Kevin “Kev” Corbishley (1965–2022) was a British film and television crew member who worked behind the scenes on BBC programmes including Call the Midwife and Ghosts. His professional roles included rigging, and both programmes paid tribute to him following his death in 2022.
Corbishley’s name became familiar to some viewers after memorial messages appeared during the closing moments of the two series. Those dedications prompted questions about who he was, what he contributed to television production and why he was being remembered.
Although relatively little is publicly documented about his personal life, contemporary reporting provides information about his professional credits and the circumstances of the tributes. Together, those details offer an account of a television worker whose contributions usually took place away from the camera.
Who Was Kevin Corbishley?
Kevin Corbishley, known professionally and personally as Kev, worked in technical and practical production roles in the British entertainment industry.
He was associated with the camera and electrical department of Call the Midwife and worked as a light rigger on Ghosts. Contemporary entertainment reporting also connected him to the 2012 film Anna Karenina, where his reported duties were associated with the art department.
The memorial shown during Call the Midwife included the years 1965–2022. The available reporting establishes that he died in early 2022, although it does not provide a confirmed full date of birth or precise date of death.
Unlike performers and other public-facing entertainment professionals, Corbishley did not have a widely documented public biography. The clearest information about his career comes from production-related reporting published around the time of his death and the memorials that followed.
Kevin Corbishley’s Career in Television
Corbishley’s reported television credits include work on two BBC productions with different creative requirements: the period drama Call the Midwife and the supernatural comedy Ghosts.
Both programmes depend on technical specialists who help prepare sets, position equipment and support the practical requirements of filming. These contributions are part of a collaborative process involving camera crews, electricians, riggers and other production departments.
Corbishley’s connection to these programmes is supported by contemporary reporting. However, the available accounts do not identify every scene he worked on or establish responsibility for particular lighting effects or camera arrangements.
Work on Call the Midwife
Corbishley worked on the BBC drama Call the Midwife, which follows nurses, midwives and residents in London’s East End during the postwar period.
In an article published on 20 February 2022, the Daily Express identified Corbishley as a standby rigger working in the programme’s camera and electrical department.
The report stated that he worked on the series between 2020 and 2022 and was involved in 15 episodes. It also identified the eleventh-series finale as his final episode on the production.
Rigging is part of the technical preparation that supports television filming. On a programme such as Call the Midwife, lighting and camera departments work together to create the visual environment required for scenes set in homes, streets and medical facilities.
Corbishley’s reported position places him within that technical production process. The available reporting does not establish which individual scenes or equipment installations he personally handled.
The Call the Midwife Memorial
On 20 February 2022, the finale of Call the Midwife Series 11 included a dedication to Corbishley.
“In memory of Kev Corbishley. 1965-2022.”
The memorial appeared at the conclusion of an episode dealing with the aftermath of a train crash involving several characters from the drama.
After the broadcast, viewers asked about the person named in the dedication. Contemporary reporting recorded a response from the programme’s official Twitter account:
“A dearly loved member of our crew who died very recently. He will be missed.”
The statement was reproduced in a Daily Mirror report published on 24 February 2022, which also described condolences posted by viewers following the episode.
The programme’s response provides direct insight into how Corbishley was remembered by his colleagues. Its description of him as a dearly loved crew member goes beyond identifying his technical role and makes clear that the dedication was personal to the production team.
His Contribution to Ghosts
Corbishley also worked on Ghosts, the BBC comedy about a couple living in a country house occupied by spirits from different historical periods.
According to Radio Times reporting published on 27 September 2022, he worked as a light rigger on the programme from its second series.
The series combines conventional comedy performances with lighting, camera work and practical production arrangements suited to its historic-house setting.
Light riggers work within the broader technical production process, helping prepare and support lighting installations. Their responsibilities can vary according to the requirements of a particular production.
Corbishley’s reported role establishes his connection to the programme’s lighting work, although the contemporary accounts do not attribute specific visual effects or individual shots to him.
The Ghosts Season 4 Tribute
The fourth series of Ghosts premiered on 23 September 2022. Its opening episode, Happy Holiday, included a memorial message shortly before the closing credits.
“In loving memory of our friend Kevin Corbishley.”
Radio Times reported the dedication in its September 2022 coverage of Corbishley’s work and death. The report stated that he had died around the beginning of production on the fourth series and described his death as a shock to the cast and crew.
The wording of the tribute is notable because it identifies Corbishley as a friend rather than referring only to his professional position.
By the time the Ghosts dedication appeared, Call the Midwife had already publicly commemorated him earlier that year.
The two tributes were connected by their subject but reflected the relationships he had developed while working on different television productions.
Kevin Corbishley’s Film Work: Anna Karenina
Corbishley’s reported career also included work on the 2012 film Anna Karenina, directed by Joe Wright and starring Keira Knightley.
The film is a period drama with distinctive theatrical staging and elaborate production design.
Contemporary reports associated Corbishley with the film’s practical production work. Digital Spy, in its September 2022 coverage, described his involvement as work in the art department. The Daily Express identified him more specifically as a plaster labourer.
