Beryl Vertue

Presenter0:00

Hello, I'm Kirsty Young. Thank you for downloading this podcast of Desert Island Discs from BBC Radio 4. For rights reasons the music choices are shorter than in the radio broadcast.

Presenter0:10

For more information about the programme, please visit bbc.co.uk slash radio four.

Presenter0:32

My castaway this week is the T V producer Beryl Virtue. In the famously fickle world of Telly, where last year's hero is this year's Zero, she has stood the test of time. Indeed, in T V circles the noun virtuosity is defined as the ability to make enormously successful sitcoms for British television and then sell the formats to the American market. The cast list of her working life is a who's who of dazzling quality, and includes Jack Lemmon, Tony Hancock, Frankie Howard, Jack Nicholson, and, most recently, Benedict Cumberbatch.

Presenter1:07

Having started out typing Goon Show scripts in the mid-fifties, she has risen to the very top of her industry and says.

Presenter1:15

It is terribly important not to know too many rules. If you know rules and obstacles, you spend a lot of time dealing with them. If you don't know there's a rule, you just do it. So, Beryl Virtue, the first two rules that you broke were you were a woman in a man's world and you were something called well it had never really been heard of an independent producer.

Presenter1:34

Uh what gave you the nerve way back in the beginning?

Beryl Vertue1:37

I think because I came into this industry so much by accident, I didn't know what to fear, I suppose, and uh quite a few people said, you know, very difficult being a woman and

Beryl Vertue1:50

I hadn't thought about it really and uh

Beryl Vertue1:53

I did have a cameraman once, and he said I've never worked for a woman before.

Beryl Vertue1:58

And he'd just come off something with Sam Spiegel.

Beryl Vertue2:02

And I said to him, Well, look, let's give it a go and see how it is. So after two or three days, I said to him, Well, what do you think?

Beryl Vertue2:11

So he said well.

Beryl Vertue2:13

I think it's the same and I said no it isn't.

Beryl Vertue2:16

I bet Sam Spiegel never kissed you when you came in in the morning.

Presenter2:20

Thank goodness.

Presenter2:21

M

Presenter2:22

You are, of course, part of the establishment now. You're you know, you are a grandee within the industry, and it must surely no longer work to pretend not to know the rules. I think I have to remember not to

Beryl Vertue2:33

Remember all the rules, otherwise

Beryl Vertue2:35

You can think of obstacles which get in your way, but I think it's just experience and hopefully I haven't changed that much.

Presenter2:43

Your working life has encompassed everything from steptoe and son to the movie Tommy to men behaving badly. I w I wonder when you sit down in front of the T V what really makes you laugh? I like visual humour a lot. Would mister Bean make you laugh?

Beryl Vertue2:57

Yes, it does make me laugh, because I think he's so

Beryl Vertue3:01

Clever.

Beryl Vertue3:02

And Mrs. Brown's Boys. I mean, which is on currently, she's really quite old-fashioned, actually. Yeah, that's very broad-brushed comedy.

Presenter3:09

Well, isn't it?

Beryl Vertue3:10

That makes sense.

Presenter3:10

That makes me laugh.

Presenter3:12

Rev makes me laugh. It's time for the music, then, Beryl. Tell me about your first strike. Why have you chosen this?

Presenter3:19

Pinball was at Elton John.

Beryl Vertue3:20

When I had joined Robert Stigwood, we made a film.

Beryl Vertue3:24

called Tommy. Elton John was

Beryl Vertue3:27

asked would he be the pinball wizard. I remember him arriving with a suitcase full of glasses. There must have been 300 pairs there so that the director could choose one which was suitable. We shot that in a theatre, mostly sort of people and he had these huge boots on and it was fun and it was extraordinary.

Speaker 43:52

Silverball, from So on Down to Brighton, I must have played them all, but I ain't seen nothing like him in any amusement hall. That Jeff Don Brighton showed the bean pen ball.

Speaker 44:12

He stands like a statue, becomes part of the machine. Feeling all the fun bursts, always play

Presenter4:19

That was Elton John and Pinball Wizard. So you've been garlanded with T V's highest honours, Beryl Virtue, in the past few years. You've had a Royal Television Society Fellowship, a BAFTA Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Television, and now to me this is the interesting one. In 2010, you were jointly given an award for Sherlock. It was your daughter's significantly that was.

Beryl Vertue4:39

Yes it was. Sue Virtue is the producer.

