Sydney Cecil Newman, OC (April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, Newman was appointed Acting Director of the Broadcast Programs Branch for the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) and then head of the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). He also occupied senior positions at the Canadian Film Development Corporation and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and acted as an advisor to the Secretary of State. During his time in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, he worked first with the Associated British Corporation (ABC, now Thames Television), before moving across to the BBC in 1962, holding the role of Head of Drama with both organisations. During this phase of his career, he was responsible for initiating two hugely popular television programmes, the spy-fi series The Avengers and the science-fiction series Doctor Who, as well as overseeing the production of groundbreaking social realist drama series such as Armchair Theatre and The Wednesday Play. The Museum of Broadcast Communications describes Newman as "the most significant agent in the development of British television drama." His obituary in The Guardian declared that "For ten brief but glorious years, Sydney Newman ... was the most important impresario in Britain ... His death marks not just the end of an era but the laying to rest of a whole philosophy of popular art." In Quebec, as commissioner of the NFB, he attracted controversy for his decision to suppress distribution of several politically sensitive films by French Canadian directors. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Filmography

• 2023Doctor Who: The Daleks in Colour — Original Series Creator
• Doctor Who: Galaxy 4 — Creator
• 2015Doctor Who: The Husbands of River Song — Creator
• 2011Doctor Who: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe — Creator
• 2008Verity Lambert: Drama Queen — (Archive Footage)
• Doctor Who — Creator
• 1998The Avengers — Creator, Series Writer
• 1983Utilities — Associate Producer
• Adam Adamant Lives! — Creator
• 1966Doctor Who: The Power of the Daleks — Creator
• 1965Dr. Who and the Daleks — Creator
• 1965Tea Party — Producer
• 1964The Trial of Dr. Fancy — Producer
• The Wednesday Play — Creator
• Doctor Who — Creator
• Festival — Producer
• 1962Afternoon of a Nymph — Producer
• 1962Night Conspirators — Producer
• Out of This World — Producer
• 1962The Fishing Match — Producer
• 1962The Hard Knock — Producer
• 1961Danger! Men Working — Producer
• 1961Honeymoon Postponed — Producer
• Pathfinders to Venus — Producer, Creator
• Plateau of Fear — Creator
• The Avengers — Creator
• 1961The Rose Affair — Producer
• 1961The Ship That Couldn't Stop — Producer
• 1961Tune On the Old Tax Fiddle — Producer
• 1960A Night Out — Producer
• 1960After the Funeral — Producer
• Counter-Attack — Producer
• 1960I'll Have You to Remember — Producer
• 1960Lord Arthur Savile's Crime — Producer
• 1960My Representative — Producer
• Pathfinders in Space — Producer, Creator
• Pathfinders to Mars — Producer, Creator
• Police Surgeon — Creator
• Target Luna — Producer, Creator
• 1960Where I Live — Producer
• 1959After the Show — Producer
• 1959Doctor Kabil — Producer
• 1959Hot Summer Night — Producer
• 1959The Bird, the Bear and the Actress — Producer
• 1959The Scent of Fear — Producer
• 1959The Thought of Tomorrow — Producer
• 1958I Can Destroy the Sun — Producer
• Armchair Theatre — Creator
• 1956Flight Into Danger — Supervising Producer
• The Canadian Howdy Doody Show — Producer
• Space Command — Supervising Producer
• 1951Inside Newfoundland — Director, Producer
• 1951Screaming Jets — Producer
• 1951Struggle for Oil — Producer
• 1951Talent Showcase — Director, Producer
• 1949A Capital Plan — Producer
• 1949Newfoundland: Atlantic Province — Director
• 1949Passport to Canada — Producer
• 1949Red Runs the Fraser — Producer
• 1949Summer Is for Kids — Producer
• 1948Choral Concert — Producer
• 1948Inside The Atom — Producer
• 1948It's Fun to Sing — Producer
• 1948Pay-Off In Pain — Producer
• 1948Science in Bloom — Producer
• 1947Canada Dances — Producer
• 1947Careers and Cradles — Producer
• 1947Johnny at the Fair — Producer
• 1947Montreal by Night — Producer
• 1946Ski Skill — Writer, Producer
• 1946The New North — Producer
• 1945Suffer Little Children — Editor, Producer, Director
• 1944Fighting Sea-Fleas — Writer, Producer, Editor, Director
• 1944Flight 6 — Director
• 1944Train Busters — Director
• 1944Trans-Canada Express — Producer
• 1943Banshees Over Canada — Producer
• 1943Fighting Norway — Director
• Doctor Who — Creator
• Penitentiary — Producer

Appearances as themselves (5)

• 2025Innes Lloyd: The Producer — Self (archive footage)
• 2006Creation of the Daleks — Himself (archive footage)
• 2006Doctor Who: Origins — Self (archive footage)
• 1989The Magical Eye — Self
• 1973Grierson — Self