# Jonathan Stedall
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{{Short description|English television producer and documentary filmmaker (1938–2022)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jonathan Stedall
| birth_name = Jonathan Hugh Pemberton Stedall
| birth_date = {{birth date|1938|1|20|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [Prestwood](/source/Prestwood), [Buckinghamshire](/source/Buckinghamshire), England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|10|21|1938|1|20|df=yes}}
| education = [Cothill House](/source/Cothill_House)
[Harrow School](/source/Harrow_School)
| alma_mater = [London School of Film Technique](/source/London_School_of_Film_Technique)
| occupation = {{flatlist|
* Television producer
* documentary filmmaker}}
| spouse = {{marriage|[Jackie Barton](/source/Jackie_Stedall)|1981|2014|end=d}}
{{marriage|Maureen Rowcliffe|2021}}
| children = 2
| website = {{URL|jonathanstedall.co.uk}}
}}
'''Jonathan Hugh Pemberton Stedall''' (20 January 1938 – 21 October 2022) was an English television producer and documentary filmmaker known for his collaborations with [John Betjeman](/source/John_Betjeman), [Malcolm Muggeridge](/source/Malcolm_Muggeridge) and [Alan Bennett](/source/Alan_Bennett).
== Early life ==
Stedall was born on 20 January 1938 in [Prestwood](/source/Prestwood), [Buckinghamshire](/source/Buckinghamshire), to Peter Stedall, a director of his family's tool-manufacturing company{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}} in the [City of London](/source/City_of_London),{{Sfn|"Obituaries". myPension}} and his wife Mollie. Stedall had a sister and a brother.{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}} His parents divorced when he was eight.{{Sfn|Stedall|2009|p=6}} He was educated at the independent [Cothill House](/source/Cothill_House){{Sfn|"About". Jonathan Stedall}} and [Harrow School](/source/Harrow_School).{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}}
On leaving Harrow, Stedall briefly worked in the family business, before studying at the [London School of Film Technique](/source/London_School_of_Film_Technique).{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}}
== Career ==
=== Early career ===
Stedall worked as an [assistant stage manager](/source/Stage_management), then as a stage manager,{{Sfn|"Obituaries". myPension}} with the [repertory company](/source/repertory_theatre) at the Grand Theatre in [Croydon](/source/Croydon). He then became an [assistant film editor](/source/Film_editing) at [Pinewood Studios](/source/Pinewood_Studios).{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}}
=== Independent Television ===
For two years{{Sfn|"Obituaries". myPension}} Stedall was a [floor manager](/source/studio_floor_manager) at the [Independent Television](/source/ITV_(TV_network)) companies [Television Wales and the West](/source/Television_Wales_and_the_West) (TWW) and [Associated Television](/source/Associated_Television) (ATV).{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}}
On rejoining TWW, the franchise holder for Independent Television in South Wales and the West of England, Stedall directed factual programmes.{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}} He directed Betjeman's [West Country](/source/West_Country) films broadcast by TWW{{Sfn|Hallam|2021}} between 1962 and 1963. The films featured towns including [Sidmouth](/source/Sidmouth), [Bath](/source/Bath%2C_Somerset), [Weston-super-Mare](/source/Weston-super-Mare) and [Devizes](/source/Devizes).{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}} Stedall would remain friends with Betjeman until the end of his life in 1984.{{Sfn|Hallam|2021}} Stedall also worked with the writer [Gwyn Thomas](/source/Gwyn_Thomas_(novelist)) on portraits of [Rhondda](/source/Rhondda), [Neath](/source/Neath) and other South Wales areas from 1962 to 1963.{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}}
=== BBC ===
In 1963, Stedall moved to the [BBC](/source/BBC) as a producer and director.{{Sfn|"About". Jonathan Stedall}} He started with two months on the current affairs programme ''[Tonight](/source/Tonight_(1957_TV_programme))''.{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}} From 1964 to 1966,{{Sfn|"Obituaries". myPension}} he produced ''Footprints'', a travel series telling historical stories,{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}} followed by three films{{Sfn|"Obituaries". myPension}} for the 1966 ''The World of a Child'' series.{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}}
In 1968, Stedall produced ''In Need of Special Care'', a two-part documentary series about the [Camphill Movement](/source/Camphill_Movement)'s work helping people with [learning disabilities](/source/learning_disability), which won the 1969 [Society of Film and Television Arts](/source/British_Academy_of_Film_and_Television_Arts) [Robert Flaherty Award](/source/BAFTA_Award_for_Best_Documentary){{Sfn|Hayward|2022}} and was nominated for the Society's United Nations Award.{{Sfn|"About". Jonathan Stedall}} He switched to films about historical figures for ''Gandhi's India'' (1969), ''The Story of Carl Gustav Jung'' (1971) and ''Tolstoy: From Riches to Rags'' (1972).{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}}
