Christopher Burstall; made much-acclaimed programmes for the BBC's Omnibus series

[Hyfler/Rosner]

Christopher Burstall, the television producer who has died
aged 77, made much-acclaimed programmes for the BBC's
Omnibus series, and helped to make the arts more accessible
to viewers.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/5811671/Christopher-Burstall.html

A master film-maker, he could claim a number of television
firsts: in 1967 his film Tyger, Tyger was the first
television film about a single poem, and the following year
he persuaded the novelist Graham Greene to make his debut on
the small screen; even then, Greene would not allow his face
to be filmed, so Burstall had to be content with shots of
the writer's hands, interviewing him in sound only on the
Orient Express to Istanbul.

In 1966 Burstall had made a centenary tribute to HG Wells
called Whoosh!, a response to what he called the "energy,
fizz, crackle and occasional splutter in the writer's life
and work". It was one of many programmes Burstall produced
and directed about famous writers, including Evelyn Waugh,
Anthony Burgess and WH Auden.

His reverent profile of Auden, A Poet of Disenchantment
(1965), featured the actress Susannah York at the height of
her fame - she had recently starred in Tom Jones (1963) with
Albert Finney. But she had never spoken poetry before, so
she went out on the Yorkshire moors and yelled Auden's lines
into the driving wind and rain.

Burstall also made films with the sculptors Barbara Hepworth
(the last film made about her before her death) and Henry
Moore, while others profiled Jane Austen, James Joyce,
Monteverdi, Cellini, El Greco and Velasquez.

For a film about the composer Wilfred Josephs, Burstall's
house became the setting for a Jewish funeral. Actors
dressed as mourners for a kaddish sat around the coffin,
which his two small daughters later enjoyed playing in.

Christopher Burstall was born on March 10 1932 at Bebington,
Wirral, the only son of an accountant. At nine years old he
was evacuated to Carlisle and on his return attended Wirral
grammar school where he became head boy. He played in the
first cricket XI and rugby XV.

At 17, he was awarded an open exhibition to read English at
King's College, Cambridge. First, he did his National
Service, enlisting at Lichfield before being called to
attend a War Office Selection Board and was commissioned
into the gunners and later spent a year in intelligence.

At Cambridge, he was proud of his role as spear carrier in
Titus Andronicus, directed by John Barton. After Cambridge
Burstall was awarded a scholarship by the Collegio Ghislieri
in Pavia, northern Italy, to spend a year studying the
poetry of Michelangelo.

He learned the language, travelled a lot and formed a
lifelong love of Italy. He also played a lot of poker. On
his return in 1954, he started as a general trainee at the
BBC, joining at the same time as the poet George Macbeth.

After spells in various radio and television berths, he
joined the music and arts department. He worked on Panorama
and Bookstand as well as Omnibus.

Burstall's first film, which he made with the then James
(now Jan) Morris, was called Reflections in a Village about
a village in Kent called Ickham and the many different
characters there.

In 1989 Burstall suffered his first heart attack and had
five bypasses. He retired the following year, and
recuperated by travelling with his wife Sue around Europe in
a silver convertible.

Christopher Burstall, who died on June 2, is survived by his
wife and their son and two daughters.

Published July 13 2009