Former BBC comedy chief also produced The Two Ronnies

Former BBC comedy chief James Gilbert – the executive who commissioned Yes Minister and Fawlty Towers – has died at the age of 93.

He is also credited as being the man responsible for the Two Ronnies. He had previously worked with Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett on The Frost Report before thy were paired up on their own show that would run from 1971 and 1987.

Edinburgh-born Gilbert was executive producer of the first series, and went on to produce Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads, Last of the Summer Wine and French Fields.

Gilbert was head of BBC comedy from 1973 to 1977, where he commissioned John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth to write a pilot.

Other BBC executives were less impressed with it, with script editor Ian Main asserting it was ‘A collection of clichés and stock characters which I can’t see being anything but a disaster.’ However Gilbert pushed the idea through.

Speaking to the Guardian, BBC director general Tony Hall hailed him as ‘an absolute giant”of BBC comedy’

‘He had that magic understanding of how great comedy worked, and he constantly surprised us, too, with innovation after innovation,’ he added.

Gilbert was head of BBC comedy from 1973 to 1977 before he was appointed head of BBC light entertainment until 1982.

The other BBC executive credited with creating the Two Ronnies was Bill Cotton, whom Gilbert replaced as head of light entertainment. Cotton is said to have been impressed by the way the duo filled in for a few minutes during a technical hitch at an awards ceremony.

Published: 7 Jul 2016