Beryl Vertue4:43

Debbie Bertu is the COO of Hartswood Films, Stephen Moffat, who co-created Sherlock, is my son-in-law.

Presenter4:52

And when to stand up there with with Debbie and Sue and have the credits spread among the three of you, it must have felt like quite a moment.

Beryl Vertue4:59

I felt ever so proud and it was actually very thrilling because I never urged them to come into the business, but I suppose things rub off.

Presenter5:08

Do you talk about it as a family away from the office, or are you very strict to say, well, that belongs there, and at home we talk about the grandkids, or we talk about holidays?

Beryl Vertue5:15

We don't sit there.

Beryl Vertue5:17

Talking about business all the time.

Beryl Vertue5:20

And considering we're all working together, we even go on holiday together.

Presenter5:25

Now it's considered very rude in some quarters to ask a lady her age, so I will not. However, you work in an industry where, for many women on screen, as the years advance, things become very tricky. As your years have advanced, have you noticed as somebody behind the camera that there's been any prejudice towards you?

Beryl Vertue5:42

Yeah. Personally, I haven't. It's interesting what I've been called over the years. You know, I started off with young producer in her thirties and then skipped through middle age or something, and then I moved to

Beryl Vertue5:54

being described as veteran producer. Currently I'm legendary.

Presenter5:58

Uh

Beryl Vertue5:59

Was the next one to be said or something, but hopefully not yet.

Presenter5:59

To vote.

Presenter6:02

I think it would be fair to say that we are not occupying a golden age of British television. Yet when you look to America with things like Madmen and Homeland and Modern Family, there's an awful lot of very, very good T V being produced. What is it you think in their system that they're getting right? I think the programmes you've just said

Beryl Vertue6:20

said, are wonderful.

Beryl Vertue6:23

You have to remember we see the very best, and I think British television is in a very, very healthy state.

Presenter6:27

Is it

Presenter6:29

You were a a pioneer of formatting around the world, of ideas that had their germination in in Britain and were grown in Britain and then exporting them.

Beryl Vertue6:37

I think when I sold the first format I didn't get up in the morning and think I'll be a pioneer today what I was was an impatient agent at that time, representing writers with really good material. And if you take Tilda Thus Duparte and Johnny Spate, very, very successful series here.

Beryl Vertue6:55

And I thought

Beryl Vertue6:56

Well, they'll never sell that, because they couldn't understand the dialect or

Beryl Vertue7:02

Our prejudices, or whatever, but I thought the idea was strong and so.

Beryl Vertue7:06

I sold the idea.

Presenter7:08

Let's have some more music. Tell me about your second track. Wha why have you chosen this and what is it, Beryl?

Beryl Vertue7:14

Well, I don't know much about classical music really, and I heard Ness and Dormer, as did millions of others, as the theme music for the world football. I thought, gosh, that's good. Of course, if you're going to have it sung, then three of the best tenors in the world, all in one go, singing that song. I think it's really good, so I'd like to hear that again.

Speaker 48:09

Yeah.

Speaker 48:17

Yeah, that's hard.

Presenter8:28

That was Nessendorma from Puccini's Turin Dot, performed by the three tenors with the orchestras Del Maggio Musicalo Fiorentino and Del Teatro del Opera di Roma, conducted there by Zubin Mehta.

Presenter8:40

In the introduction, I said you one of your first jobs was typing scripts for the Goon Show. Never mind that. I need to rewind a bit, because actually your first job.

Presenter8:49

Was manning the petrol pumps at your dad's garage, isn't that right? I was.

Beryl Vertue8:54

Yeah.

Presenter8:54

Just a teenager in

Beryl Vertue8:55

With that I used to go and help.

Beryl Vertue8:58

and get a bit of pocket money for doing it. And I felt ever so important, I must say. Where was your dad's garage? That was in uh Mitcham, where I was born.

Presenter9:07

Where are you?

Presenter9:07

Tell me about your father then. He was um he was the right age to have served in the war, but he didn't. He was more important to to services at home than

Beryl Vertue9:14

My father was a ever such a good engineer. So he wasn't called up to fight in the war. He was called up to go and work in the local munitions factory to uh

Beryl Vertue9:28

Make bombs, I guess, you know, so we were fortunate that we always had him with us.

Presenter9:33

And so your mum she was quite a a go ahead character. She was the one who sort of encouraged your dad to start the garage and start his own business. Tell me more about her. She was always very, very energetic.

