Nigel George Farrell, born on 22 January 1953 in London, died 24 September 2011, was a television documentary film-maker who was a pioneer in what has been termed 'docu-soaps'. Educated at Christ's Hospital School in Sussex he was the son of a doctor. He initially followed his father into medicine, but soon stopped and entered the world of television via a stint on a local newspaper in The New Forest area. He worked on programmes such as South Today and Breakfast Time, and on BBC Radio 4 he appeared on Ned Sherrin’s Saturday evening show Loose Ends.
However he will primarily be remembered for a 50-programme Radio 4 series called The Village (which went on to become a television series); three series of 'Country House' set at Woburn Abbey, 'An Island Parish', which evolved from 'A Country Parish', launched in 2001 on BBC Two and a series on Channel 4 called 'A Place In France'.
Farrell died from pancreatic cancer and is survived by his partner, Sally Ann Fitt. He also had three children, Thomas, Alexandra and Georgina, from his marriage to Mo, which ended in divorce after 25 years.