Clive Syddall

Clive Syddall is a British filmmaker and television journalist noted for several campaigning documentaries. He was a trustee of Marie Curie Cancer Care and communications advisor to the British Red Cross.

Life and career Syddall was born in Forfar, Scotland. He was educated at St Egbert's College London, followed by the University of Leicester and Wadham College, Oxford.

Syddall’s television career began in 1968. First as a graduate trainee with ITV Southern Television, then moving to the BBC as producer and director on 24 Hours, Midweek and later BBC’s flagship Panorama.

Syddall was the BBC’s resident producer in Washington covering the Watergate Hearings securing the first interview with Nixon White House aide, John D. Erlichman, later gaoled for his role in the scandal. Clive also persuaded President Nixon's daughter Julie and her husband David Eisenhower, grandson of the former President, to appear live on the BBC to take questions from the ordinary British public. Reported at the time as ‘unprecedented’ and ‘an astonishing coup by the BBC’.

In 1978 he was appointed deputy editor of the BBC's The Money Programme and later story editor on Newsnight.

In 1982 he moved to New York as an independent producer, directing and producing documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4 and PBS. Films included Gang City – the story of the ongoing gang warfare in the Olympic City of Los Angeles BBC2, A Bitter Harvest - The Killing Fields of Mindanao, an investigation into major human rights violations taking place on a plantation funded by the British taxpayer in the Philippines (Channel 4) and Eater of Men - the first rafting expedition attempting the descent of the treacherous Waghi River in New-Guinea 'the-most-dangerous white-water river run ever filmed' reported the Royal Geographical Society at the time; produced for British Academy series River Journeys (BBC / PBS). He was also involved in the development of several feature films including the Oscar winning movie The Mission (Warner Brothers). Pasternak - for an extended South Bank Show - a dramatised documentary on Boris Pasternak, the creator of Dr Zhivago, the first co-production between the British film Industry and Soviet State Film Company Video-Film. Other productions included The Margot Fonteyn Story - the dramatised documentary of Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire the ill-fated ancestor of Diana Princess of Wales, reviewed at the time as 'The Benchmark for all Future History Documentaries (Channel 4). Several campaign documentaries included The Last Flight of Zulu Delta 576 - an investigation into the Chinook helicopter crash over the Mull of Kintyre killing 29 of Britain's top secret service personnel (Channel 4). The film led to a Parliamentary Inquiry and a decision in 2008 by the Secretary of State for Defence to review the case finally clearing the names of the two helicopter pilots.

In 2000 he formed a joint venture with Emmy -award-winning director Bill Cran and formed Paladin Invision. Productions for international distribution included Sinatra Dark Star - a 90-minute investigation into Sinatra's connection to the Mafia, Harem – TV mini-series telling the story of three of the most powerful women in the Ottoman Empire for Channel 4 and Jihad - The Men and Ideas Behind Al-Qaeda (15) a 2-hour documentary that launched the PBS series America at a Crossroads, awarded the du Pont Columbia University Award for ‘Excellence in Journalism’ in 2008.

He was council member of the Royal Television Society, Trustee of Marie Curie Cancer Care 1991-1994 and communications advisor to the British Red Cross (1991-1994).

Documentary Filmography descendantsChannel 41997The Last Flight of Zulu 5671 x 75 minsInvestigation into the Chinook helicopter crash over the Mull of Kintyre killing 29 1 x 50 mins documentary on the first navigation of the Waghi river, Papua New Guinea's most treacherous white water river with explorer Christina Dodwell. For the BBC series River Journeys BBC / PBS / ABC Australia BAFTA Award for ‘Best Factual Series’ 1973 Jimmy Hoffa Comes Back| One of the last interviews with the notorious leader of America's largest trade union before he went mysteriously missing, presumed murdered. BBC (Midweek) 1973 Bad Blood - The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment| Documentary tracking down the survivors of a clinical study in the American South to examine the long term effects of Syphilis who were falsely told by the US Public Health Service that they were being treated for the disease BBC (Midweek) Regine - Queen of Clubs|1 x 40 mins Documentary on the legendary singer and international night club entrepreneur BBC (Larger than life) 1975 John Bloom Goes West| Documentary tracking down the controversial washing machine millionaire starting a new life in Lost Angeles BBC Midweek / BBC 1 Special 1972 Ulster Veterans – Forgotten Men''The lives of some of the 1,000 men badly wounded fighting in Northern Ireland.BBC (Midweek)