Beryl Vertue9:42

And uh she lived till she was ninety two. She was very strange about her age'cause I must take after her there. She never did tell us how old she was and it wasn't until my father died that she admitted that she was five years older than it said, but she said, I wanted to be the same age as daddy. I thought, Oh, bless her, you know. You

Presenter10:07

Uh

Beryl Vertue10:07

Assist

Presenter10:07

Definitely.

Beryl Vertue10:07

Yes. And so at one point you were evacuated? Well, we went to Tring in Hertfordshire, which if you think about it, is not very far from London, but it was in those days. The father owned a butcher's shop.

Beryl Vertue10:19

and one of the daughters was going out with an American colonel, and we had ice cream.

Beryl Vertue10:24

and I know they told me to s get something from the larder, and there was a whole bucket full of eggs, and I'd only ever seen four at a time.

Beryl Vertue10:35

And we stayed there for

Beryl Vertue10:38

three months and got very homesick and asked if we could go home.

Beryl Vertue10:42

And the night we went home was the worst bombing of the war, and I remember that night because we were quite near a big factory that made margarine.

Beryl Vertue10:53

And the bombs dropped on that and it sizzled and you could

Presenter10:57

But hear it sizzling in the air. It's time for your third track of the day. Tell me about this. Why have you chosen this?

Beryl Vertue11:03

Well, this is Moonlight Serenade by Glenn Miller. And this really was where my life completely changed. I met my husband when we were at school, fifteen. When we're grown up, we'll get married, we said, and so we did. And we decided that we'd go to Canada. That sounded like an adventure.

Beryl Vertue11:23

But then something intervened, and one of the people that I used to type scripts for was my friend Alan Simpson. He and Ray Galton had met in a hospital where they got T B, and then they came out and started to write.

Beryl Vertue11:40

Well, I worked too hard really because then I got T B.

Beryl Vertue11:45

So we didn't go to Canada at all. But it actually changed my life. Off I went to the

Beryl Vertue11:50

Sanatorium and the Isle of Wight. Bit like Wuthering Heights it was. But when I got a bit better and got up.

Beryl Vertue11:58

I became a D J on the local radio for the hospital, and this was my theme music.

Presenter12:36

Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade. So you got to know Alan Simpson, who was part of the legendary duo that would write so many brilliant comedy hits. You sort of, as you say, you fell into it by accident. Tell me about the job interview for that. Well, when I.

Speaker 412:43

Yeah.

Beryl Vertue12:49

I came out of the sanatorium, the doctor said, Well, you're better now, but don't overdo it. And I got a job right near Victoria Station. And so I was just getting going with that, and Alan called and said that they'd formed a company, he and Ray Galton and Eric Sykes and Spike Milligan, and they wanted to get a secretary.

Beryl Vertue13:09

And I said, Well, where is this office then? and he said Shepherd's Bush and I quickly thought That's an hour on the trolley bus that's overdoing it.

Beryl Vertue13:18

Can't go there.

Beryl Vertue13:20

Three months later Alan rang again, and said that the girl they'd got was terrible.

Beryl Vertue13:25

Will I go for this interview?

Beryl Vertue13:27

And Spike Milligan,

Beryl Vertue13:29

Who had braces on and no jacket thought that was very odd. He did the interview.

Beryl Vertue13:35

Alan Simpson sat on the floor throughout, and I thought he's gone to pot since he's in show business.

Beryl Vertue13:41

But I had the best time. Spiker never didn't ask my speeds kept asking like what made me laugh, what kind of tea I made. I could see why he asked that,'cause once I got the job I was always doing that. And then he suddenly said, Well, I think she'll be great.

Beryl Vertue13:57

And I thought, oh, I don't want the job done. I'm not, you know, I'm not coming here. So I thought, I'll price myself out of it, that's what I'll do.

Beryl Vertue14:06

So he said, How much do you want? and I said ten pounds a week, very grandly, but miles more than I was getting. And he said, Well, that's two pounds ten each.

Beryl Vertue14:15

And there I I went. And you look back and you think my whole life was transformed from that day. And I nearly didn't go because of a trolley bus. What was life like in the D to D in the office? To start with I was hugely busy because I making tea a lot, typing scripts. Did you think they were funny? Yes, I did.

Presenter14:34

I did. And what about the notion of uh I mean, people talk about this a lot right now, of course, a very hot topic, o of um of sexual equality within the television industry. You know, uh when you were working there, were you sort of, you know, the pretty young girl round the office?

