Stuart Prebble, the British television executive who created the BBC series Grumpy Old Men and served as chief executive of ITV, has died at the age of 74. His family confirmed that he passed away from pancreatic cancer on August 21.
Prebble began his career in journalism, editing the current affairs series World in Action before rising through the ranks at ITV, where he oversaw factual programming. He became CEO of ITV in April 2001 and later led ITV Digital before leaving to found the independent production company Liberty Bell.
At Liberty Bell, Prebble conceived Grumpy Old Men, a series in which well-known middle-aged men, including Jeremy Clarkson, Bob Geldof and John Humphrys, discussed modern irritations. The show ran for three series and spawned a spin-off, Grumpy Old Women, featuring Lesley Joseph, Janet Street-Porter and Jenny Eclair.
After selling Liberty Bell to Avalon, Prebble set up StoryVault Films, which produces Sky's award-winning series Portrait Artist of the Year. He was chair of StoryVault at the time of his death and recently posted on Instagram that he was “Deliriously happy” filming the show's 11th season.
Broadcaster Michael Crick paid tribute on X, calling Prebble “one of the most distinguished TV journalists of modern times.”
