Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Shocked to see this untimely obituary of Nigel Farrell (MdA 62-70) in today's Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituar ... rrell.html

A sad loss at such a young-ish age.

I absolutely loved his docusoap 'The Village'.

My early years were spent in Farnham, not a million miles from Bentley. so I followed the programme with interest.

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=4062

and

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/peop ... 42.article

..."quite simply the nicest bloke I ever worked with."...

The link doesn't seem to work so:


presenter Nigel Farrell dies
27 September, 2011 | By Catherine Neilan

Producer, presenter and journalist Nigel Farrell has died following a battle against pancreatic cancer.


Farrell, who was known for series such as The Village, Nigel’s Place In France, An Island Parish, Country House and The Deadly Storm, passed away peacefully on Saturday. He was 58.

Farrell had until recently been working on the 10th series of Tiger Aspect’s BBC2 series An Island Parish, which debuted in 2001 as Country Parish.

The new six-part series, which continues following the life of the Roman Catholic priest Father John Paul Mackinnon on the remote island of Barra, is expected to transmit later this autumn

Friend and collaborator Paul Sommers said: “Nigel was quite simply the nicest bloke I ever worked with. I will miss him and the many laughs we shared terribly. Of course our thoughts at this time are primarily with Nigel’s partner Sally Ann and his close family and friends”.

Tiger Aspect’s head of factual and features Jo McGrath added: “Nigel inspired confidence, trust and loyalty in everyone who worked with him, both contributors and colleagues alike.

“He was a father figure, a teacher, mentor and champion to many in the factual department.

“Modest and unassuming he was a prolific talent who shouldered responsibility with no fuss. He approached his illness with the same no nonsense attitude - he wanted no sympathy, just the chance to continue doing the job he loved.

“He was incredibly brave and made the job joyful - his death is a huge loss.”

Last week, the founder of Tiger Aspect Peter Bennett-Jones dedicated his Bafta lecture to Farrell, who was too ill to attend, describing him as a “dear friend and colleague”.

“His work over the years with Tiger Aspect on numerous series including a host of Parishes and Places in… has been exemplary – we love and respect him very much for his talent, his integrity and friendship,” Bennett-Jones said

Very sad. We started in the Prep on the same day and left in 1970 on the same day.
Positive personality - great guy.

I was surprised to see so many from my cohort listed as "no longer with us" in the 40 Years On circular that went out for a reunion last year, and the first name I googled - Edmund Barham - on the "where are they now?" list turned up an obituary.

Just discovered there's a parallel thread about Nigel's death here:

http://www.chforum.com/php/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=4062

I was surprised that he wasn't mentioned at the BAFTA awards when they list " those that are no longer with us and sadly missed". Unless I blinked and missed it. I loved his programmes...warm, intimate and friendly.