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Graeme Harper | |
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| Born | Graeme Richard Harper (1945-03-11)11 March 1945 (age 80) St Albans,Hertfordshire, England |
| Alma mater | Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts |
| Occupation | Television director |
| Years active | 1957–present |
| Known for | Doctor Who |
Graeme Richard Harper (born 11 March 1945)[1] is a Britishtelevision director. He is best known for his work on thescience-fiction seriesDoctor Who, for which he is the only person to have directed episodes of both the original run (1963–89) and revived run (2005–present) of the programme.Doctor Who Magazine has described him as "the longest-serving crew member onDoctor Who."[2]
Born inSt Albans, Harper began elocution lessons at theItalia Conti Academy as a child in 1955,[3] at the encouragement of his mother who was worried that he was developing acockney accent.[4] This led to him being cast as Master Bardell in an adaptation ofCharles Dickens' novelThe Pickwick Papers for the independent television companyAssociated-Rediffusion, when the company approached the academy asking if they had a boy with bright red hair for the role, and they recommended Harper.[3][4]
Further television work followed in the late 1950s, appearing in children's serials forBBC Television under producer / directorShaun Sutton.[4] From the ages of sixteen to twenty-one Harper worked predominantly in thetheatre, not only as an actor but also as astage manager. After further television work, however, he decided that acting was not the career he would like, and he would instead rather be behind the scenes.[4] One of his main ambitions for becoming involved in the production side of the industry was to makeWesterns.[5]
While applying for production jobs in television, he worked for a time as a driving instructor. One of his pupils was the personal secretary of film directorStanley Kubrick, who arranged for him to visit thesound stages atMGM-British Studios where Kubrick's film2001: A Space Odyssey was then being produced.[3] During this visit, Harper briefly met Kubrick.[3][4]
After hearing nothing from his various applications to the BBC, Harper wrote to his former director Shaun Sutton, who was by now Head of Drama Serials at the BBC.[3] With Sutton's assistance Harper gained an interview for the position of floor assistant, in which role he began working atBBC Television Centre in London in September 1966.[4]
Harper worked on various productions in this capacity, including theDoctor Who serial "The Power of the Daleks" and later the 1967 adaptation ofThe Forsyte Saga novels.[4] He also worked on thePlay of the Month series, where he first worked with the directorDouglas Camfield, with whom he would often work in later years. In 1969 he was promoted toassistant floor manager. In 1975 he was promoted again and became aproduction assistant. One of the first productions he was assigned to in this role was theDoctor Who serial "The Seeds of Doom", again working under director Douglas Camfield.[4]
In 1980, Harper once more worked onDoctor Who when he was assigned to be production assistant to directorPaul Joyce on the serial "Warriors' Gate". Joyce's approach to the production resulted in various delays, and Harper had to take on extra responsibility for helping to direct the serial in order to ensure it was finished in time.[4] Following this,Doctor Who'sexecutive producer andproducer,Barry Letts andJohn Nathan-Turner, endorsed Harper's application for the BBC's in-house television director course, from which he graduated in 1982.[4]
Harper's first television directing work consisted of episodes of the medical drama seriesAngels. In 1983, John Nathan-Turner offered him work onDoctor Who, but as he could only employfreelance directors, Harper would need to resign from the staff of the BBC first. This Harper did, and he began working onDoctor Who in the autumn of 1983.[4]
Harper's firstDoctor Who serial,The Caves of Androzani, was the lastDoctor Who story to featurePeter Davison in the title role. Produced in late 1983, it was broadcast in March 1984. It is widely regarded by fans of the programme as one of the finest instalments of the series.[6] Davison has been especially complimentary about Harper's direction of the story, claiming in 2009, "Graeme’s philosophy was that it needed pace and it needed energy. Graeme’s input, and the fact that it was a great script, really lifted it, I think."[7] Davison has also claimed Harper "directed far more filmically than it had ever been done before."[8] In 1985 he worked again on the programme, directingRevelation of the Daleks, starringColin Baker. In 1989 he was approached to direct theSylvester McCoy-starringDoctor Who serial "Battlefield", but he was committed to episodes of theCentral Television drama seriesBoon.[4] In 1993 he was attached to the potentialDoctor Who thirtieth anniversary special "The Dark Dimension", but this was abandoned at the pre-production stage.[4]
Harper's other work has included episodes ofJuliet Bravo (1984 & 1985),Bergerac (1985 & 1987),Star Cops (1987),The New Statesman (1987),The House of Eliott (1991–93),The Bill (1993),The Detectives (1995–97),Casualty (1997, 2004–05),EastEnders (2000–02) andRobin Hood (2006 & 2009). In 1999 his work on the television adaptation ofDavid McRobbie's novelSee How They Run was nominated for anAustralian Film Institute Award for "Best Direction in a Television Drama", and in 2001 he shared in aBAFTA Children's Award win in the category of "Best Drama" forCuster's Last Stand Up.[9] Harper directedITV1 soap operaCoronation Street's fateful tram crash in October 2010, screened on 6 December as part of its fiftieth anniversary special.[citation needed] In 2012 he filmed several episodes of theNickelodeon seriesHouse of Anubis.
In 2016, Harper directed a special Christmas episode of theBBC Two comedy-horror anthology seriesInside No. 9. In a deliberate attempt to emulate the appearance of 1970s British television drama, this was made using themulti-camera video,4:3 aspect ratio production style that Harper had been used to working in at the beginning of his career.[10]
In 2005, twenty years after his last work onDoctor Who, he was invited to direct four episodes of the 2006 series, starringDavid Tennant. Having previously worked with the new series' executive producerRussell T Davies on the programmesOn the Waterfront andThe House of Windsor,[11] Harper had contacted Davies soon after the announcement ofDoctor Who's revival in September 2003, to say that he would very much like to work on it.[12][13] Scheduling conflicts meant that he was unable to work on the first series of the revival in 2005,[12] but for the second series in 2006 he directed two two-part stories featuring theCybermen; "Rise of the Cybermen" / "The Age of Steel", and the series finale "Army of Ghosts" / "Doomsday".[3] His work on the episode "Doomsday" saw him awarded theBAFTA Cymru Award for Best Drama Director in April 2007.[14]
Harper directed two episodes, "42" and "Utopia", for the 2007 series ofDoctor Who, as well as the mini-episode "Time Crash", part of the 2007 edition of the BBC's annualChildren in Need charitytelethon. He also directedWhatever Happened to Sarah Jane?, a two-part serial for spin-off seriesThe Sarah Jane Adventures.
He directed five episodes of the2008 series ofDoctor Who,[15] "Planet of the Ood", "The Unicorn and the Wasp", "Turn Left", "The Stolen Earth", and "Journey's End" and the third of the2008–10 specials, "The Waters of Mars", broadcast in November 2009. He directed the last two stories for the second series ofThe Sarah Jane Adventures:The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith andEnemy of the Bane.
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