Beryl Vertue14:48

I never was aware of any of that. I truthfully wasn't. I never have been. I had a lot to do. I was having fun. And then also the B B C used to send down

Beryl Vertue15:00

People who wanted to be writers, who were just starting. And this was the purpose of why they'd formed the company in the beginning, quite altruistic that they would help new young writers. Johnny Spate sold insurance when he arrived. Terry Nation, who created the Daleks, was a furniture salesman. You know, it's when I look back now, I think that was an amazing time. It was amazing at the time, but because it was all so rushed, I didn't realise how

Presenter15:30

How pioneering it all was. Let's take a break for some more music then. We're on your fourth choice this morning. What are we going to hear now?

Beryl Vertue15:37

Yeah.

Beryl Vertue15:38

I've chosen

Presenter15:38

Uh

Beryl Vertue15:38

The morning of my life by the Bee Gees, when I joined Robert Stiggle in 1967.

Beryl Vertue15:45

He looked after and managed the Bee Gees, who I've adored ever since.

Beryl Vertue15:50

And I knew them all, and and now there's only one, Barry, and I'm hugely sad about that. But their music is lovely, and you don't hear the Morning of My Life very often, and yet it's a song that they

Beryl Vertue16:04

created and wrote when they were young boys in Australia and uh I just love it.

Speaker 316:18

In the morning

Speaker 316:21

But my mind

Speaker 316:25

The minutes take so long to drift away

Speaker 316:30

Please be patient.

Speaker 316:33

With your love

Speaker 316:36

It's only morning and you've still to live your day.

Presenter16:40

That was the morning of my life by The Bee Geese. When did you realise, Beryl, that being a very good secretary wasn't enough for you?

Beryl Vertue16:49

Uh

Presenter16:49

Uh

Beryl Vertue16:49

Yeah. But

Presenter16:49

Cayman A.

Beryl Vertue16:49

By accident, because I was in this office with all these writers and things, and then

Beryl Vertue16:54

You did all the jobs and then one day Alan Simpson said to me, Oh, could you ring the BBC and because our contract's run out and we need another one.

Beryl Vertue17:03

I said, Well, I don't know what to say and he said, Well, I I don't know, think of something. So I thought of something that there's two of them and it's hard and they're very good and I got a bit more money, five guineas more than they had been having. And so I started doing that for everybody. And then one day someone said to me, How long have you been an agent?

Beryl Vertue17:22

I didn't realise that's what I was.

Presenter17:23

Were you Tony Hancock's agent? Yes, I was. The relationship between um the talent and the agent is a is a crucial one, and it's a very, very intimate one. How well do you feel you got to know him?

Presenter17:36

I p

Beryl Vertue17:36

Got to know him quite well. I don't think you ever got to know him very well. But he used to go to France a lot with his wife, um, Cecily, and one day he said

Beryl Vertue17:49

Why don't you come as well? And

Beryl Vertue17:52

Er, Alan Gorton and Simpson went and I went.

Beryl Vertue17:55

and his mother went to this hotel in the south of France.

Beryl Vertue18:00

We had such a funny time, and that was the the time where I enjoyed him the most, I think. He was very relaxed. We played a silly game of cards with matches for money, and um he kept saying, Could you see your way clear to advance me five matches? and thing. We were just in hysterics.

Beryl Vertue18:22

Er it was the happiest I personally ever saw him.

Beryl Vertue18:25

And when I was driving along one day and they announced on the radio

Beryl Vertue18:29

that he died in Australia.

Beryl Vertue18:32

I thought well, there you are then.

Beryl Vertue18:34

You've you're right over there, away from us all very, very sad.

Presenter18:38

You mentioned a moment ago Terry Nation, who's who's gone down in legend for anybody who's mad about Doctor Who and lots of people are, as the inventor of the Daleks. You cut a very clever deal for him, didn't you?

Beryl Vertue18:45

As the inventory

Beryl Vertue18:50

Yes, when Terry Nation created the Daleks I thought I'd alter the contract a bit.

Beryl Vertue18:56

So that Terry owned it. So I I crossed something out in the.

Beryl Vertue19:01

In the contract.

Beryl Vertue19:03

Not knowing that

Beryl Vertue19:05

Nobody'd done that before.

