Graeme Richard Harper (born 11 March 1945) is a British television director. He is best known for his work on the science-fiction series Doctor 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 for which he won a BAFTA Cymru and Hugo Award. Doctor Who Magazine has described him as "the longest-serving crew member on Doctor Who."

Early life and career

Born in St Albans, Harper began elocution lessons at the Italia Conti Academy as a child in 1955, at the encouragement of his mother who was worried that he was developing a cockney accent. This led to him being cast as Master Bardell in an adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel The Pickwick Papers for the independent television company Associated-Rediffusion, when the company approached the academy asking if they had a boy with bright red hair for the role, and they recommended Harper.

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 director Stanley Kubrick, who arranged for him to visit the sound stages at MGM-British Studios where Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey was then being produced. 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." Davison has also claimed Harper "directed far more filmically than it had ever been done before." In 1985 he worked again on the programme, directing Revelation of the Daleks, starring Colin Baker. In 1989 he was approached to direct the Sylvester McCoy-starring Doctor Who serial Battlefield, but he was committed to episodes of the Central Television drama series Boon. Harper directed ITV1 soap opera Coronation Streets fateful tram crash in October 2010, screened on 6 December as part of its fiftieth anniversary special. In 2012 he filmed several episodes of the Nickelodeon series House of Anubis.

In 2016, Harper directed a special Christmas episode of the BBC Two comedy-horror anthology series Inside No. 9, "The Devil of Christmas". In a deliberate attempt to emulate the appearance of 1970s British television drama, this was made using the multi-camera video, 4:3 aspect ratio production style that Harper had been used to working in at the beginning of his career.

Return to Doctor Who

In 2005, twenty years after his last work on Doctor Who, he was invited to direct four episodes of the 2006 series, starring David Tennant. Having previously worked with the new series' executive producer Russell T Davies on the programmes On the Waterfront and The House of Windsor, Harper had contacted Davies soon after the announcement of Doctor Whos revival in September 2003, to say that he would very much like to work on it. Scheduling conflicts meant that he was unable to work on the first series of the revival in 2005,

Harper directed two episodes, "42" and "Utopia", for the 2007 series of Doctor Who, as well as the mini-episode "Time Crash", part of the 2007 edition of the BBC's annual Children in Need charity telethon. He also directed Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?, a two-part serial for spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures.

He directed five episodes of the 2008 series of Doctor Who, "Planet of the Ood", "The Unicorn and the Wasp", "Turn Left", "The Stolen Earth", and "Journey's End" and the third of the 2008–10 specials, "The Waters of Mars", broadcast in November 2009. Harper won a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short form) for his work on the latter. He directed the last two stories for the second series of The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith and Enemy of the Bane.

Partial credits

  • Doctor Who
  • The Caves of Androzani (4 parts, 1984)
  • Revelation of the Daleks (2 parts, 1985)
  • "Rise of the Cybermen" / "The Age of Steel" (2006)
  • "Army of Ghosts" / "Doomsday" (2006)
  • "42" (2007)
  • "Utopia" (2007)
  • "Time Crash" (Children in Need special, 2007)
  • "Planet of the Ood" (2008)
  • "The Unicorn and the Wasp" (2008)
  • "Turn Left" (2008)
  • "The Stolen Earth" / "Journey's End" (2008)
  • "The Waters of Mars" (2009)
  • Robin Hood
  • "A Thing or Two About Loyalty" (2006)
  • "Peace? Off!" (2006)
  • "Dead Man Walking" (2006)
  • "A Dangerous Deal" (2009)
  • "The Enemy of My Enemy" (2009)
  • The Sarah Jane Adventures
  • Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane? (2 parts, 2007)
  • The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith (2 parts, 2008)
  • Enemy of the Bane (2 parts, 2008)
  • Hollyoaks (20 episodes, 2014–2022)
  • Inside No. 9
  • "The Devil of Christmas" (2016)
  • "Bernie Clifton's Dressing Room" (2018)
  • "And the Winner is..." (2018)

References

  • Full Doctor Who credits at Doctor Who News