It was in the Blue Room at Bomber Command Officers’ Mess in 1943 that I first met Richard, very briefly. He was sitting alone waiting to lunch with one of our senior staff officers. One of my colleagues approached him and asked if he would care for a drink. ‘I don’t usually drink at lunchtime, but you are so kind, I will, thank you.’
Eight years later when I was working at the British Forces Network in Germany in Hamburg he came with the other members of the Twenty Questions team. We met again this time at the Garrison Theatre. ‘Hullo,’ he said, ‘I met you some years ago at Bomber Command Headquarters, didn’t I? What are you doing getting mixed up in the broadcasting business?’
I had always remembered the first meeting, but there was no reason at all for him to, except that he remembered almost everyone he met no matter how unimportant they were. Ask anyone with whom he worked, from the doorman to the cameraman, and they will tell you the same. They will also recall his immense good humour. One night on Panorama he was caught by the camera when he was combing his hair. In the next evening’s Tonight we gently ribbed him about it. On his way the following week to the Panorama studio he smiled at me and said: ‘Tonight, my boy, I’m doing a strip-tease. Follow that if you dare!’
One of the nicest things about Richard was that he was a great source of advice. There was never any sense of jealousy at the threat of challenge of the new boys; instead there was that constant stream of encouragement and, when asked for, help. In 1949, when I was fresh to the television world, he advised me to ‘do as much as you can, spread your net wide, go anywhere in order to get experience, any experience in writing, interviewing, producing, directing or commentating. Don’t specialise too early, otherwise you will find that you have put yourself in a limited position. The time to start saying no to certain kinds of jobs is later rather than sooner. Once you are in that position always take holidays, never feel yourself getting stale and remember there is more in life than just television. Sometimes I think that we are so concerned with television itself that we forget that we ought to be living and enjoying life just like other people.’
Wise words to a new boy and very welcome words. There were very few in those early days willing to let you take any share in their experience and none was more experienced than Richard. That he cared was a great encouragement.
