Tony Garnett Dies: Founder Of ‘Bodyguard’ Producer World Productions & Ken Loach Collaborator Was 83

Peter White

Tony Garnett, founder of Bodyguard and Line of Duty producer World Productions and regular collaborator of Ken Loach, died Sunday at 83.

The news was confirmed in a statement from World, the company he founded in 1990.

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“After a short illness, Tony Garnett, the legendary TV & Film Producer and founder of World Productions, died around midday on January 12. Tony was a great man and an inspirational producer who will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him,” World Productions said.

Garnett produced series including BBC dramas This Life and Between the Lines and worked with British director Loach on films including Kes and Cathy Come Home.

He was celebrated Sunday by a number of figures in the British TV industry including Good Omens director Douglas McKinnon, who called Garnett a “remarkable person.”

Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio said: “Very sad to hear of Tony Garnett’s death. Tony was instrumental in giving me my break into TV when I was a junior hospital doctor who’d never written anything. He was an inspirational figure who’ll be greatly missed. They don’t make ’em like him any more.”

This Is England and The End of the F***ing World producer Kate Ogborn said, she was “very sad” to hear of Garnett’s death. “He was a brilliantly encouraging and inspirational chair of the BFI Production Board during the time I worked there. He made great television and baked a delicious loaf of bread too.”

Saskia Schuster, comedy chief at ITV, added, “When I was in my early twenties Tony was kind enough to mentor me. What a privilege. Two things I’ve never forgotten: 1. Unless you’ve felt the fear of the blank page, you are in no position to give notes to a writer. 2. Only work with people you respect and can learn from.”

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