Award-winning investigative journalist Ray Fitzwalter, the longest-serving editor of ITV’s World in Action, has died.
Fitzwalter’s programmes for the Granada-made series, which ended in 1998, included an investigation which ultimately led to the release of the Birmingham Six.
Stuart Prebble, ex-ITV chief executive and a former editor on World in Action, said: “The word ‘legendary’ is over-used in television, but Ray Fitzwalter truly was a legendary figure.
“In his time as editor of World in Action he presided over the team of producers and researchers like Robespierre over the French revolution.
“He was the scourge of the corrupt wherever they were to be found, and an advocate of old-fashioned ‘sleeves rolled up’ investigative journalism to uproot it.”
Rod Caird, who worked with Fitzwalter at Granada, said: “He was a startlingly good journalist, in the classic style. Dogged and determined and fearless and completely committed to uncovering evil deeds.
“But he also had a wonderful personality and a wonderful character everybody tried to imitate the whole time, and couldn’t do, because he was just Ray.
“He had one of those personas that is both likeable and slightly to be feared if you’re working for him. You knew if you had Ray on your side you were all right.”
Caird added: “It was really down to him that World in Action had the reputation that it did.”
Fitzwalter spent 23 years working on the World in Action series, which was aired on ITV and gained a reputation for its audacious reporting.
He was also instrumental in the uncovering of the Poulson affair – an investigation into the Yorkshire architect John L Poulson and his use of bribery to win contracts.
The scandal sent shock waves across the Ted Heath government and led to the resignation of the home secretary.
After leaving World in Action in 1993, Fitzwalter’s credits include Manhunt: The Search for the Yorkshire Ripper and Grandad Is a Football Hooligan.
Alex Connock, managing director of independent producer Shine North and chairman of Royal Television Society North West, said: “Many of the northern community of journalists and film-makers owe Ray a great debt.
“Ray’s fearless and pioneering journalism set a very high standard and left a huge legacy – his unflinching and exhaustive investigations such as the Birmingham Six changed the world of criminal justice.”
Fitzwalter was born in Lancashire and made his mark as deputy news editor at the Bradford Argus.
At Granada Television he was “a popular and thoughtful boss” with “an eye for spotting raw talent”.
Tributes were paid to Fitzwalter on Twitter.
Devastated to learn of the death of Ray Fitzwalter, a true Great of British Journalism, and an inspiration to so many of us. RIP
— Nick Hayes (@nvwhayes) April 5, 2016
One of the giants of investigative journalism passes away. RIP Ray Fitzwalter https://t.co/ZyIphQB9QM
— Steve Boulton (@boultonsteve) April 5, 2016
Sad to hear of death of Ray Fitzwalter. What a man. Tough, terrifying, an inspirational storyteller. His voice will never leave the memory.
— David Barrie (@davidbarrie) April 5, 2016
Fitzwalter worked as an editor at World in Action for 11 years and then was made executive producer in 1987, a position he held for five years. He won two Baftas and was a fellow of the Royal Television Society.
In 2008, he addressed the fate of Granada Television in his book, The Dream That Died: The Rise and Fall of ITV.
In a lengthy tribute on the Prolific North website, Prebble said of Fitzwalter:
With the consistent support of the old guard at Granada – great men like David Plowright, Gus McDonald and Denis Forman – he carried out a mission to take on the rich and powerful in a way we had never seen in British television before, and certainly haven’t seen since.
On a personal level, Ray was engagingly unaware of his own eccentricities. He saw no reason to vary his unique softly-spoken Bury accent, and he was still sporting the Buddy Holly look when the rest of the world had long since moved on. He was unfailingly loyal to anyone who shared his puritanical integrity, and impatient of anyone who cut corners or compromised.
I can see him now, pencil poised over the script, erasing any adjectives and changing “over 1000” to “more than 1000” because the latter was slightly more elegant.
Of course Ray will be missed by family, friends and former colleagues; but the truth is that the TV industry started missing him many years ago – and the only trouble is that they never really knew it.
