Editing Victor Lewis-Smith

{{Short description|British producer and critic (1957–2022)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}

{{Infobox person
| name          = Victor Lewis-Smith
| image         = VLS and PS.jpg
| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption       = Lewis-Smith (left) in 1989, with writing partner Paul Sparks
| birth_name    = Victor Lewis Smith
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1957|05|12|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Ilford]], [[Essex]], England
| death_date    = {{death date and given age|2022|12|10|65|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Bruges]], Belgium
| occupation    = Writer, broadcaster
| years_active  = 
| spouse        = [[Acrobats of Desire|Virginia Stewart Duff]]
| children      = 1
}}

'''Victor Lewis-Smith''' (12 May 1957<ref>{{cite news |title=Victor Lewis-Smith, writer, producer and broadcaster whose caustic and scabrous diatribes offended and delighted in equal measure – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/12/12/victor-lewis-smith-writer-producer-broadcaster-whose-caustic/ |access-date=12 December 2022 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=12 December 2022}}</ref> – 10 December 2022) was a British film, television and radio producer, a television and restaurant critic, a [[satirist]] and newspaper columnist. He was executive producer of the [[ITV1]] Annual National Food & Drink Awards.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/in-brief-rts-brightcove-peter-western-c4-and-visable-pulse/5111435.article?blocktitle=News&contentID=42816|title= ITV cooks up Food and Drink Awards show| date=17 November 2016 |work=Broadcast Magazine |access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref> He was an alumnus of the [[University of York]]<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/student/into-university/az-uni-colleges/york-university-of-459127.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220817/https://www.independent.co.uk/student/into-university/az-uni-colleges/york-university-of-459127.html |archive-date=17 August 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live | work=The Independent | location=London | title=York, University of | date=12 August 2009 | access-date=9 April 2010}}</ref> and received an honorary doctorate from the [[University of Westminster]] in November 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.westminster.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/honorary-awards/honorary-awards-1992-2009|title=Honorary awards 1992-2009 - University of Westminster, London|work=University of Westminster}}</ref>

==Early life and personal life==
Lewis-Smith was born in 1957, the son of a neurosurgeon, and grew up in [[Chadwell Heath]], Essex,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/victor-lewis-smith-obituary-7qmmndhtf|title=Victor Lewis-Smith obituary|work=[[The Times]]|date=13 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/dec/15/victor-lewis-smith-obituary|title=Victor Lewis-Smith obituary - Culture - The Guardian|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=15 December 2022}}</ref> although according to ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'', he "never knowingly gave an interview discussing his parents, background or childhood."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2022/12/12/victor-lewis-smith-writer-producer-broadcaster-whose-caustic|title=Victor Lewis-Smith, writer, producer and broadcaster whose caustic and scabrous diatribes offended and delighted in equal measure – obituary |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|date=12 December 2022}}</ref> He was married to Virginia Stewart Duff.

He worked for [[BBC Radio Kent|Radio Medway]] before going on to study music at the [[University of York]], where he presented the "bizarre student TV show" ''Intimate Freshness'' under the name "Damien Filth". During his time as a student he was arrested, convicted and bound over with a potential £20 fine for causing a public disturbance after climbing up scaffolding at [[York Minster]] in the middle of the night and reciting the [[adhan]], the Muslim call to prayer, from the scaffolding surrounding the Chapter House. When asked in the magistrates' court hearing why he had climbed the Minster he replied "Why do men climb mountains?"

==Career==
===Production company===
Lewis-Smith owned a film, television and radio production company called Associated Rediffusion Productions Limited, having in 1990 acquired the rights to the name and logo of the original company, [[Associated-Rediffusion]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article156747.ece |work=The Independent|location=London|title=The strange saga of Dudley and the BBC |first=David |last=Lister |date=19 December 2000|access-date=9 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930220727/http://news.independent.co.uk/media/article156747.ece|archive-date=30 September 2007}}</ref>

===Television===
====TV====
Lewis-Smith contributed to a number of productions for British television:

