Francis Coleman

Coleman conducted a range of ensembles, including the Royal Canadian Air Force band, and was appointed the first musical director of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.[2] This led him to become the editor of Dance Magazine.[1] He also conducted concerts broadcast for CBC Radio, and it was this which attracted him to work on CBFT, the first television station in Canada, when it launched in September 1952.[2] He initially worked on the bilingual news programme, and had produced more than 500 shows by 1958,[3] including coverage of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom's coronation.[2]

Coleman was invited to work at Granada Television in England by Sidney Bernstein.[3] He produced a variety of programmes, including Spot the Tune, Shadow Squad and Chelsea at Nine.[2] He soon moved to London where he worked for ATV, for whom he directed twenty-six schools programmes entitled Içi la France. This led on to other French language documentary work, for which he was created a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.[1] Also for ATV, he produced John Betjeman's Steam and Stained Glass; the UK's first hidden camera show, Bob Boothby's Dinner Party;[3] and the country's first consumer programme, On The Braden Beat.[1]

In 1964, Coleman was appointed Senior Producer, Music and Arts at the newly launched BBC 2. He produced a wide range of specials and series, including Shakespeare and Music, Solti on Conducting and Peter Ustinov on Peter Ustinov.[2] He recorded II Trovatore in Rome which was shown as live, an original idea at the time, and later applied the same treatment to Monteverdi's Vespers from Venice.[3]

Coleman moved to become Head of Religious, Children's and Education Programmes at London Weekend Television in 1968,[2] during which time he won the first Japan Prize for education.[3] Next, he went to Thames Television, first as Head of Schools Programmes, then Head of Arts.[2] He produced the Saint Nicholas Cantata by Benjamin Britten, for which he won the UK's first Prix Italia.[3]