Beryl Vertue19:07

I just thought, well, he's created something that might be a bit of merchandising, and indeed it did turn into a bit of merchandising. But course come the time when my son in law, Stephen Moffat,

Beryl Vertue19:19

as the showrunner of Doctor Who and they wanted to use the daleks, it became very tricky.

Beryl Vertue19:25

To get hold of it. So, Stephen, you say, well, thanks very much.

Presenter19:30

Yes. There are very many reasons, of course, for a son-in-law to resent his mother-in-law, but I think you probably topped them all with that one.

Presenter19:37

Let's have some music then. What are we going to hear now, Beryl?

Beryl Vertue19:39

We're going to hear now.

Beryl Vertue19:42

Sampering from a chorus line. And the story behind this is that I did a film called The Entertainer, which was based on the John Osborne play. And we shot it in a place called Santa Cruz, which was nor near San Francisco. And in Santa Cruz was this old village hall with a very battered piano. And Marvin Hamlish, the composer, used to come in some mornings as we congregated there for a coffee and say,

Presenter20:01

And

Beryl Vertue20:09

I've just written a song. Do you want to hear it? And he would play this song to Jack Lemmon and I, and it turned out that it was chorus line.

Speaker 420:20

One singular sensation every little step she takes.

Speaker 420:28

One

Speaker 420:30

Thrilling combination every move that she makes

Speaker 420:36

One smile and suddenly nobody else

Speaker 420:40

Will do

Speaker 420:44

You know you'll never be lonely with you

Presenter20:51

One from the original Broadway cast recording of a chorus line, You have had a window.

Presenter20:57

into so many extraordinary moments of creativity. Do does it sometimes take your breath away?

Beryl Vertue21:02

Yeah.

Presenter21:02

It does, really.

Beryl Vertue21:03

My one regret is that I didn't keep a diary. How stupid is that? Because there's lots of little anecdotes I do remember and a lot I can't remember. But I have been privileged actually to be in on the first of so many things that when you look back you think, well,

Beryl Vertue21:22

That is a merit.

Presenter21:23

Yeah.

Beryl Vertue21:23

Birthday. Holy

Presenter21:24

Your working life seems to have been punctuated by the idea that, you know, you just sort of rolled up your sleeves and and got on with it. I I'm thinking now particularly of a period at the start of the sixties. You you were married, you had two tiny daughters and you had by that time quite a big job.

Presenter21:39

Did it ever occur to you it was quite difficult to just roll up your sleeves and get on with it?

Beryl Vertue21:43

My life was a perpetual rush and lots of my friends used to say, How do you manage? And I used to say, just about.

Beryl Vertue21:50

But I was a great list person as well. My husband Clem was wonderful. We always tried that we weren't both away at the same time. Did you ever feel the power of television? I remember once that Hancock's Half Hour, which used to get huge audiences, was asked not to go out on the night of the election.

Beryl Vertue22:11

Because they thought the voters wouldn't go out. That's when you realize how many people watched.

Presenter22:17

You mentioned the name of Robert Stigwood. He was something of an industry legend. He he looked after the Beatles after Brian Epstein. He looked after the Bee Gees, Eric Clapton. What was he like? Was he a very glamorous figure himself?

Beryl Vertue22:30

I found Robert Stigwood and still do.

Beryl Vertue22:34

An amazing person. He's like a mentor. And I met him because I.

Beryl Vertue22:39

Really wanted to produce more.

Beryl Vertue22:42

And though I needed to meet someone, and at the same time he wanted to move into film and television, and he wanted to meet someone.

Beryl Vertue22:50

And so we met. He sent round a white Rolls-Royce with the hood down. I thought, my word, this is impressive.

Beryl Vertue22:59

And the man was impressive.

Beryl Vertue23:01

Extremely visionary, clever man. I remember a record that he wanted to buy because he wanted to turn it into a theatre production.

Beryl Vertue23:11

And it was called Jesus Christ Superstar.

Beryl Vertue23:14

None of us heard the record, but we sort of said, Well, if Robert's that sure about it, we better say

Beryl Vertue23:20

Yes.

Beryl Vertue23:22

And then Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice said

Beryl Vertue23:25

One day they wanted to write a musical about Eva Perron, and we all went

Beryl Vertue23:30

Good Lord, what's that going to be like, then?

Beryl Vertue23:33

And then they did, and that was another big hit. Thrilling theatre.

Speaker 423:38

Don't cry for me, Argentina.

