of 71. She was the first producer of Doctor Who in 1963 and also produced dramas including The Newcomers, Adam Adamant Lives!, Minder and Quatermass.

There are obituaries in The Telegraph, The Times and The Guardian.

At the end of the piece in The Guardian, fellow producer Kenith Trodd recalls how pivotal the role used to be.

In drama, not the controller nor even the writer, let alone the accountant, was king, but the producer, now a creature extinct in all but name. He (Verity, was a very rare she) was poised professionally on that rich cusp between the management and the talent - writers, directors and the hundreds of skilled creatives - outside. If the bosses trusted the producer, and often they did with a combative generosity, it was the producer who made a crucial difference to the health and vitality of the entire system. Verity was at the very top of this steep, wary tree. She had the greatest range, charisma and durability. Not only the producer's producer, but the audience's finest ally.