Betty Willingale

Betty Kathleen Willingale (27 July 1927 – 15 February 2021) was a British television producer and script editor, best known for her work on BBC Television adaptations of classic literature in the 1970s and 1980s.

Early life and education Willingale was born in London in 1927, the daughter of a Thames lighterman named James. She acquired her literary interest from her mother, Elizabeth (née Bradish). She gained a scholarship to Aylwin Grammar School in Bermondsey, but was in Scotland on holiday when the Second World War began, remaining north of the border for a year. By her return, the school had been evacuated to Rickmansworth in Hertfordshire.

Career After leaving school in 1944 without any qualifications, Willingale joined the BBC as a junior assistant in the reference library at Bush House (then the headquarters of the BBC European and Overseas Services). She moved to the television script library, then housed at Lime Grove, in 1955, where Nigel Kneale assisted her in adapting to the medium. and I, Claudius (1976). After Lisemore's death in a car accident, she formed another strong working partnership with producer Jonathan Powell, script editing many of Powell's most successful drama serials including the adaptations of The Mayor of Casterbridge (1978), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979), Pride and Prejudice (1980), Sons and Lovers (1980) and The Barchester Chronicles (1982).

Betty Willingale died on 15 February 2021 at the age of 93. The opening episode of the 2021 series of Midsomer Murders was dedicated to her memory.