- Born
- Died
- Birth nameVerity Ann Lambert
- A young Verity Lambert began her career as TV producer when given the chance to produce the new BBC television sci-fi series Doctor Who (1963) in early 1963. Due to the fact this was her first job as a producer, Mervyn Pinfield was given guardian role over the series, but Lambert's talents were soon recognised, and she was given full control, remaining on the programme until 1965. Lambert later owned her own production company, "Cinema Verity", and was a well known and respected person in the UK television industry.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- SpouseColin Bucksey(1973 - 1987) (divorced)
- In the Doctor Who episode The Family of Blood (2007), a character mentions that his parents were called Verity and Sydney. This is a tribute to Verity Lambert, the first producer of the original series Doctor Who (1963), and Sydney Newman, the Head of Drama at the BBC who gave her this job.
- She was chosen by BBC Head of Drama Sydney Newman to be the first producer of the science-fiction series Doctor Who (1963). She had previously worked with Newman, as a production secretary on Armchair Theatre at ABC.
- She was due to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Women in Film and Television Awards in December 2007 but died a few weeks before the award could be presented to her. It was awarded posthumously on 7th December 2007.
- She was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of her outstanding contribution to television culture.
- She was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the order of the British Empire) in January 2002 in recognition of her services to film and television.
- I had been doing Doctor Who (1963) for about three months when I was called into Donald's (Donald Wilson) office. I was told that, now I'd done it and it was on air, I was going to go and produce a twice-weekly serial about a council that was being made in Birmingham. I said I wasn't, and Donald said, 'You're under contract to the BBC, not under contract to do Doctor Who (1963). If we say you're going then you're going.' Doctor Who (1963) had barely gone on the air, and I certainly didn't feel confident leaving it then, so I asked why they wanted me to go. The answer was that I wasn't married, so it was easier for me to go and live in Birmingham than it was for any of the other producers!
- [on Russell T. Davies] He's a very inventive writer, and very good. He's never been frightened of controversy, so, if he's allowed to, he might come up with something very interesting.
- Donald Wilson absolutely hated the first Dalek story. The BBC had committed to do the show for a year. But, at the same time, there were various cut-off points, and a feeling that it wouldn't last that long, especially after the first serial, which wasn't an ideal one. After that, we had a bit of a problem, because Marco Polo was our next historical story, but John Lucarotti hadn't finished writing it. The only serial we had that was finished was The Daleks, which David Whitaker had commissioned from Terry Nation. We thought it was great, but Donald called us in and said it was absolutely appalling and we weren't to do it. We said there was a problem, because we didn't have another serial ready, so he said that we should put it on, but that would be the end of Doctor Who (1963). He told David to write a two-parter so they could finish after 13 episodes. We were flabbergasted, because we genuinely thought The Daleks was a good serial. And, when we put it on, it absolutely took over. Donald, to give him his due, called us in and said that we clearly knew a good deal more about this than he did, and he wasn't going to interfere any more.
- I got Waris Hussein, which was hugely lucky. He was young, and a bit po-faced about Doctor Who (1963) at first, but he very quickly saw that there was incredible potential for a director. We didn't have the sort of format that any other running serial had. Every time we changed the serial, we made our own rules. It was very creative for directors; if they wanted to be creative within the £2,000 a week budget we had, they had the opportunity. The costume designers, too, were so creative and clever within a very restrictive budget. Marco Polo was wonderful. It's so sad that it's gone. What we achieved within that ludicrous budget was incredible.
- I had a director called Rex Tucker, who was very 'old' BBC. He would pat me on the head and say, 'don't worry about a thing, dear'. We didn't get on at all. He was quite polite to me, but I knew he couldn't bear me, and the feeling was mutual.
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