Barney Colehan

Barney Colehan was born in Calverley near Leeds on 19 January 1914, and was a pioneer in radio and the early days of television.

Major Bernard Colehan arrived at the BBC from the British Forces Broadcasting Service. He first came to prominence in 1946 as a BBC radio producer responsible for 'Have A Go' presented by Wilfred Pickles. As a light entertainment producer Colehan produced the first programme when television arrived in the north of England in 1951. One of his early successes was Top Town, a talent show pitting contestants from neighbouring towns against each other.

His longest running success was "The Good Old Days", which started in 1953 and was on air for 30 years. Colehan had the idea in 1963 of making a TV version of Jimmy Saville's popular Radio Luxembourg show 'Teen and Twenty Disc Club'. He produced the pilot which later became "Top of the Pops".

In 1966, Colehan brought "It's a Knockout" to the screen which ran for 16 years under his watch.

Colehan was renowned for having a magic touch, although he did manage to reject a project submitted by Tony Warren who went to Granada instead and started Coronation Street.

Was awarded The British Academy of Composers & Songwriters Gold Badge in 1982 for lasting contribution to the UK's entertainment industry.

He died on 21 September 1991 in hospital at Rawdon, near Leeds.

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/content/articles/2006/07/18/wired_yorkshire_heart_broadcasting_feature.shtml "Yorkshire at the heart of broadcasting!" Article on the BBC website]