My friend Ian Stone, who has died aged 89, was among the first BBC cameramen to evolve a fresh style of documentary filming in the 1960s and 70s, using lighter-weight cameras, sometimes hand-held, and filming in natural light. He shot notable documentaries for strands including Panorama, The World About Us, 40 Minutes and Horizon. He worked at the BBC for 30 years.
So successful was Ian that Clive James wrote in the Observer that a 1977 observational Panorama programme, shot in a school, must have been set up, because it was so steady and sharp – “otherwise the cameraman must have been the greatest since Raoul Coutard”. Ian had shot the whole unrehearsed film with a hand-held Eclair camera; Clive James apologised.
Ian was born in Caerphilly, south Wales, the son of David Stone, a farmer, and his wife, Mary (nee Coggins). His interest in film-making was first aroused by a documentary about his father’s sheep-dog trials.
After Caerphilly grammar school, he studied English at Cardiff University, graduating in 1954. During his national service he became a sergeant in the Education Corps, and seemed destined for teaching. But by chance he saw a BBC advertisement for cameramen, applied, and was taken on as a trainee, working at first for the Farming Unit in Birmingham.
Ian shot notable films for factual series such as Year of the French, The Human Brain, and Americans – but some of his most memorable work was for single documentaries, such as Public School, a candid film about Westminster school, which aired in 1979 on BBC1 with an audience of 12.5 million.
He came to prominence as chief cameraman for Bird’s-Eye View, for BBC2, a series of helicopter films shot between 1969 and 1971, in which he pioneered spectacular techniques of aerial photography, perched precariously in an open doorway with a small camera mount. Over the years we worked on many films together, and remained lifelong friends.
Ian enjoyed filming, with its opportunities for far-flung travel – especially to Japan, Pakistan, Indonesia and the US – and enjoyed fun in company after work, be it at a restaurant, a skating rink or a funfair. His assistants loved him for his kindness, integrity and warmth, and many stayed close to him. He retired from the BBC staff in 1988 to go freelance.
Outside his work, Ian had a passion for elaborate DIY house improvement, exercising his skills in plumbing, electrics and roofing during many house moves. He renovated a barn in Brittany, then, after retirement in 1991, moved to France, a country he loved – enjoying the beaches, the food, and visits from old colleagues.
Ian is survived by Stella (nee Simons), whom he married in 1956, their daughter Siân and grandson, Luc. Another daughter, Ceri, died in 2011.
