My BBC2 series Bird’s-Eye View, 13 films shot entirely from a helicopter, began production in 1969 by searching for writers. No one in Britain had ever written aerial films. There would be no help from recorded sound, archive film or interviews. A narrative had to be created. The viewpoint was unique. A new tone had to be found. It was a challenge.
The first to come aboard was Bill (Correlli) Barnett. He had worked on military and political histories – but this was very different. He took to it gleefully, scripting the second film of the series, Man on the Move, on the story of transport in Britain, and then the fifth, John Bull’s Workshop, a history of industry. His scripts were original, very thoughtful, lively, humane – and highly successful.
His teams loved Bill for his boyish enthusiasm, his affable light-heartedness, his smiling sense of fun. No one could have been warmer or more cheery to work with. Never was there a suspicion of a tantrum or a cross word. And then, when Bird’s-Eye View was over, he returned to writing his powerful, angry, controversial books. So different from the man we knew.