* In 1989, he wrote and presented eighteen episodes of ''Buy-gones'' for ''[[Club X]]'' on [[Channel 4]], and contributed sketch scripts for [[Central Independent Television|Central]]'s ''[[Spitting Image]]''
* ''Up Your Arts'' (compiled from his contributions to Channel 4 show ''Club X''; 1992)<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/oct/18/mediamonkey|title=The worst of Channel 4 (part 3)|date=18 October 2002|website=The Guardian}}</ref>
* ''[[Inside Victor Lewis-Smith]]'' (1993) in which he is a virtually [[unseen character]], the series taking place inside the head of a man having old BBC programmes played into his life support machine
* ''[[TV Offal]]'' on Channel 4 (pilot 1997; series 1998)
* ''TV Offal Prime Cuts'' on Channel 4; 1999
* ''[[Ads Infinitum]]'' for [[BBC Two]] (pilot 1996; two series, 1998 and 2000)
* ''Z For Fake'' for [[BBC Two]] in 2001 (8 programmes)
* ''The Barftas'' for [[Channel 4]] in 2002 <ref name="auto"/>
* ''The Vicious Circle'' for [[Channel 5 (UK)]] in 2002
* Has anyone seen Junfan? (2002, ITV pilot)
* ''Here's a Piano I Prepared Earlier'' for [[BBC Four]] (2005, narrator and producer)
* ''Jake on the Box'' for [[BBC Four]] (2006, narrator and producer)

====As producer====
On 1 January 2021, the Sky Documentaries Channel aired "Steve McQueen: The Lost Movie", presented by David Letterman.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/february-2021/72/steve-mcqueens-lost-f1-movie-day-of-the-champion|title=Steve McQueen's lost F1 movie: Day of The Champion|work=motorsportmagazine.com|date=22 December 2020 }}</ref>

Lewis-Smith's documentary, ''The Undiscovered [[Peter Cook]]'', was the first in a series transmitted on [[BBC Four]] in November 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/11/16/the-undiscovered-peter-cook-was-like-spending-an-hourwith-your-f|work=[[Daily Telegraph]]|title=The Undiscovered Peter Cook was like spending an hour with your funniest friend – review|first=Michael|last=Hogan|date=16 November 2016}}{{subscription required}}</ref> In December 2018, Lewis-Smith made three more documentaries in the style of ''The Undiscovered Peter Cook'' for Sky Arts, this time concerning [[Peter Sellers]], [[Kenneth Williams]] and [[Tony Hancock]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2018/06/08/40187/new_tributes_to_three_troubled_comedy_geniuses |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614063520/https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2018/06/08/40187/new_tributes_to_three_troubled_comedy_geniuses |url-status=dead |archive-date=2018-06-14 |title=New tributes to three troubled comedy geniuses}}</ref>  Lewis-Smith was executive producer of a series of controversial documentaries presented by [[Keith Allen (actor)|Keith Allen]] for Channel 4. This included biographies of  [[Nick Griffin]], then leader of the [[British National Party]], Lottery winner [[Michael Carroll (lottery winner)|Michael Carroll]], the TV cook [[Keith Floyd]] (who died two hours before the programme was transmitted), and the "child prodigy" [[Lauren Harries]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Keith Allen |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/keith-allen-how-i-hunted-down-nick-griffin-7534755.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220817/https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/keith-allen-how-i-hunted-down-nick-griffin-7534755.html |archive-date=17 August 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Keith Allen: How I hunted down Nick Griffin – Commentators – Opinion |work=The Independent |date=4 March 2012 |access-date=14 March 2012 |location=London}}</ref>

Lewis-Smith was executive producer of a series of 44 television programmes called ''21st-Century Bach - The Complete Organ Works''. The series started on [[BBC Two]] in June 2003 and ran for six years.  The series has since aired on [[Sky Arts]].  [[John Scott Whiteley]] was the organist.

From 2010, Lewis-Smith was the executive producer of ''[[In Confidence]]'', a series of one-to-one interviews, featuring leading figures from the arts. Presented by [[Laurie Taylor (sociologist)|Laurie Taylor]], this production for [[Sky Arts]] was well received in a television review by the ''Daily Telegraph'', with the ''Telegraph'' noting that "In an age of soapy soundbites, Sky Arts hour-long interview strand is a serious attempt to delve deeper into its subjects."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8451761/In-Confidence-Peter-and-Christopher-Hitchens-Sky-Arts-1-review.html|work=Daily Telegraph|title=In Confidence: Peter and Christopher Hitchens, Sky Arts 1, review|first=Ceri|last=Radford|date=15 April 2011}}{{subscription required}}</ref> Guests included [[Peter Maxwell Davies]], [[Lily Allen]], [[Damien Hirst]], [[Tracey Emin]], [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Cleo Laine]], [[Christopher Hitchens]], [[Peter Hitchens]], [[Kathy Burke]] and [[Stephen Fry]].{{citation needed|date=December 2021}}