These descriptions are important because they distinguish his reported film credit from his rigging roles on television. They do not establish that he was responsible for the film’s lighting design or technical camera arrangements.
His association with Anna Karenina nevertheless adds to the available picture of his professional background, showing that his reported screen-production work was not limited to the two BBC programmes that later honored him.
Understanding His Role: What Does a Rigger Do?
To appreciate the kind of work Corbishley performed on television productions, it helps to understand the role of a rigger.
In film and television, rigging involves the preparation and support of equipment or structures required during filming. Depending on the department and production, this can involve lighting installations, equipment mounts, supporting structures and related safety procedures.
Common responsibilities associated with rigging work include:
- Preparing equipment supports: Helping install and secure equipment or structures required for filming.
- Supporting lighting arrangements: Assisting technical teams with the placement and preparation of lighting equipment.
- Maintaining safe installations: Checking that relevant equipment and supports are secured appropriately for their intended use.
- Coordinating with other departments: Working alongside electricians, grips, camera crews and other specialists when technical requirements overlap.
- Responding to production requirements: Adjusting equipment arrangements when filming locations, schedules or creative needs change.
These examples describe rigging work generally rather than a verified list of Corbishley’s individual responsibilities. Particular duties depend on the production, and camera, electrical, grip and rigging departments may have different responsibilities.
Rigging can be physically demanding and requires attention to equipment security and safe working practices. Suspended equipment and structural supports must be handled with appropriate technical knowledge.
Such work forms part of the preparation that enables filming to proceed. Although audiences primarily see the performers and finished images, the production process also depends on the people responsible for the practical arrangements behind them.
Early Life and Personal Background
Very little is reliably documented about Kevin Corbishley’s early life.
The memorial shown on Call the Midwife included the years 1965–2022, but the available reporting does not establish his exact birthday, birthplace, education or early employment history.
People enter film and television production through different routes, including experience in technical trades, construction, theatre and other practical production disciplines. However, the sources examined for this biography do not establish which route Corbishley followed.
It would therefore be misleading to describe a particular educational background or early career path as part of his life without supporting evidence.
His reported production credits provide a more reliable account of his working life than assumptions about his personal circumstances.
When Did Kevin Corbishley Die?
Kevin Corbishley died in early 2022.
His death had been publicly acknowledged by 20 February 2022, when the Call the Midwife Series 11 finale included its memorial dedication.
The programme’s official account subsequently described him as a member of the crew who had died very recently.
The memorial identified the years 1965–2022. However, the inspected contemporary reports do not establish his precise birthday, exact date of death or cause of death.
Without a confirmed birthday, his exact age at death cannot be established from the memorial years alone.
The later dedication in Ghosts was another public acknowledgment of his passing and his connection to a television production team.
How His Colleagues Remembered Him
The strongest evidence of how Corbishley was regarded by colleagues comes from the messages associated with Call the Midwife and Ghosts.
The first production described him as a dearly loved member of its crew. The second remembered him explicitly as a friend.
These statements provide a meaningful account of his place within the two teams without requiring unsupported assumptions about his personality or private relationships.
Television production brings together people working in many different specialties. Alongside actors, writers and directors are technicians responsible for cameras, lighting, sets, sound, equipment and other practical requirements.
Those departments must coordinate their work throughout production. The relationships developed in that environment can be important to the people involved, even when they are largely invisible to audiences.
Corbishley’s memorials demonstrate that colleagues on two productions chose to recognize him publicly. That recognition is a documented part of his professional story.
Why the Onscreen Tributes Were Significant
For viewers, television credits provide a record of the people who contributed to a programme. Yet many of those names belong to professionals whose work takes place entirely behind the scenes.
The memorials to Corbishley gave audiences a reason to look beyond the principal cast and ask about someone involved in the practical work of television production.
In February 2022, Call the Midwife displayed his name and years of life. In September, Ghosts remembered him with a dedication that referred to him as a friend.
Contemporary entertainment reporting documented the tributes and explained his professional connection to the programmes.
The messages also show two different forms of remembrance. One was accompanied by an official statement describing him as a dearly loved colleague. The other used a brief, personal dedication within the programme itself.
Neither tribute needs to be described as unprecedented to be significant. Their importance lies in the decisions of two production teams to acknowledge someone who had worked with them behind the camera.
Kevin Corbishley’s Legacy
Kevin Corbishley’s publicly documented career is represented by his reported work on Call the Midwife, Ghosts and Anna Karenina.
The available information does not provide a complete filmography or a detailed account of his technical achievements. It does, however, identify several productions with which he was associated and explain why his name appeared in two BBC memorial dedications.
His story also offers a reminder of how television programmes are made. The finished work audiences enjoy depends on collaboration among performers, creative teams and technical professionals whose names may otherwise receive little attention.
For viewers who encountered Corbishley’s name during the closing credits, the essential answer is clear: he was a member of the British screen-production workforce whose colleagues remembered him with affection after his death.
The most direct expressions of that remembrance remain the words chosen by the programmes themselves: Call the Midwife called him a dearly loved crew member, while Ghosts dedicated an episode to the memory of their friend Kevin Corbishley.
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