John Selwyn Gilbert

John Selwyn Gilbert joined the BBC in 1969 to help to set up the Open University. He produced and directed classical dramas, including 'Woyzeck', 'Six Characters in Search of an Author', 'The Way of the World' and 'Peer Gynt' for BBC/OU Productions before moving to BBC Music and Arts in 1978. There, he produced and directed tv programmes and films about 'Les Noces' (with Leonard Bernstein and the Royal Ballet), about Sir Frederick Ashton and about Evelyn Waugh and Aubrey Beardsley. But he is probably best known for his films about the excavation and raising of the Wreck of the Mary Rose, between 1979-83. These films and the Outside Broadcast when the Mary Rose was raised from the depths of the waters outside Portsmouth were cited by the British Association for the Advancement of Science and nominated for a BAFTA award. After leaving the BBC, John set up his own film company, worked for Channel Four, London Weekend Television and others and bought and ran a restaurant which was in the Good Food Guide. Later, he sailed around the world and featured in a series of BBC programmes called 'The Ship', broadcast in 2002. Currently (2008) he is still writing and working on software projects. He was married and has five children and one grandchild. His daughter (his youngest child) got married on 29th. December, 2007.