Alan Scales, who ran the independent TV production company Imagicians for more than 40 years, has died aged 88. He began his television career as a cameraman before moving into producing and directing at the BBC.
Early Career at the BBC
In the early 1970s, Scales worked behind the camera on the BBC’s Nationwide programme. He also traveled the world for Panorama and Newsnight, often filming in remote and dangerous locations. As a producer and director in the late 1970s, he made films and documentaries for the channel, including The Brendan Voyage (1978), which recreated St Brendan’s sixth-century journey from Ireland to America.
Another notable work was A Prince for Our Time, the BBC’s official film about Prince Charles, broadcast the night before his marriage to Diana Spencer in 1981. He also directed The Great Palace series (1983), which took cameras inside the Houses of Parliament for the first time.
Independent Production with Imagicians
In 1984, Scales left the BBC to join the independent production company Imagicians, which he later ran for more than 40 years. There, he produced over 50 documentaries on the lives of members of the British royal family and the era they lived in. These programs were sold worldwide.
Personal Background
Born in Isleworth, Middlesex, Alan was the son of Ernest, a civil engineer, and Dorothy (nee Stevenson), a housewife. After attending Brighton secondary school for building and engineering in East Sussex, he worked as an apprentice quantity surveyor and later as a teller with the Bank of America in Évreux, France. Following two years of national service at NATO Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium in 1957, he became a member of NATO’s press team based in Paris.
In Paris, he met Alette Rye, a linguist from Denmark, and they married in 1967. The couple then moved to London. Scales, an amateur film-maker in his spare time, successfully applied for a job as an assistant cameraman at the BBC, launching his new career.
Later Life and Legacy
In his later years, Scales turned his camera to recording images of friends and family. He is survived by Alette, their three children—Nina, Christopher, and Lucia—and six grandchildren.
