Sidney Bernstein, Baron Bernstein

Beginning in 1948, Bernstein lobbied the government to give the cinema industry the right to produce and transmit television programmes, not to individual homes, as the BBC did, but to audiences gathered in cinemas and theatres.

Granada Television

In 1954, Bernstein won a franchise licence to broadcast commercial television to the north of England including key urban areas such as Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield. Bernstein wanted the north of England as this would not have any detrimental effect on viewers at his theatres, which were predominantly based in the south of England. Furthermore, he strongly believed the north of England had a cultural heart that had potential to be cultivated, which would translate itself into good television.

The North and London were the two biggest regions. Granada preferred the North because of its tradition of home-grown culture, and because it offered a chance to start a new creative industry away from the metropolitan atmosphere of London... the North is a closely knit, indigenous, industrial society; a homogeneous cultural group with a good record for music, theatre, literature and newspapers, not found elsewhere in this island, except perhaps in Scotland. Compare this with London and its suburbs – full of displaced persons. And, of course, if you look at a map of the concentration of population in the North and a rainfall map, you will see that the North is an ideal place for television.^[9]

To achieve his aim, Bernstein ordered the building of the United Kingdom's first completed purpose-built television studios (

Bernstein's instincts proved to be sound. Despite objections to a commercial franchise being awarded to a company with overtly left-wing leanings, Granada began broadcasting from Manchester in May 1956, proudly proclaiming its origins with the slogan 'From the North' and labelling its new constituency 'Granadaland'. The first night's programming opened, at Bernstein's insistence, with an homage to the BBC, whose public broadcasting pedigree he had always admired, and closed with a public-spirited statement of advertising policy which suggested an ambivalence about the commercial imperative to maximise profits.

As early as January 1957, Granada was responsible for the top ten programmes, by ratings, available in its region. Bernstein's company soon came to be regarded as one of the most progressive of the independent television contractors. One famous series Bernstein was not enthusiastic about was the drama serial Coronation Street. Bernstein's brother Cecil felt the same way about it;^[11] upon hearing the proposal for what was then to be known as Florizel Street, Sidney stated that scriptwriter Tony Warren had "pick[ed] up all the boring bits and strung them together one after another".^[12]

Nevertheless, Coronation Street was approved and soon become a popular programme. Granada also garnered a reputation for producing high-profile current affairs and documentary programmes, such as World in Action, Disappearing World and What the Papers Say, all of which lent Granada prestige and aligned it, unmistakably, with the ideals of its founder.

Later life

On 3 July 1969 he was created a

Bernstein was portrayed by Steven Berkoff in the 2010 BBC one-off drama The Road to Coronation Street, about the creation of the soap opera.

Personal life

Sidney Bernstein's first marriage, in November 1936, ended ten years later in an amicable divorce, with his first wife, Zoe Farmer,^[14] eventually marrying Robin Barry, the son of his close friend, Iris Barry, the lifelong film curator of the Museum of Modern Art and one of the founders, along with Sidney, of the London Film Society.

Bernstein remarried in 1954, to Canadian-born Sandra Alexandra Malone, with whom he had two children, a son, David, and a daughter Jane I. Wells, as well as adopting his wife's daughter from a previous marriage, Charlotte-Lynn. This marriage lasted for the rest of his life.

Bernstein's daughter is a documentarian, following in her father's footsteps by producing more than 40 short documentaries and currently lives in New York. She helped to bring about her father's last wish that the documentary on which he had done so much work, with Alfred Hitchcock and many others. The story of this documentary can be found in the HBO film Night Will Fall.

Bernstein was a keen art collector and paintings from his collection adorned the walls of the Granada Studios. On his death in 1993, he bequeathed part of his collection – which included works by Chagall and Modigliani – to the Manchester Art Gallery.^[15] Bernstein was known to be a bad driver, something that his colleagues such as Mike Scott used to joke about when Bernstein gave up driving.^[16]

Filmography

• Rope (uncredited producer, 1948)
• Under Capricorn (uncredited producer, 1949)
• German Concentration Camps Factual Survey, restoration of which discussed in documentary film Night Will Fall (2015)
• Memory of the Camps (1985) executive producer, including footage of concentration camps filmed by Hitchcock as part of Factual Survey in 1945
• Frontline
  (1985) executive producer (US release) episode, "Memory of the Camps"

Arms

Coat of arms of Sidney Bernstein, Baron Bernstein

Coronet A Coronet of a Baron Crest A bear's head erased Sable collared company Argent and Sable rimmed Or. Escutcheon Quarterly Sable and Argent a spade between a decresent and a sun all counterchanged. Supporters Dexter a bear sinister a fighting bull Sable each gorged of a torse Argent and Sable. Motto If I Rest I Rust[17] Badge A roundel quarterly Sable and Argent fimbriated Vert and charged with a spade counterchanged.

References