In 1973, Stedall produced ''In Defence of the Stork'', which examined the connections between [embryology](/source/embryology) and the [story of creation](/source/Genesis_creation_narrative) in the [Book of Genesis](/source/Book_of_Genesis), with Camphill's [Thomas Weihs](/source/Thomas_Weihs). That same year, Stedall directed ''Thank God It's Sunday'', about how Londoners spend their Sundays. The programme was repeated on the BBC's ''[Everyman](/source/Everyman_(TV_series))'' in 1995, when it was introduced by [Alan Bennett](/source/Alan_Bennett).{{Sfn|"Obituaries". myPension}} He then worked on ''[One Pair of Eyes](/source/One_Pair_of_Eyes_(TV_series))'' (1974–1983), ''[Summoned by Bells](/source/Summoned_by_Bells_(film))'' (1976) and ''[The Long Search](/source/The_Long_Search)'' (1976–1978).{{Sfn|"Films". Jonathan Stedall}}
Stedall produced ''India – One Man's Truth'' (1978), an interview with the prime minister [Morarji Desai](/source/Morarji_Desai), and ''From Our Own Delhi Correspondent'' (1982), a programme about the country's future.{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}}
In 1982, Stedall made ''Muggeridge: Ancient and Modern'', in which [Malcolm Muggeridge](/source/Malcolm_Muggeridge) looked back on his life. In ''A Week With Svetlana'' (1982), Muggeridge interviewed [Joseph Stalin's daughter](/source/Svetlana_Alliluyeva), and, in ''Solzhenitsyn'' (1983), the Soviet author [Alexander Solzhenitsyn](/source/Alexander_Solzhenitsyn).{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}}
In 1983, Stedall presented and produced ''Time with Betjeman'', a 7-part series celebrating Betjeman's life and work.{{Sfn|"Time with Betjeman". BBC Programme Index}} In 1985, he produced a 10-part ''[Whicker's World](/source/Whicker's_World)'' series about Britons living in the US, ''Living With Uncle Sam'', which earned BAFTA{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}} and [Broadcasting Press Guild](/source/Broadcasting_Press_Guild) nominations. This was followed by a film with [Laurens van der Post](/source/Laurens_van_der_Post) for his 80th birthday. Stedall directed four films inspired by [William Shakespeare](/source/William_Shakespeare)'s [Seven Ages of Man](/source/All_the_world's_a_stage) speech. ''Dinner at Noon'', a portrait of Harrogate Hotel, followed, and in 1989, the 200th anniversary of the [French Revolution](/source/French_Revolution), he made ''[Revolution!!](/source/Revolution!!)''.{{Sfn|"Obituaries". myPension}}
=== Independent work and writing ===
Stedall left the BBC in 1990{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}} and became an independent documentary filmmaker in 1993, producing 21 films over 12 years.{{Sfn|"Obituaries". myPension}} These included "Karachi to The Khyber Pass", an episode of ''[Great Railway Journeys](/source/Great_Railway_Journeys)'' (1994),{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}} and ''Portrait or Bust'' (1994), about [Leeds Art Gallery](/source/Leeds_Art_Gallery). He also produced ''[The Abbey](/source/The_Abbey_(1995_TV_series))'' (1995), a day in the life of [Westminster Abbey](/source/Westminster_Abbey),{{Sfn|"Obituaries". myPension}} then ''Mark Tully's Faces of India'' (1997) for [Channel 4](/source/Channel_4), marking the 50th anniversary of the country's independence.{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}}
Stedall directed the ''[100 Greatest Britons](/source/100_Greatest_Britons)'' episode on [Elizabeth I](/source/Elizabeth_I) (2002),{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}} written and presented by [Michael Portillo](/source/Michael_Portillo).{{Sfn|"Obituaries". myPension}}
In 2009, Stedall wrote ''Where on Earth is Heaven?''. In 2017 he produced a collection of poems written after the death of his wife in 2014, ''No Shore Too Far''.{{Sfn|"Obituaries". myPension}} In 2021,{{Sfn|"Jonathan Stedall". Hawthorn Press}} he published ''An Enchanted Place'', in which [Winnie-the-Pooh](/source/Winnie-the-Pooh) and his friends are de-anthropomorphised to fight against a [housing development](/source/Housing_estate) scheme in their beloved countryside.{{Sfn|"Obituaries". myPension}}
== Personal life ==
In 1981, Stedall married [Jackie Barton](/source/Jackie_Stedall), a statistician and teacher who later became a [mathematics historian](/source/History_of_mathematics).{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}} They had two children and lived in [Painswick](/source/Painswick), [Gloucestershire](/source/Gloucestershire).{{Sfn|Neumann|2014}} Jackie died of [cancer](/source/cancer) in 2014.{{Sfn|"Obituaries". myPension}}
In 2021, Stedall married Maureen Rowcliffe.{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}} He died of cancer on 21 October 2022, at the age of 84.{{Sfn|Hayward|2022}}
== Filmography ==
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1962–1963
| Betjeman [TWW](/source/Television_Wales_and_the_West) films
| Director
| 12 episodes
|-
| 1964–1966
| ''Footprints''
| Producer
|
|-
| 1966
| ''The World of a Child''
| Producer
| 3 episodes
|-
| 1968
| ''In Need of Special Care''
| Writer / producer
| 2 episodes
|-
| 1973
| ''In Defence of the Stork''
| Producer
|
|-
| 1973
| ''Thank God It's Sunday''
| Director
| 1 episode
|-
| 1974–1984
| ''[One Pair of Eyes](/source/One_Pair_of_Eyes_(TV_series))''
| Producer / director
| 9 episodes
|-
| 1976
| ''[Summoned by Bells](/source/Summoned_by_Bells_(film))''
| Producer
| Television film
|-
| 1977
| ''[The Long Search](/source/The_Long_Search)''
| Director
| 13 episodes
|-
| 1978
| ''India – One Man's Truth''
| Producer
| 1 episode
|-
| 1982
| ''Muggeridge: Ancient and Modern''
| Producer
| 8 episodes
|-
| 1982
| ''From Our Own Delhi Correspondent''
| Producer
| 1 episode
|-
| 1983
| ''Time with Betjeman''
| Presenter / producer
| 7 episodes
|-
| 1985
| ''Whicker's World: Living with Uncle Sam''
| Producer
| 10 episodes
|-
| 1988
| ''Dinner at Noon''
|
| Television film
|-
| 1989
| ''[Revolution!!](/source/Revolution!!)''
