Robert Tronson - Television director

Published on Thursday 4 December 2008 20:00

Born: 18 May, 1924, in Wiltshire. Died: 27 November, 2008, in London, aged 84.

ROBERT Tronson was a TV director associated with some of the most acclaimed series of the past 30 years. Always totally professional, he created a relaxed and happy atmosphere in the studio and was possessed of certain eccentric qualities that only increased the esteem in which he was held. Tronson cut a flamboyant figure as he arrived for work in a battered Fedora, a much lived-in suit and socks of many colours, carrying an ebony walking stick.

His work included such well loved programmes as Rumpole of the Bailey, The Avengers, The Saint, All Creatures Great and Small and Bergerac.

Even his name had a dash of the unusual: Robert du Coudre Tronson was born into a naval family and attended the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. He served with the Royal Navy from 1941, mostly on the hazardous Atlantic convoys, but always remained modest about his service in the war. "I suffered no wound more serious than frequent immense hangovers. This distressed me at first because, as a romantic, I wanted to win a VC: preferably posthumously," he said.

In 1946 he joined the BBC as a staff producer but from the 1960s he went freelance.

One of his first directorial successes was Under The Hammer in 1963, in which art experts had to authenticate a Renaissance painting. It proved an excellent showcase for a young director and Tronson was soon offered other crime programmes. His first film came that year, too, with Ring of Spies. It told of how the Portland spy ring was tracked down to a suburb of north London. Tronson insisted the film stuck to the facts of the case and it was criticised for being something of a documentary. But Tronson often considered it was given an unfairly cool reception because of his well known left-wing sympathies.

This led to various television commissions – notably The Saint with Roger Moore – and five episodes of another spy thriller series, Man in a Suitcase.

By the end of the 1960s Tronson was established as a director who brought a certain gravitas to a production. Yet it was in his nature to add a touch of daring to a scene. This flair was seen in numerous police series with which Tronson was associated. Episodes of Callan and Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) were followed by many Armchair Theatre plays for ITV.

In 1975 Tronson was asked to direct four episodes of the Lord Peter Wimsey series for the BBC and he demonstrated a lightness of touch that made the series hugely popular. Seven episodes of Bergerac followed before, in 1991, he was asked to do four lengthy episodes of John Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey.

It was a programme to which Tronson added much subtle wit and sly humour.

Leo McKern delivered a wonderfully comic Rumpole and the four episodes proved a rewarding and happy time for Tronson.

Indeed, so successful were they that he went straight to direct six episodes of The Darling Buds of May starring David Jason and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Finally, Tronson directed five episodes of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, starring Patricia Routledge. His last work was one of the final episodes of the series, Blood Relations. It was a poignant story in which Routledge visited a long-lost cousin in Whitby. Tronson avoided making it unduly sentimental and it was a fine finale for a sensitive director.

Tronson's career was not only distinguished and exceptionally varied but it was also long – he was in the studio for more than half a century. He worked with some of the most eminent television stars of the era and coaxed from them exceptional performances. Tronson encouraged actors to see new areas of characters many had been playing for some years. He was an articulate and well read man who brought a dash of refined elegance to the studio.

Tronson married Nona Richards in 1965. She died in 1987 and he is survived by their son.