Obituaries
Luke’s, Brislington, in Bristol; Sarah is a social worker in Edinburgh; and Pippa is an educational consultant in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Jim was taught the art of leg spin bowling by Richie Benaud, after John’s time as a headmaster in Australia, and went on to win a Cambridge Blue. After retiring from Dulwich, John and Shirley moved to Bath, where they enjoyed retired life, although John became reclusive while suffering from dementia in his last few years. He is survived by Shirley and their five children. Obituaries were published in several national newspapers, and this obituary is drawn from all these published sources. Peter Harold Moss Dimmock CVO OBE (1934-37) 06.12.1920 – 20.11.2015
immediately rejected by the Coronation Committee, led by the Duke of Norfolk and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was horrified by the possibility of ‘people watching a religious service in public houses’. Peter’s skills eventually managed to win at least some of the objectors round to his way of thinking, aided by the young monarch, who let it be known that she would like to have television present. Peter struggled against a vast amount of ‘security and secrecy and privilege’ among those surrounding the event, but even persuaded the Duke of Norfolk to allow Pomp and Circumstance to be played as the Queen left the abbey, promising that it would ensure ‘there won’t be a dry eye left in the nation’. This was the crowning achievement in a rapid rise for Peter within the BBC, linked to television’s emerging potential. In 1958 he arranged the first live coverage of the State Opening of Parliament, gaining rave reviews. As well as his production skills, he also showed his bargaining abilities when it came to the BBC’s sports coverage. Deals were done for cricket, rugby and tennis, as well as horse racing including, from 1960, the Grand National. His shrewd understanding of the commercial development of broadcasting was evident too, as he ensured that the long-term contracts he had clinched kept many sports with the BBC, initially at least, as the newly-created ITV attempted to buy its way into sports coverage. ITV was also trying to poach BBC staff. Peter was seen by the then Director-General, Sir Ian Jacob, as essential to the Corporation’s future. He was also a prominent figure internationally, including being sports adviser to the European Broadcasting Union from 1959 to 1972; and he ensured that the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome were the first to be televised around the world. Unusually for a BBC manager, Peter also had a career in front of the camera. He presented Sportsview from 1954 to1964, while still working as head of BBC Outside Broadcasts. He also introduced the first edition of Grandstand, but soon handed it over to David Coleman. He also presented the first editions of Come Dancing, which was relayed from various ballrooms around the country and counted as an outside broadcast. He was awarded an OBE in 1961 and made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in 1968, an honour which is in the personal gift of the monarch. He was named one of Britain’s 10 best-dressed men in 1960, was made a Freeman of the City of London in 1977, and was admitted to the Royal Television Society’s Hall of Fame in 1996. He accepted an invitation to ABC Television in New York as managing director of ABC Sports International in 1977, and moved to a home overlooking Central Park. He remained with ABC for seven years and was a consultant there for another five. He returned to Britain in 1990 and became chairman of an independent production company, Zenith Entertainment, and of his own consultancy,
Peter Dimmock was born in Wandsworth, the son of Frederick, a radio manufacturer who later headed the BBC’s equipment department, and his wife, Paula (née Hudd). Peter came to the College from the Prep and was in Grenville. After
leaving Dulwich he was recruited by the BBC as a clerk in the publications department. After initial wartime service in the Territorial Army, he joined the RAF in 1941, qualified as a pilot and then became a flying instructor. He ended the war as a staff officer in the Directorate of Flying Training at the Air Ministry, before being demobbed in 1945. He then joined the Press Association as a racecourse correspondent before returning to the BBC as a producer and commentator in television outside broadcasts. At the time television was only available in the London area and there were only a few thousand sets in operation, so television was very much the poor relation of radio. The small group in the BBC Television Service made their own rules and had to perform a variety of roles, both on and off screen. His speciality was sports events and he helped on coverage of more than 100 events at the 1948 London Olympics, including 70 hours of live coverage. In 1949 he was in charge of the relay of the University Boat Race, with eight stationary cameras and one on a moving launch, and for the first time the audience could see the entire race from start to finish. His finest hour was the broadcast of the Queen’s Coronation in 1953. Many streets around the country were deserted as more than 20 million people crowded into the homes of the minority who then owned television sets. Peter commented later that it was an absolute miracle than none of the huge amount of equipment broke down on the day. The broadcast might not have happened at all were it not for Peter’s abilities in diplomacy and relentless lobbying. The BBC’s formal request to televise the service had been
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