Bernard, journalist, BBC documentary producer, author, playwright, badminton champion and boules enthusiast died last month and his funeral was last week.

Tom, BBC film director, author, playwright, hockey player (national team), cricketer and rugby player (Oxford Blue) died in March 2026.

They were the best of friends. Both came to East Sheen in the 1970s and worked at the BBC for about 20 years. Both had wives who became Richmond Councillors – Tom’s wife Eleanor as Mayor in 2000-01 and Mona as Deputy Mayor in 2018-19. Sadly both wives died before their husbands – Mona in 2019 whilst still Deputy Mayor and Eleanor in 2023.

Both Bernard and Tom made a huge impact on East Sheen following retirement.

Bernard wrote historic plays about East Sheen starting with ‘The Fall’ which commemorated the 150th anniversary tower collapse of Christ Church. The play told the true story about the collapse of the church tower a month before the scheduled opening ceremony as remembered and narrated by the assistant architect Thomas Hardy who, along with all others involved, had to be cross-examined in court – and who afterwards decided to quit architecture and become a novelist. Bernard also wrote ‘Cosmo’ about a local artist of that name who fought in the trenches in WW1 and wrote letters home and received replies – the whole correspondence having been recently unearthed by a grand-daughter who lived in East Sheen.

In addition, Bernard in 1998 was tasked by the Mortlake with East Sheen Society (MESS) to identify a Millenium project and then implement it. He did so with panache – a boules piste on Palewell Common – he had to apply for planning permission from the Council (which he received) and then bring together a team of MESS members and our local badminton club (run by himself and Mona) to prepare the ground for the works which were funded by the Council.

Tom not only wrote plays about East Sheen but filmed some of them. He wrote and filmed ‘The Magus of Mortlake’ which commemorated the 400th anniversary of the death of Dr John Dee and which featured Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Walter Raleigh, Shakespeare, Marlow, Ben Jonson and explorer Martin Frobisher. He made a film about the newly discovered air raid shelter at St Leonards Court, which has now been shown at least 250 times to audiences from primary schools plus a few adults – and he made a film featuring residents who had stories to tell about their parents in WW2. He also made films about our restauranteurs Leonardo and Rosa, our station-master Daniel and his newspaper seller, and our favourite builder Michael. Last but not least he made a film about Eleanor as Mayor.

Is there anyone left in East Sheen who can fill the gaping hole they have left behind? If so, please come forward.

Contributed by Tim Catchpole
Chair, Mortlake with East Sheen Society