ALLAN, Elkan 1922-2006
(Elkan Phillip Allan)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born August 12, 1922, in London, England; died June 25, 2006. Journalist, television producer, and author. Allan, once known as the "Man Who Switched on Britain," helped change the world of television coverage in newspapers by initiating television listings in the London Sunday Times, published an important media magazine, and predicted the rise of video and the Internet. Beginning his career in 1940 as an assistant editor for the Outfitter, he began reporting for the Daily Express in 1942 and three years later moved to the Picture Post. His involvement with radio began in the late 1940s, but he quickly moved on to television when that medium was still in its infancy. Among his early work, Allan wrote questions for radio game shows such as Quiz Team and Quiz Time. During his tenure as a staff writer for Odhams Press in London in the early 1950s, he was made the host of Armchair Traveller on the British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC). When television production company Associated-Rediffusion was formed in 1955, Allan joined the staff as current affairs editor for This Week, and became a producer, then executive, and finally head of the Light Entertainment division. It was during his last years there, from 1963 to 1966, that he produced Ready, Steady, Go!, an award-winning pop music show that was considered groundbreaking at the time and introduced Great Britain to groups such as the Rolling Stones and the Beatles. He also produced such popular shows as Take Your Pick and Double Your Money. During the 1960s, Allan won praise for writing and producing the movies Freedom Road (1961) and Love in Our Time (1968). Moving on to the London Sunday Times in 1970, Allan continued to have a notable influence on the world of television by making his newspaper the first to offer weekly television program listings; he was also highly respected for his criticism of television and film. Beginning in 1979, he worked as television editor and columnist for Now! magazine. In the early 1980s, Allan founded and published Video Viewer, a weekly television and film magazine that became the most-used guide of its kind in Britain; it was also one of the first periodicals to discuss video technology. Later, he spent four years as Hollywood correspondent for the Mail on Sunday, and in 1986 he was named listings editor for the London Independent. Allan was considered a pioneer journalist in his field, and was noted, too, for his writings about the growing importance of the Internet on the media. He was the author of Good Listening: A Survey of Broadcasting (1948), with his first wife, Dorotheen, and of The Sunday Times Guide to Movies on Television (1973; revised edition, 1980), with his second wife, Angela. Allan also wrote television scripts, including several for the original "Batman" series, and edited A Guide to World Cinema: Covering 7,200 Films of 1950-84, Including Capsule Reviews and Stills from the Programmesof the National Film Theatre, London (1985). In addition to his television and film work, Allan was an avid poker and bridge player, and earned some of his income from competitive card playing.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Times (London, England), July 1, 2006, p. 65.