In 1966 the television film-maker John Mapplebeck, who has died aged 86, made an early mark with an item in the BBC2 series New Release on how interest in poetry was flourishing around the work of Basil Bunting in Newcastle.
The project got off to a rocky start when the cameraman said that it was too dark to film the poet walking down the street. The next day the inexperienced director insisted, but noticed the letters SUP on the clapperboard – “shot under protest”, the electricians advised him. However, John’s idea prevailed, and he went on to direct arts films