| Director
| Television film
|-
| 1994
| ''The Lost Betjemans''
| Director
| Television film
|-
| 1994
| ''Betjeman Revisited''
| Director
| Television film
|-
| 1994
| ''[Great Railway Journeys](/source/Great_Railway_Journeys)''
| Producer
| 1 episode
|-
| 1994
| ''Portrait or Bust''
| Director
| Television film
|-
| 1995
| ''Thank God It's Sunday''
| Director
| 1 episode
|-
| 1995
| ''[The Abbey](/source/The_Abbey_(1995_TV_series))''
| Director
| 3 episodes
|-
| 1997
| ''Mark Tully's Faces of India''
| Producer
|
|-
| 2002
| ''[100 Greatest Britons](/source/100_Greatest_Britons)''
| Director
| 1 episode
|}
== References ==
{{reflist}}
== Sources ==
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite web |title=About |url=https://www.jonathanstedall.co.uk/about.php |work=Jonathan Stedall |access-date=5 April 2025 |ref={{SfnRef|"About". Jonathan Stedall}}}}
* {{cite web |title=Films |url=https://www.jonathanstedall.co.uk/films.php |work=Jonathan Stedall |access-date=14 April 2025 |ref={{SfnRef|"Films". Jonathan Stedall}}}}
* {{cite news |last=Hallam |first=Chris |date=4 July 2021 |title=Poet laureate's ode to 'seductive' town by the sea |url=https://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/20442039.poet-laureates-ode-seductive-town-sea/ |work=[Sidmouth Herald](/source/Sidmouth_Herald) |access-date=5 April 2025}}
* {{cite web |last=Hayward |first=Anthony |author-link=Anthony Hayward |date=27 October 2022 |title=Jonathan Stedall obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/oct/27/jonathan-stedall-obituary |work=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |access-date=5 April 2025}}
* {{cite web |title=Jonathan Stedall |url=https://www.hawthornpress.com/authors/jonathan-stedall/ |work=Hawthorn Press |access-date=5 April 2025 |ref={{SfnRef|"Jonathan Stedall". Hawthorn Press}}}}
* {{cite web |last=Neumann |first=Peter |author-link=Peter R. Neumann |date=24 October 2014 |title=Jacqueline Stedall obituary
|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/oct/24/jacqueline-stedall |work=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |access-date=5 April 2025}}
* {{cite web |title=Obituaries |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mypension/prospero-online/obituaries/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418221831/https://www.bbc.co.uk/mypension/prospero-online/obituaries/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 18, 2022 |work=myPension |access-date=7 April 2025 |ref={{SfnRef|"Obituaries". myPension}}}}
* {{cite book |title=Where on Earth is Heaven? |year=2009 |publisher=Hawthorn Press |isbn=978-1-903458-90-7 |last=Stedall |first=Jonathan}}
* {{cite web |title=Time with Betjeman |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/223708c290ae439c87108781f26de82c |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020031512/http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/223708c290ae439c87108781f26de82c |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 20, 2014 |work=BBC Programme Index |date=27 March 1983 |access-date=5 April 2025 |ref={{SfnRef|"Time with Betjeman". BBC Programme Index}}}}
{{refend}}
== External links ==
* {{Official website}}
* {{IMDb name}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stedall, Jonathan}}
Category:1938 births
Category:2022 deaths
Category:BAFTA winners (people)
Category:English theatre managers and producers
Category:English film editors
Category:English documentary filmmakers
Category:English television directors
Category:English television producers
Category:English male television writers
Category:21st-century English male writers
Category:People educated at Cothill House
Category:People educated at Harrow School
Category:Alumni of the London Film School
Category:People from Chiltern District
Category:People from Painswick
Category:Writers from Gloucestershire
Category:Writers from Buckinghamshire
Category:21st-century English writers
---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jonathan Stedall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Stedall) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Stedall?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.