Speaker 423:44

The truth is.

Presenter23:44

Terra

Speaker 423:46

I never left you All through my wild days, My mad existence I kept my promise

Speaker 423:59

Don't keep your distance.

Presenter24:05

That was Elaine Page and Don't Cry for Me, Argentina. So you said before we went into that, Beryl Virtue, that you really did fancy going from being an agent to being a producer, and surprise, surprise, you managed it. You mentioned also at the start of the programme that uh the film Tommy was one of your big first roles as uh producer, directed of course by Ken Russell. Quite a production, I imagine. W was it difficult to get those people engaged in the project?

Beryl Vertue24:29

Yes, Robert Stigwood wanted Tina Turner to be in it.

Beryl Vertue24:33

So Robert said, Would you go and meet Ike Turner and have a bit of a chat and about her being in it? Anyway, we went into a room that was all maroon, looked like a

Beryl Vertue24:46

Nightclub, really? Tina Turner appeared and said

Beryl Vertue24:51

Don't make him cross, so I thought.

Beryl Vertue24:54

I won't make him cross then. And he was sitting right in the corner, all in a white suit, and so we started to talk, and I talked about the role and how sorry I was that there wasn't a role for him. It would have been lovely, but he knew the piece and he knew there wasn't. So it was all going quite well when he got out a cigarette,

Beryl Vertue25:15

and she shot from one side of the room to the other, rapidly, to light it for him.

Beryl Vertue25:21

And that's when I became even more British. I mean, white gloves I could have opened a garden party. I was charming.

Beryl Vertue25:28

personified. And of course when I got back Robert said, How'd you get on? I said, well, I can see why you didn't go, because th he wouldn't have got her.

Beryl Vertue25:37

And so she did it, and she was brilliant.

Presenter25:39

There came a time then when you naturally parted company with Robert Stigwood and you set up your own production company called Hartswood Films. It was also at a time when you were recently divorced. Now setting up a a business is hard enough, but dealing with that in the middle of dealing with personal difficulty, did did you ever feel lonely? Did you ever feel that you were having to shoulder too much of a burden?

Beryl Vertue26:00

That was probably the unhappiest time of my life, because my husband Clem was, until he died a couple of years ago, always my best friend.

Beryl Vertue26:10

But I think he probably found my life a bit hectic. But anyway, there I was with my two best friends.

Beryl Vertue26:19

Not at my side, and I hadn't realized how much I had valued.

Beryl Vertue26:25

their presence when it wasn't there.

Beryl Vertue26:28

And I lost confidence a lot. I kept thinking I didn't know how to do things when really I did.

Presenter26:35

So what helped to get your

Beryl Vertue26:36

I took an office at

Beryl Vertue26:39

Shepperton Studios, and I tried, and I was five years.

Beryl Vertue26:44

Fussing about, not succeeding.

Beryl Vertue26:47

And then one day I saw a piece of paper on a desk

Beryl Vertue26:51

with a book publishing thing, and there was a book there called Men Behaving Badly. I thought that might be a film. I'll send off for that.

Beryl Vertue26:59

And then I read it and I enjoyed it, but it wasn't a film, and for some reason I thought

Beryl Vertue27:04

That could be.

Beryl Vertue27:05

a television series, and I asked to meet the writer Simon Nye.

Beryl Vertue27:10

We got together and I managed to sell the idea.

Beryl Vertue27:14

and produced it, and after that I was off and running.

Presenter27:17

Time for some music then, Beryl Virtue. What are we going to hear now? It's your seventh of the morning.

Beryl Vertue27:21

Well

Beryl Vertue27:22

We're going to hear

Beryl Vertue27:24

Something from Sherlock now. This is a production that my company are doing, and I love the music from it. But this is from an episode called The Woman Scandal in Belgravia, and it's the nearest you feel.

Beryl Vertue27:39

that Sherlock

Beryl Vertue27:40

and this woman are attracted to each other.

Presenter28:15

That was Sherlock, composed by David Arnold and Michael Price, performed by the London Session Orchestra, conducted by Michael Price, and that was taken from the soundtrack to the B B C T V series Sherlock.

Presenter28:26

Now here's the thing. Um despite all this experience that you've got, you have never run a television station. You have never, as far as I know, put your hat in the ring to be Director General, have you? No, no.

Beryl Vertue28:38

No no no.

Presenter28:38

But why not?

Beryl Vertue28:39

Why have you not employee?

Presenter28:40

Again

Beryl Vertue28:43

frankly. I mean, I've only ever worked with Gorton Simpson and

Beryl Vertue28:49

that crowd of writers where I wasn't an employee. And with Robert Stigwood, he never made me feel an employee. I mean, he only ever said in the beginning, could you just get on with it? And I haven't got the patience to wait while everybody has a meeting to talk about it.

Presenter29:07

I'm glad you said that, because I have singularly failed to winkle out anything awful about you. Have you got a bad temper? You're very impatient?

Beryl Vertue29:14

I don't think I've got a bad temper. I'm not a shouter. Don't like that.

Presenter29:19

But you are impatient. But I

Beryl Vertue29:19

But I'm

Beryl Vertue29:20

I'm impatient of fuss. I think oh, come on, get to the point.

Presenter29:25

How will you make your displeasure known?

Beryl Vertue29:28

Her writer said to me the other day, I can always tell when you don't quite like what I'm telling you, cause you fold your arms.

Presenter29:35

Which I had not been aware of. I almost feel it would be rude to mention the word retirement. I is that even on your radar?

Beryl Vertue29:42

I haven't thought of retirement because I I'm not sure what I would do. I mean, I'm fortunate that I'm with my family. I'm fortunate that I keep meeting all these talented people.

Beryl Vertue29:54

You're never quite sure what's going to crop up tomorrow.

Presenter29:57

In a career of such variety and accomplishment, can can you single out something that for you is an achievement that surpasses the rest?

Beryl Vertue30:06

I enjoyed memory behaving badly, probably because I was coming out of a

Beryl Vertue30:11

A desert of nothingness at that point. I suppose what I'm proud of is that

Beryl Vertue30:17

Men Behaving Badly was a big hit at the beginning of.

Beryl Vertue30:20

Huxford Films.

Beryl Vertue30:22

And here we are, Sherlock, and we're cracking on, you know, twenty five years later. A small independent company. I'm proud of that.

Presenter30:32

It's time for your final piece of music then, Beryl Virtue. What are we going to hear? Tell us about disc number eight.

Beryl Vertue30:36

I'm going to choose What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong.

Beryl Vertue30:42

For no reason other than I just love it.

Beryl Vertue30:45

and my eyes always fill with tears when I listen to it.

Beryl Vertue30:49

Sue and Stephen played it at their wedding. I think it's.

Beryl Vertue30:53

Lovely, Louis Armstrong smiling away. I enjoy it.

Speaker 430:58

I see trees of green.

Speaker 431:03

Red and roof is J

Speaker 431:06

I see them blue.

Speaker 431:09

Five minutes.

Speaker 431:12

And I think to myself

Speaker 431:17

What a wonderful world!

Speaker 431:25

I see skies of blue.

Presenter31:29

That was Louis Armstrong and what a wonderful world. So I'm going to give you the books now, Beryl. You get the complete works of Shakespeare and the Bible to take to your island, and you're allowed to take another book of your own. What would you like to take?

Beryl Vertue31:40

Well, I can't really think of a book that I want to keep reading over and over, so I would like to have

Beryl Vertue31:47

A book of photos.

Presenter31:48

Oh.

Beryl Vertue31:49

Of

Beryl Vertue31:50

of my life, all the people, my family, and I just think I'd really enjoy that, then I could keep wafting off into.

Beryl Vertue31:58

Daydream

Presenter31:58

Dreams. Okay, well it's almost it's almost breaking the rules, but I'll just just about let you do that. And for your luxury too, what would your luxury be?

Beryl Vertue32:07

I've always wanted to play the guitar.

Beryl Vertue32:10

And

Beryl Vertue32:11

I can't'cause I've never had a lesson or anything, but I thought if I had the guitar and a book of instructions,

Beryl Vertue32:18

I could give that a bit of a go.

Presenter32:20

And if I was to ask you to save just one disk of these eight that you've picked for us today, which one disc would you save?

Beryl Vertue32:26

I think it would be What a Wonderful World

Beryl Vertue32:30

Just in case some days I wasn't sure it was, that would remind

Presenter32:33

Remind me. Beryl Virtue, thank you very much for letting us hear your desert island discs.

Beryl Vertue32:37

Thank you. I've really enjoyed it myself.

Presenter33:15

You've been listening to a download from the BBC. You'll find more information on the Radio Four website bbc.co.uk slash Radio Four.