Mr Leacock likens them to sketching, and indeed the best have a captivating freedom and lightness.

ECONOMIST: Richard Leacock

In the editing room, Mr Leacock at last unearths a tape of his war footage.

ECONOMIST: Richard Leacock

Mr Rouch, for example, approves, and Mr Leacock disapproves, of staging events for a documentary.

ECONOMIST: Richard Leacock

Mr Leacock served in an American unit filming behind Japanese lines with Kachin marauders (he was decorated for bravery).

ECONOMIST: Richard Leacock

For lunch, Mr Leacock serves Canary Island soup a rich brew of pumpkin, peppers and sweetcorn and talks about his life.

ECONOMIST: Richard Leacock

Not that Mr Leacock is without firm ideas on his craft.

ECONOMIST: Richard Leacock

Over breakfast, Mr Leacock serves everyone, with ceremony, a boiled egg.

ECONOMIST: Richard Leacock

Having established plenty of momentum, Torres eased his way past Dean Leacock before curling a shot past Bywater's replacement Price into the corner of the net.

BBC: CHOOSE A SPORT

Leacock, who impressed bringing the ball out of defence, and Hulse both saw shots deflected wide, while Elliot Ward appeared to foul Shaun Barker but Derby's penalty appeals were turned down.

BBC: SPORT | Football | Championship | Derby 2-1 Coventry

But Mr Leacock bridled under television's constraints.

ECONOMIST: Richard Leacock

What Mr Leacock cannot do is preach.

ECONOMIST: Richard Leacock

As a precocious 14-year-old on holiday from school in England, young Leacock filmed the life story of a banana, all the way from dry soil to boxed crate, edited the results Russian-style with astonishing brio and sent them to Robert Flaherty, the leading American documentary maker of the day.

ECONOMIST: Richard Leacock