A TV pioneer who produced Coronation Street has died at the age of 101.
Derek Granger, from Brighton, was most well known for his work behind-the-scenes on the British drama in the 1960s.
He retired in Brighton and was a vice president of the Regency Society which aims to preserve the architecture of the city.
Derek moved down to Eastbourne with his family when he was 14 and attended Eastbourne College.
He then had four years of war service in the Royal Navy before landing a job with The Evening Argus at the beginning of his career.
In 1952, Derek was head-hunted by the Financial Times with an offer to become the paper’s first drama critic, an appointment which saw the foundations of what was to become the famous FT Arts Page.
He went on to work for Granada TV, producing Coronation Street in its early days. Derek later became the channel’s head of drama.
Speaking on his 101st birthday in April, Derek said: “I absolutely loved working on Coronation Street. I think I was probably actually happier doing that than anything else in television.”
He visited Eastbourne College on his birthday this year.
Derek worked on a number of other shows in the 1960s, including Bulldog Breed, Coronation Street spin-off Pardon the Expression and Turn Out the Lights.
He joined ITV’s London Weekend Television in 1968 and produced shows such as The Inside Man and Wicked Women.
Derek returned to Granada to make the Bafta award-winning Country Matters. He was behind the popular drama Brideshead in 1981.
Derek left Granada in 1982 and worked on feature films.
In 2006, Derek entered a civil partnership with the interior designer Kenneth Partridge, who was his partner since 1949. Partridge died in 2015.
Derek won almost £20,000 from Brighton and Hove City Council after he fell over a trailing wire in Woodvale crematorium on June 25, 2016.
The council said it was “extremely sorry” for the distress caused to Derek.
Derek Granger, born April 23, 1921, died yesterday.
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