Charles Denton

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Charles Denton is a British film and television producer and executive. He first worked for the BBC as a documentary filmmaker for five years from 1963, before he left the corporation to go freelance. He then worked for several ITV companies, such as ATV, Yorkshire Television and Granada Television. At the latter, he worked on the award-winning World in Action series.

In the 1970s he also began working in the film industry, becoming the Managing Director of Black Lion Films. The most notable productions he worked on during this time were the film version of the sitcom Porridge and the Bob Hoskins-starring The Long Good Friday. In television, he became Controller of Programmes at ATV, and later Chief Executive and Director of Programmes at its successor company Central Television.

In the 1980s he left Central to establish his own production company, Zenith Productions, where he was Chief Executive. He held this post until 1993, when he left to re-join the BBC in the perhaps surprising role as Head of Drama, despite not having a background in drama production. His time there coincided with a general downturn in the fortunes of the department, with several senior producers leaving and many productions such as the expensive Rhodes receiving a negative press.

He left the Head of Drama post in 1996 and worked for a time for BBC Films. He is a fellow of the Royal Television Society and of the Royal Society of Arts.