TV producer and presenter known for Fifteen to One
Born: July 15, 1933;
Died: September 21, 2017
WILLIAM G Stewart, who has died aged 84, was a former Butlins redcoat who began his television career behind the camera, producing and directing comedies including Bless This House and Love Thy Neighbour.
However, it was when he turned his hand to presenting that he became a household name as the frontman of the Channel 4 quiz Fifteen to One, in which 15 contestants attempt to eliminate each other and become the last man standing. It was a tough quiz and Stewart was known for his brisk, unflashy style. The closest he got to a catchphrase was "question or nominate?", meaning the contestant had to answer a question or nominate one of their fellow contestants to answer it, in the hope that they would get it wrong.
The idea for Fifteeen to One was given to Stewart by a BT salesman John M Lewis.
After receiving a letter from Mr Lewis, Stewart paid him £200 to be given time to develop the idea, even though it had already been rejected by several other TV producers. "That £200 was the best money I've ever spent in my life," said Stewart.
Stewart was born in the village of Habrough in Lincolnshire, but was brought up in a children's home in London after being orphaned as a young boy. He got the job as Butlin's redcoat after his national service before joining the BBC in the late 50s as a call-boy.
By the mid 1960s, he had taken the television directors course at the BBC and began working as a producer and director, making his name in situation comedies. Perhaps his most well-known show was Bless This House, which starred the Carry On Star Sid James, but he also produced several other successful sit-coms of the 1970s, including the relaunched 1970s version of The Rag Trade, and Love Thy Neighbour, whose approach to a white man and black man living next to each other now looks horribly old-fashioned.
After several years of success with sit-coms, Stewart moved into quiz shows, firstly with Family Fortunes, a format which he imported from the United States with Bob Monkhouse as the host. It was a huge hit and led to Stewart converting another American hit, The Price is Right, into a British show. Many thought its excitable audience and naked desire for prizes very un-British, but it gave Stewart another hit.
By the time Stewart came to produce Fifteen to One, he had his own production company and wanted Jonathan Ross to present it. However, with Ross unavailable and no one else judged suitable, Stewart took on the job himself, with great success. He presented the show for its entire run, from 1988 until 2003.
The series was later revamped in 2013 for a celebrity special hosted by comedian Adam Hills, and in 2014 returned for a new series with Sandi Toksvig as presenter.
Stewart was married three times, to Audrey Harrison, the actress Sally Geeson, and in 1997 to Laura Calland, who was a voice-over artist for Fifteen To One. He is survived by his wife and his five children.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here