A Sad Loss for the Audiovisual Industry, Andrew Wright
Andrew Wright RIP
It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Andrew Wright a respected colleague in the archive industry.
He started at the BBC Film Library at Windmill Road, then he worked with Jane Mercer at the Clive James Show both at the BBC and Watchmaker. He got his dream job and worked from Birmingham for years on Telly Addicts. His knowledge of tv trivia was extraordinary, Coronation Street being his absolute favourite. When he returned to London he went freelance and worked on the prestigious series All Mod Cons. He would then go on and work for the next 15 years on Arena, the BBC Arts strand where he worked on classics such as the Martin Scorsese directed Bob Dylan: No Direction Home and countless other films under the Arena banner. In recent years he was very proud of his events output covering the Queens Platinum jubilee, the coverage of the Queen’s death, and the coronation of the King.
We are deeply saddened by this news and send our sincere condolences to Andrew's family, friends, and colleagues.
If you have any comments and memories of Andrew that you would like to share, we would be honoured to add them to the page below as a tribute to his life and work. Please send them to [email protected]
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It was an absolute pleasure to have known Andrew whilst at the BBC Library in Windmill Road and later in his career working on Arena.
He made a significant contribution to many excellent productions.
He was a very nice guy – always willing to help others
Sue Malden
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I first met and worked with Andrew (and Jane Mercer) in 1997/8 on The Clive James Show and Jane was very fond of him, he was well-liked by everyone there, quiet, modest and funny. We made a wrap show tape for the crew and included a clip of Andrew as a young adult standing beside the TOTP deejay. He was a natural TV expert from his youth, really into telly! Later we would come across each and over the years at archive/ focal events, always a pleasure to compare notes, gossip (never in a mean way, by the way!) When he was working on Arena I was working on The South Bank Show and as they were both arts programmes we occasionally helped each other out with tapes and stuff. I last saw him at a BBC ‘inside the archive’ event out at Perivale. Miriam was doing a presentation - that's why he was there, as they were good friends. He was so lovely and I just remember him being super happy about moving to the countryside with Andy, who he was married to, and who as far as I remember he had always been with and mentioned with love, and I remember him saying that day - in reference to Miriam's presentation, ‘Miriam is an inspiration to us all,’ that's what he was like, loyal and sincere. Now I hope he can have a cheeky glass of wine with profane Jane, gone too young, so very sad to hear the news, RIP dear Andrew (thanks for all your help)
Jo Stones
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I had the pleasure of working with Andrew many times during my BBC days, trawling the archives for Arena and other projects. Always good company with tales to tell and interesting material to deal with. An "Andrew Wright day" would be busy and exacting, but always fun.
A great loss to our profession, gone too soon, rest in peace Andrew.
Tim Emblem-English
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Worked with Andrew a fair few times over the years at the BBC and he was a great Archive Producer as well as a genuinely lovely bloke who was fun to work with and always quick to see the humour in the everyday absurdities of life. A real shock to hear of his passing. Rest in peace Andrew.
Phil Clark
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Andrew wore his really considerable expertise very lightly. He brought a dedicated, meticulous and imaginative approach to his work but was always a generous, considerate and cheerful colleague. His loss at such a young age is terrible news.
Tom Webber - Mercury Productions
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