lit a candle 51m ago"the deal." that's all he ever needed to say about it.
Their story
Patrick Dromgoole was a British television executive, producer and director whose career ran from BBC radio in Bristol through the high-water mark of ITV regional drama. He is best remembered as a driving force at Harlech Television (HTV), the commercial franchise for Wales and the West of England, and as…
Patrick Dromgoole was a British television executive, producer and director whose career ran from BBC radio in Bristol through the high-water mark of ITV regional drama. He is best remembered as a driving force at Harlech Television (HTV), the commercial franchise for Wales and the West of England, and as an executive behind cult serials including Children of the Stones and Robin of Sherwood.
He was born Patrick Shirley Brookes Fleming Dromgoole on 30 August 1930 in Iquique, Chile, one of four sons of Nicholas Dromgoole, a Cable and Wireless telegraphist posted there, and Violet (nee Brookes). One brother, Nicholas, later became a leading ballet critic in Britain. The family returned to England, and Patrick attended Dulwich College before entering Oxford as a mature student in 1951, where he threw himself into drama as actor and director.
In the late 1950s he moved to Bristol to work in BBC radio. By the mid-1960s he was directing television plays and building a West End directing reputation. Screen credits from that era include the Edgar Wallace Mysteries feature Dead Man's Chest (1965), starring John Thaw, and episodes of anthology strands such as Armchair Theatre and Mystery and Imagination, among them a 1968 Dracula. He also worked with Habima Theatre in Israel across three summers in the 1960s, directing Shakespeare and contemporary comedy; a 2012 Jewish Chronicle profile, drawing on his son Dominic's memoir, recalled that his third visit coincided with the June 1967 Six-Day War.
A 1976 trip to the United States to produce a series marked a turn VideoAge later summarised as a shift from a dedicated European outlook toward an Atlanticist who loved "the deal". Through the 1970s and early 1980s he was closely identified with HTV's distinctive output: producer or executive producer on Arthur of the Britons, Sky, Children of the Stones (filmed at Avebury), The Clifton House Mystery, Into the Labyrinth and, most extensively, Robin of Sherwood (1984-1986), the HTV and Goldcrest fantasy that mixed historical grit with pagan myth and a BAFTA-winning Clannad score.
He climbed the company ladder in the 1980s, becoming managing director and later chief executive of Harlech, the principal commercial provider for the West Country and Wales. Contemporary franchise directories list P.S.B.F. Dromgoole as HTV managing director in 1988; press of the period also described him as chairman of HTV Wales. In 1971-72 he served as vice-chair of the Royal Television Society. Across the Atlantic he shared in the 1985 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Children's Program for Displaced Person (American Playhouse).
Away from the boardroom he remained a working producer and director on international co-productions through the late 1980s and early 1990s. With his wife he purchased Penkill Castle in Ayrshire, a move reported by The Herald when the historic house changed hands.
He married Jennifer (Jenny) Davis, an actress who later taught; their children include theatre director Dominic Dromgoole, radio and theatre director Jessica Dromgoole, and Sean Dromgoole. He married June Morrow in 1991.
Patrick Dromgoole died on 7 September 2026, aged 96. Wikipedia's Deaths in 2026 list and a VideoAge International obituary recorded the loss of a figure who had helped define what regional ITV could look like: ambitious, slightly strange, and rooted in the landscapes of the west.
Biography adapted from VideoAge International (24 Sep 2026); Wikipedia Deaths in September 2026; TMDB; Wikidata Q95837607; RTS chairs list; Children of the Stones and Robin of Sherwood Wikipedia; Dead Man's Chest (1965) Wik.
In their own words
“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more”
Jewish Chronicle (2012), citing Dominic Dromgoole's memoir: during the 1967 war Patrick entertained Israeli troops from a truck with Henry V.
“a small star of Israel with a cross in the centre”
Description of the Habima medal awarded to Patrick, reported via Dominic Dromgoole in the Jewish Chronicle.
“unsung driving force behind a whole welter of earthy weirdness”
Bob Fischer (Haunted Generation / Shindig!, 2025) on Dromgoole's role in HTV folk-horror programming.
“one-man crusade to make HTV the unofficial home of small-screen folk horror”
Haunted Generation characterisation of his HTV slate including Sky, Children of the Stones and Robin of Sherwood.
“English television executive (HTV) and director (Dead Man's Chest, Dracula)”
Wikipedia Deaths in September 2026 entry wording for 7 September.
“I can now confirm that the castle has been bought by Mr and Mrs Patrick Dromgoole”
Solicitor Bill Haggarty quoted in The Herald on the Penkill Castle sale.
“the deal”
VideoAge International (2026) summarised his post-1976 American outlook as that of a committed Atlanticist who loved "the deal".
“treated Shakespeare with the same devotional enthusiasm”
Dominic Dromgoole, quoted in the Jewish Chronicle, on Habima actors his father worked with in Israel.
Photos
1Avebury stone circle, Wiltshire, filming location for Children of the Stones (1977), executive produced by Patrick Dromgoole. Not a personal portrait.
by People Forever
