Taylor Downing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Taylor Downing (born 20 July 1953[1]) is a British historian and television producer. He studied at Latymer Upper School and Christ's College, Cambridge University, where he achieved a Double First in History. He worked at the Imperial War Museum and then for Thames Television for several years. In 1982, he formed a production company Flashback Television[2], for which he produced more than 300 TV documentaries for British and American broadcasters including several long-running series which have won many awards. He has recently written several popular history books.[3][4] Downing is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
He was born in West London and educated at Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith.[5] In 1972, he entered Christ's College, Cambridge, where he studied history under scholars including Simon Schama and J. H. Plumb, graduating with a Double First. He later pursued postgraduate studies in film at the University of Bristol.[3]
Career
Early career
Downing began his career in 1976 at the Imperial War Museum, working as a cataloguer of archival film.[6] He subsequently taught history at the University of Leeds before joining Thames Television as a researcher in 1977.[7] There he worked on major historical series, including Palestine (1979), which won an International Emmy Award[8], and The Troubles (1982), a documentary series on Northern Ireland.[1]
He later worked with Granada Television and Central Television, where he began directing documentaries.[5] Returning to Thames Television, he produced and directed The Longest War and The People’s War, focusing on Palestinian history and the British home front during the Second World War.[9]
Flashback Television and production career
In 1982, Downing co-founded Flashback Television, an independent production company established alongside the launch of Channel 4. He served as managing director and later head of history for nearly three decades.[3]
Through Flashback, Downing produced and directed numerous documentaries and series, including The Games in Question (1984), a history of the Olympic Games[10], and a trilogy on the Olympic movement: Going for Gold (1986)[11], Selling the Games (1987), and Running the Games (1988). Other productions included The Palestinians (1988), Civil War, and various drama-documentaries for ITV and Channel 4.[1]
In the 1990s, he collaborated with Jeremy Isaacs on the landmark 24-part series Cold War for CNN and the BBC, contributing as director and co-author of the accompanying book.[12] He also produced major documentary series such as Battle Stations (2000–2004)[13], The Lost Evidence (2004–2006)[14], and Weaponology (2008). His 2009 documentary 1983 – The Brink of Apocalypse received the Grierson Award for Best Historical Documentary.[1]
