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Former top sports producer and director passes away

Former top sports producer and director passes away

The death has taken place of Alec Weeks who for more than 30 years was the BBC’s top sports producer and director. He was 84.

It was Mr. Weeks who produced the coverage of the 1966 football World Cup final in which England beat West Germany 4-2.

Working with a crew of 54, Mr. Weeks set-up his outside broadcast with just six cameramen and a total of 22 miles of cables.

At that time only around 15 million homes had televisions in the UK, but the final was watched by an estimated 32 million people around the country with another 30 million viewers around the world.

His coverage earned acclaim and was to set the standard for such outside broadcasting.

Mr. Weeks was to apply his high standards to the coverage of practically every major sporting event to appear on the BBC for the next 21 years.

He produced and very often directed coverage of events including the Oympics, football finals and athletics.

He was also responsible for the programmes Grandstand and Match of the Day.

Mr. Weeks had a reputation as a supreme professional who organised his outside broadcasts as if they were military operations.

He had joined the BBC as a studio manager following service in the RAF, and retired in 1987.

 

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