Mel Cornish

Mel "Melvyn" Cornish was a BBC television producer and director closely associated with Top of the Pops between 1968 and 1971. After Johnnie Stewart stepped back in late 1969, Cornish partnered with Stanley Dorfman to steer the show through 1969-1971. Across this stint, Cornish is credited on more than 80 editions as producer (often billed "Mel Cornish"), and also took directing credits on individual episodes - evidence of the hybrid producer/director practice common at the time. TV listings and press pieces from the era place Cornish at the centre of weekly production decisions, from artist booking to studio presentation, with BBC Programme Index/Radio Times entries repeatedly naming him on transmissions between late 1969 and 1971.