===Radio and recording===
From 1983 to 1985 Lewis-Smith produced and presented the Sunday morning programme, ''Snooze Button'' for [[BBC Radio York]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://yorkmix.com/former-radio-york-presenter-victor-lewis-smith-dies/|title='Larger than life' former Radio York presenter Victor Lewis Smith has died|work=Yorkmix.com|date=12 December 2022 }}</ref> Following this he became a producer at [[BBC Radio 4]], working on ''[[Start the Week]]'' and ''[[Midweek (BBC Radio 4)|Midweek]]'': during his stint on the latter programme he recruited [[cockney]] comedian [[Arthur Mullard]] as a stand-in host for regular presenter [[Libby Purves]].<ref name=grauniad />

In 1986 he became a regular contributor to Radio 4's ''Colour Supplement'' and ''[[Loose Ends (radio)|Loose Ends]]'', developing a writing partnership with long-time collaborator Paul Sparks, also a former music student at York, and producing sketches combining music, special effects and [[toilet humour]].<ref name=grauniad /> During this time he won nine awards at the 1988 Independent Radio Advertising Awards (including the gold) for his [[Midland Bank]] student campaign.

In 1989 he made his first programme for [[BBC Radio 1]], with producer [[John Walters (broadcaster)|John Walters]], under the pseudonym Steve Nage.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://admiralty.podomatic.com/entry/2009-05-18T15_01_56-07_00 |title=Steve Nage on Radio One |date=18 May 2009 |work=PodOmatic |accessdate=8 September 2015}}</ref>

Lewis-Smith's company made two series of the comedy show ''Victor Lewis-Smith'' for BBC Radio 1, for which he won a Best Comedy Radio Programme award in the 1990 British Comedy Awards. A compilation of his spoof calls peaked at No.1 on the iTunes comedy chart on 27 July 2006. They attracted some controversy at the time of their first broadcast: in ''[[The Sunday Times (UK)|The Sunday Times]]'' on 15 April 1990, Paul Donovan opined that Lewis-Smith's hoaxes were "repugnant".  However, ''[[The Guardian]]'''s [[Lucy Mangan]] described some of the recordings as being "touched with genius".<ref>{{cite news|author=Lucy Mangan |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/oct/29/russell-brand-jonathan-ross |title=Lucy Mangan on the chequered history of phone-prank comedy &#124; Culture |work=The Guardian |date= 29 October 2008|accessdate=14 March 2012 |location=London}}</ref> Writing about Lewis-Smith's hoax phone calls in ''[[The Times Higher Education]]'', Sally Feldman observed that "He chooses his victims carefully, pricking the pompous and the powerful in the very best traditions of satire. His favourite target is the media, his pranks intended to expose their smugness, their laziness and their gullibility."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=404598&sectioncode=26 |title=Clear and present danger |first=Sally |last=Feldman |date=4 December 2008 |work=Times Higher Education |accessdate=8 September 2015}}</ref>

One of his [[prank call]]s was featured on the intro of ''Towers Of Dub'' on [[The Orb]] album [[U.F.Orb]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://recordcollectormag.com/reviews/uforb|title=UFOrb - Record Collector Magazine|date=8 December 2007|author=Spencer Grady|work=[[Record Collector]]}}</ref>

He released two recordings of his comedy, a CD ''Tested on Humans for Irritancy'' ([[Virgin Records]], 1991) and a cassette ''Nuisance Calls'' (ARTV, 1996).{{cn|date=January 2025}}

===Writing===
In the 1980s Lewis-Smith took over from [[Julie Burchill]] in writing  weekly columns for ''[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]]'' magazine. He also wrote weekly columns during the same period for the short-lived ''[[Sunday Correspondent]]'' and ''[[The Mail on Sunday]]'' (where he often substituted for Burchill), as well as ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' magazine. He was also a food critic for ''[[The Independent]]'', and was restaurant critic for ''[[Harpers & Queen]]'' magazine from 1995 to 1998 as well as ''[[The Guardian]]'', where he combined comedy writing and food criticism.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

In 1992, Lewis-Smith began a long association with the ''[[London Evening Standard]]'', contributing daily television reviews along with other writers, as well as occasional restaurant reviews and travel articles. It was announced in June 2007 that he would be retiring from his daily television column.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2104587,00.html | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Media Diary | date=17 June 2007 | access-date=9 April 2010}}</ref>

