Dennis Vance

Who was Dennis Vance?

Dennis Vance was a British television producer and director.

Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, he began his career as an actor in the late 1940s, appearing in small parts in various films before switching to become a producer with BBC Television in the early 1950s. There he oversaw dramas such as The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel, before leaving in 1955 to become the first Head of Drama at the ITV contractor Associated British Corporation, who went on air in 1956, serving the Midlands and the North of England at weekends.

At ABC, Vance oversaw the creation of the anthology drama series Armchair Theatre, which was networked nationally across the ITV regions on Sunday evenings. It became an important long running landmark in British television drama series, inspiring similar efforts such as the BBC's later The Wednesday Play. Vance, however, left the Head of Drama role in 1958 for a promotion within ABC, being replaced by Sydney Newman.

Later in his career he returned to producing and directing work, helming episodes of programmes such as ABC's The Avengers and Thames' The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes.