Dilys Breese
Born(1932-06-02)2 June 1932
Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wale
Died22 August 2007(2007-08-22) (aged 75)
Resting placeChurchyard, West Kington, Wiltshire
EducationOswestry Girls' High School
Alma materSt Andrews
OccupationTelevision producer
EmployerBBC
Known forWildlife documentaries
AwardsGolden Jubilee Medal (BTO)

Dilys Breese (born 2 June 1932, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire;[1] died 22 August 2007[1][2]) was a Welsh ornithologist and television producer of natural history programmes for the BBC.[3] She worked for the British Trust for Ornithology, who commemorate her contribution by awarding the Dilys Breese Medal, funded by her bequest to them.[2]

Breese was brought up in Wales,[3] she was educated at Oswestry Girls' High School,[1] then graduated from St Andrews in 1954,[1] with an MA in English Literature and Language.[3]

Radio

After graduation, she applied for a position as a trainee studio manager with BBC radio.[3] While working on shows like Woman's Hour she developed an interest in natural history,[3] and by 1970 was producing the majority of BBC Bristol's natural history output,[3] with presenter Derek Jones.[3] With Jones, she created the successful radio series The Living World and Wildlife.[3]

Television

In 1970, Breese joined the BBC Natural History Unit,[3] where she produced television shows including The World About Us, Wildlife on One and The Natural World.[3]

She left the BBC in 1991[3] and set up her own company, Kestrel Productions,[3] making several short programmes until deteriorating health prevented her from working.[3]

Conservation work

Breese became a council member of the British Trust for Ornithology in 1973[3] and was its Honorary Secretary from 1998 to 2001.[3] She chaired the working group developing 'Garden BirdWatch', which has since become the largest year-round citizen science project in the world.[1] In 1983, she was the first recipient of the BTO's Golden Jubilee Medal for outstanding service to the Trust.[1][3]

Notable films

  • The Great Hedgehog Mystery (1982) - first film to show hedgehogs mating[1]
  • In-Flight Movie (1987) - won at the New York International Film and TV Festival; and at the Wildscreen film festival in 1988[3]
  • Meerkats United (1987) - voted the best wildlife documentary of all time by BBC viewers[3]
  • Trivial Pursuit: the Natural Mystery of Play (1988) - audience of 12 million[1]

Bibliography

  • — (1981). Wildlife: questions and answers. BBC. ISBN 0-563-17171-5.
  • — (1998). Everything You Wanted to Know About Hedgehogs. Midsummer Books. ISBN 1-900732-00-9.
  • — (1998). Everything You Wanted to Know About Owls. Midsummer Books. ISBN 1-900732-05-X.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Paine, Barry (17 October 2007). "Obituary: Dilys Breese". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  2. 1 2 Whitby, Max. "A Gong For Barclay". BirdGuides. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Dilys Breese". WildFilmHistory. Retrieved 15 January 2011.
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