{{Short description|Australian television producer and screenwriter (1926–2019)}} {{About|the Australian TV producer|the English footballer|Reg Watson (footballer)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox person | image = | name = Reg Watson | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AM}} | birth_name = Reginald James Watson | birth_date = {{birth date|1926|8|27|df=y}} | birth_place = Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|2019|10|8|1926|8|27|df=y}} | death_place = Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | resting_place_coordinates = | other_names = | occupation = {{hlist|Television producer|screenwriter|executive}} | years_active = 1942–1992 | known_for = {{bulleted|''Crossroads''||''Prisoner'' (known internationally as ''Prisoner: Cell Block H'')|''Neighbours''|''The Young Doctors''|''Sons and Daughters''}} | spouse = | children = | website = }} '''Reginald James Watson''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100%|AM}} (27 August 1926 – 8 October 2019) was an Australian television producer and screenwriter and executive.
Watson was executive producer on the British soap opera ''Crossroads'' and created Australian media exports serials such as ''Prisoner'', ''Neighbours'', ''The Young Doctors'' and ''Sons and Daughters''.
==Career== Watson was born on 27 August 1926, and grew up on a sugar farm in Queensland.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2019/10/13/reg-watson-godfather-modern-soap-created-crossroads-smash-hit/|title=Reg Watson, 'Godfather of the modern soap' who created 'Crossroads' and the smash hit Australian suburban drama 'Neighbours' – obituary|date=13 October 2019|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=13 October 2019}}</ref> He began his career as an actor at the age of sixteen on Australian radio firstly as an actor and then as an announcer, before moving to the UK in 1955.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1390069581|title=He puts pep into lunch-hour television|magazine=ABC Weekly|volume=20|issue=46|date=12 November 1958|location=Sydney|access-date=13 December 2023|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
He was soon hired by ATV and in 1956, joined Ned Sherrin and Noele Gordon in Birmingham to establish the base of ATV Midlands where his job was as head of Light Entertainment.
In this role, he created many programmes for the station with his first big hit being the live daily chat show, ''Lunchbox''. It ran from 1956 to 1964 to over 3,000 editions with its presenter, Noele Gordon, becoming a regional celebrity. In 1958, Watson submitted a proposal to ATV for a new Midlands based soap opera; however, it was not until 1964 that Lew Grade, head of the company, granted approval for a series. Initially called ''The Midland Road'', the project was renamed ''Crossroads'' by Watson just before its run began. Created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling, it achieved audiences of 18 million.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2015/03/neighbours-creator-reg-watson-very-proud-on-the-30th-anniversary.html|title=Neighbours creator Reg Watson "very proud" on the 30th Anniversary|last=Knox|first=David|date=18 March 2015|work=TV Tonight|access-date=25 January 2017}}</ref>
After ten years producing ''Crossroads'' and eighteen years at ATV, he decided to return to Australia in 1973. Upon his return home, he took up the post of senior vice-president in charge of drama at Reg Grundy Productions.<ref name="Break">{{cite magazine|date=26 December 1987|title=Drama chief takes a break|magazine=TV Week|page=41}}</ref> Thanks to his popular British soap, he was able to create many more series in Australia including ''Until Tomorrow'' (1975), ''The Young Doctors'' (1976), ''The Restless Years'' (1977), ''Prisoner'' (1979), ''Taurus Rising'' (1982), ''Sons and Daughters'' (1982), ''Waterloo Station'' (1983), ''Starting Out'' (1983), ''Possession'' (1985), and ''Richmond Hill'' (1988).<ref name="Break"/> ''Prisoner'', ''Richmond Hill'', ''Sons and Daughters'' and ''The Young Doctors'' later aired in the UK, with the first show known in Britain as ''Prisoner: Cell Block H''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/prisoner-cell-block-h-looking-back-at-the-show/|title = Prisoner: Cell Block H – looking back at the show|date = 10 November 2015}}</ref> in order to avoid confusion with Patrick McGoohan's surreal 1960s TV series.
The prominence he gained from ''Sons and Daughters'' helped his idea for ''Neighbours'' to be picked up by the Seven Network in 1985. After being cancelled by Seven that year due to low ratings, it switched to the Ten Network at the start of 1986 and slowly its ratings climbed. ''Neighbours'' ended in July 2022 after 37 years but, four months later, it was announced that ''Neighbours'' was to return on FreeVee and the first episode of the new series aired in September 2023. It is the longest-running drama series in Australian television history. At the 47th Annual TV Week Logie Awards held on 1 May 2005, ''Neighbours'' became the 22nd inductee into the ''TV Week'' Hall of Fame.
Watson also dabbled in television in the US, producing ''Dangerous Women'', a short-lived soap opera based on the Australian ''Prisoner'' series.
==Personal life== Watson was a private man and rarely gave interviews. He took a sabbatical from Grundy Productions in December 1987, after working non-stop for 14 years.<ref name="Break"/> His duties were split between other Grundy staff, including Don Battye.<ref name="Break"/> He retired in 1992 and did not produce any new television drama from then onwards.
On 26 January 2010, Watson was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for services to the media as a pioneer in the creation and production of serial television drama.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Reg Watson AM|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1141850|publisher=Australian Honours Database|access-date=26 January 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Neighbours creator Honoured|url=http://www.atvnewsnetwork.co.uk/today/index.php/atv-today/2165-reg-watson|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721045315/http://www.atvnewsnetwork.co.uk/today/index.php/atv-today/2165-reg-watson|archive-date=21 July 2010}}</ref>
On 8 October 2019, Watson died aged 93, after a short illness.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/oct/13/reg-watson-obituary|title=Reg Watson obituary|last=Hayward|first=Anthony|date=13 October 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=14 October 2019}}</ref><ref name="Knox">{{cite web|url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2019/10/vale-reg-watson.html|title=Vale: Reg Watson|last=Knox|first=David|date=12 October 2019|publisher=TV Tonight|access-date=13 October 2019}}</ref> ''Neighbours'' announced his death on their official Twitter account.<ref name="death">{{Cite tweet |number=1182909535062638592 |user=neighbours |title='Everyone at Neighbours is sad to hear of the passing of our creator, Reg Watson. He was a pioneer of drama, prolific in his output and by all accounts a lovely person to work with. His legacy lives on in Ramsay Street to this day.' – Jason Herbison – Neighbours EP |date=12 October 2019}}</ref> The show's executive producer, Jason Herbison described Watson as a "pioneer of drama",<ref name="Knox"/> while writer Bevan Lee called him "a trailblazer in Australian commercial television drama".<ref name="Knox"/> Both Lee and television historian Andrew Mercado believed Watson should be inducted into the Logie Hall of Fame.<ref name="Knox"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|0914844}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Reg}} Category:1926 births Category:2019 deaths Category:Australian soap opera writers Category:Australian television show creators Category:Australian television personalities Category:Members of the Order of Australia Category:Australian male television writers