Andrew Gunn is a British television director. He was born in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

and later grew up on

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as published i ...

before attending film school in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

and

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. He has written and directed several award-winning short films in addition to work in popular television drama. His graduation film ''Mermaids'' starred a young

Robson Green Robson Golightly Green (born 18 December 1964) is an English actor, angler, singer-songwriter and presenter. His first major TV role was as hospital porter Jimmy Powell in BBC drama series ''Casualty'' in 1989. He then went on to portray Fusili ...

and won the Young Film-maker award at the Tyneside International Film Festival 1987. Gunn returned to the North East after film school and continued to write and direct short films, most of which were produced and set in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. ''Cafe au Lait'' won a regional

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

commendation in 1994. ''Half a Shave'', a black comedy based on the short story by

Sid Chaplin Sid Chaplin (20 September 191611 January 1986) was an English writer whose works (novels, television screenplays, poetry and short stories) are mostly set in the north-east of England, in the 1940s and 1950s. Biography Chaplin was born into ...

, starred

Frances Tomelty Frances Tomelty (born 6 October 1948) is a Northern Irish actress whose numerous television credits include '' Strangers'' (1978–1979), ''Testament of Youth'' (1979), ''Inspector Morse'' (1988), '' Cracker'' (1993), ''The Amazing Mrs Pritchard ...

and premiered at the

Edinburgh Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

in 1996, going on to win a Certificate of Merit at the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

. It also won a regional Royal Television Society commendation. Andrew worked as a highly respected focus puller for many years while trying to achieve his ambition of Directing. Gunn’s next film ''Insomnia'' starred

Andy Serkis Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation, and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Goll ...

and premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival. It was subsequently screened worldwide. ''Trigger Happy'' starred

Ian Hart Ian Davies (born 8 October 1964), better known by his stage name Ian Hart, is an English actor. His most notable roles are Rabbit in the Channel Four drama miniseries ''One Summer'' (1983), Joe O'Reilly in the biopic ''Michael Collins'' (1996) ...

and

Christine Tremarco Christine Tremarco (born 1977) is a British television actress whose career began in 1992. She is best known for portraying the role of Davina Shackleton in the BBC One school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'' (2007–2009) and also in BBC ...

and marked Gunn’s departure from making short films. Following the success of these films Gunn went on to collaborate with ''Smack the Pony'' producer Victoria Pile on the pilot episode of the cult drama sit-com ''

Green Wing ''Green Wing'' is a British sitcom set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital. It was created by the same team behind the Sketch comedy, sketch show ''Smack the Pony'' – Channel 4 commissioner Caroline Leddy and producer Victoria Pile – and ...

''. Channel 4 subsequently commissioned two series, the first of which received the Pioneer Audience Award at the

BAFTA Television Awards The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

2005. Although uncredited, Gunn directed numerous scenes in the first episode (''Caroline’s First Day'') and co-created the visual and editorial style of the show. In 2006 Gunn directed two of the most well received episodes in Season 2 of the cult drama-comedy ''

Life On Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...

'' starring

John Simm John Ronald Simm (born 10 July 1970) is an English actor, director, and musician. He is best known for playing Sam Tyler in ''Life on Mars'', the Master in ''Doctor Who,'' and DS Roy Grace in ''Grace.'' His other television credits include '' S ...

and

Philip Glenister Philip Haywood Glenister (born 10 February 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in the BBC series ''Life on Mars'' (2006–2007) and its sequel '' Ashes to Ashes'' (2008–2010). He also played DCI William ...

and went on to direct

David Morrissey David Mark Joseph Morrissey (born 21 June 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. Described by the British Film Institute as "one of the most versatile English actors of his generation", he is noted for the meticulous preparation and research h ...

and

Lucy Cohu Lucy Ann Cohu (born 2 October 1970) is an English stage and film actress, known for portraying Princess Margaret in ''The Queen's Sister'', Evelyn Brogan in ''Cape Wrath'' and Alice Carter in ''Torchwood'': ''Children of Earth''. Background Lu ...

in the climax to ''

Cape Wrath Cape Wrath ( gd, Am Parbh, known as ' in Lewis) is a cape in the Durness parish of the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It is the most north-westerly point in mainland Britain. The cape is separated from the rest of the mai ...

'' (''Meadowlands'' US), the 2007 flagship high-concept thriller for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

and

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

. Gunn also directed the feature-length adaptation of

David Almond David Almond (born 15 May 1951) is a British author who has written many novels for children and young adults from 1998, each one receiving critical acclaim. He is one of thirty children's writers, and one of three from the UK, to win the bienn ...

’s ''

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

'' for BBC 1, starring Oscar nominee and BAFTA award-winner

Imelda Staunton Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born 9 January 1956) is an English actress and singer. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Staunton began her career in repertory theatre in 1976 and appeared in various theatre produ ...

. In 2008 Gunn continued to direct high-concept-high-profile productions, most recently two of the opening episodes of '' Survivors'', the BBC’s eagerly anticipated re-make of the 1970s cult science fiction drama starring Julie Graham and Max Beesley.

Filmography

*''

'' (2004) *''

'' (2007) *''

Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...

'' (2007) *'' Survivors'' (2008) *''

'' (2008) *''

Primeval Primeval may refer to: * Primeval forest, an area of forest that has attained great age * Primeval number, a positive integer satisfying certain conditions * Primeval history, name given by biblical scholars to the first eleven chapters of the Bo ...

'' (2008) *''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' (2010) *''

Wolfblood ''Wolfblood'' is a fantasy teen drama television series targeted at a young audience. Created by Debbie Moon, it is a co-production between CBBC and ZDF/ZDFE. The television series revolves around the life of the species known as wolfbloods. T ...

'' (2012) - five episodes *'' Get Even'' (2020) - five episodes

External links

*
''Life on Mars''
episode five at

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television programmes, ...

''Life on Mars''
episode six at

''Cape Wrath''
at

Channel4.com Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

''Meadowlands''
at

''Trigger Happy''
at the BBC Film Network {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, Andrew British television directors British film directors English television directors English film directors People from Staffordshire Living people People from Tyne and Wear Year of birth missing (living people)