Beginning in 1993, he was the compiler of the "Funny Old World" column of bizarre news items in ''Private Eye'', where he replaced [[Christopher Logue]]. In 2011, he was living in [[Cumbria]] and never visited the magazine's London office.<ref>{{cite book |first=Adam |last=Macqueen |title=Private Eye: The First 50 Years |year=2011 |publisher=Private Eye Productions |isbn=978-1-901784-56-5 |page=160}}</ref> He wrote a weekly page for the ''Daily Mirror'' for some years until 2003. From autumn 2004 to April 2005 he was the resident restaurant critic of ''The Guardian''{{'}}s Saturday magazine supplement.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2004/sep/25/foodanddrink.shopping1 | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Manze's, London SE1 | date=25 September 2004 | access-date=9 April 2010 | first=Victor | last=Lewis-Smith}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2005/apr/23/foodanddrink.shopping1 | work=The Guardian | location=London | title=Audrey's Fish And Chip Shop, Bridlington, East Yorkshire | date=23 April 2005 | access-date=9 April 2010 | first=Victor | last=Lewis-Smith}}</ref>

His books included ''Buy-Gones'' and ''Inside the Magic Rectangle'', a collection of his early ''Evening Standard'' TV reviews, and ''TV Reviews'', a collection of his ''Evening Standard'' TV reviews since 2000 (published in 2011).

==Legal==
In June 2006, the television chef [[Gordon Ramsay]], his production company and his producer accepted an out-of-court settlement of £75,000 from [[Associated Newspapers]], after an article in London's ''[[Evening Standard]]'' written by Lewis-Smith alleged that Ramsay had faked television scenes and installed an incompetent chef. Ramsay said at the time, "We have never done anything in a cynical, fake way." However, a year later, Channel 4 admitted that a scene in another of Ramsay's programmes had been faked, and apologised to viewers.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/jul/16/broadcasting.channel4 | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Ben | last=Dowell | title=Channel 4 says sorry for Ramsay spear-fishing 'fake' | date=16 July 2007}}</ref>

On 28 July 2006, [[hypnotist]] [[Paul McKenna]] successfully sued the ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' for [[libel]] over articles written by Lewis-Smith from 1997 alleging that McKenna had deliberately misled the public with a fake PhD, having obtained the qualification from the non-accredited [[James Kirk diploma mills|LaSalle University]] in the United States, whose principal had since been imprisoned for making misleading claims about the status of degrees he handed out to candidates.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5223454.stm | work=BBC News | title=McKenna wins 'fake degree' case | date=28 July 2006 | access-date=9 April 2010}}</ref> He later accepted damages of £25,000.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.5rb.com/news/paul-mckenna-suffers-costs-loss/ | work=5RB.com | title=Paul McKenna suffers costs loss | date=16 July 2007 | access-date=12 July 2020}}</ref>

==Death==
On 12 December 2022, it was announced by Lewis-Smith's public-relations agency that the author had died after a short illness, at the age of 65, in [[Bruges]], Belgium, on 10 December 2022.<ref name="grauniad">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/dec/12/victor-lewis-smith-writer-and-broadcaster-dies-at-65|title=Victor Lewis-Smith, writer and broadcaster, dies at 65|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=12 December 2022|access-date=12 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-63943475|title=Victor Lewis-Smith: Journalist and satirist dies aged 65|work=[[BBC News]]|date=12 December 2022}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite episode|first=Dom|last=Joly|title=The Funny Old World of Victor Lewis Smith|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001kgd2|accessdate=25 March 2023|series=Archive on 4|network=BBC|station=Radio 4|date=25 March 2023}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|id=0507886|name=Victor Lewis-Smith}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis-Smith, Victor}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:2022 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of York]]
[[Category:British comedians]]
[[Category:British male journalists]]
[[Category:British radio DJs]]
[[Category:British satirists]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from the London Borough of Redbridge]]
[[Category:Mass media people from London]]
[[Category:People from Ilford]]
[[Category:The Guardian journalists]]
[[Category:British restaurant critics]]
[[Category:Private Eye contributors]]
[[Category:London Evening Standard people]]
[[Category:Daily Mirror people]]
[[Category:The Independent people]]
[[Category:Writers from Essex]]
[[Category:Writers from the London Borough of Redbridge]]

Collection of audio work:  https://m.youtube.com/@associated-rediffusionprod4628/featured