John Steven Rule Stroud (27 January 1955 – 15 August 2009), was a British television director and producer, who contributed to popular UK television comedy programmes over three decades.

Early life

John Stroud was born in 1955 in

Gillingham, Kent Gillingham ( ) is a large town in the unitary authority area of Medway in the ceremonial county of Kent, England. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rochester, Strood and Rainham. It is also the largest town in the ...

. He was the son of Heather Lovesey and James Stroud. He attended (and became head boy at)

Dover College , motto_translation = I cannot refuse the task , established = , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = Church of England , headmaster = Simon Fisher , r_head_label = , r_head ...

, and went on

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

on a scholarship; it was there he first met Vikram Jayanti. During his time reading English at Cambridge, he was a member of the Footlights. Amongst his peers there were comedians Griff Rhys Jones, Rory McGrath, Jimmy Mulville, and author Douglas Adams.

Career

While he embarked in a researching role at Trans Atlantic Film, in 1978 he took up a role as a trainee director for

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

. In 1982, he directed seven episodes of ''

Educating Marmalade Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Var ...

''. After later pursuing a freelance career, he worked on several comedy shows commissioned by

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 ...

, including ''

Who Dares Wins ''Who Dares Wins'' (Latin: ''Qui audet adipiscitur''; el, Ο Τολμών Νικά, ''O tolmón niká''; french: Qui ose gagne; it, Chi osa vince; Portuguese: ''Quem ousa vence''; German: ''Wer wagt, gewinnt'') is a motto made popular in the ...

'', and ''

Spitting Image ''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television ov ...

''. He went on to direct the first series of independent production company Hat Trick's first project, ''

Chelmsford 123 ''Chelmsford 123'' is a British television situation comedy produced for Channel 4 by Hat Trick Productions. Chelmsford ran for two series, of six and seven episodes respectively, in 1988 and 1990. The series was set in the British town of Chel ...

''. In 1990 Stroud directed three episodes of Roland Rivron's pioneering spoof fly-on-the-wall documentary series, ''

Set Of Six Like most forms of modern football, rugby league football is played outdoors on a rectangular grass field with goals at each end that are to be attacked and defended by two opposing teams. The rules of rugby league have changed significantly ov ...

''. The following year, he directed comedians

Frank Skinner Christopher Graham Collins (born 28 January 1957), professionally known as Frank Skinner, is an English comedian, actor, presenter and writer. At the 2001 British Comedy Awards, he was named Best Comedy Entertainment Personality. His televisio ...

and

Jenny Eclair Jenny Eclair (born Jenny Clare Hargreaves; 16 March 1960) is an English comedian, novelist, and actress, best known for her roles in ''Grumpy Old Women'' between 2004 and 2007 and in '' Loose Women'' in 2011 and 2012. Early life Eclair was born ...

in '' Packet of Three''. Other sitcoms that he had contributed to include ''

So Haunt Me ''So Haunt Me'' is a British television sitcom about a family that moves into a home occupied by the ghost of its previous resident, a middle-aged Jewish mother. The show was created by Paul Mendelson who was also credited on another British s ...

'', '' KYTV'', ''

Harry Enfield and Chums ''Harry Enfield & Chums'' (originally titled ''Harry Enfield's Television Programme'') is a British sketch show starring Harry Enfield, Paul Whitehouse and Kathy Burke. It first broadcast on BBC2 in 1990 in the 9 pm slot on Thursday night ...

'', '' Game On'', ''

Kiss Me Kate ''Kiss Me, Kate'' is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew'' and the conflict on and off-sta ...

'', and ''

Chambers Chambers may refer to: Places Canada: *Chambers Township, Ontario United States: *Chambers County, Alabama * Chambers, Arizona, an unincorporated community in Apache County * Chambers, Nebraska * Chambers, West Virginia * Chambers Township, Hol ...

''. In 1996, Stroud teamed with Marcus Mortimer to form their own production company, Big Bear Films. Stroud and Mortimer had worked on

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

together. Their principle project was '' My Hero'', a comedy Stroud also directed, for the BBC.

Vikram Jayanti Vikram Teja Jayanti is an Indian-American documentary filmmaker responsible for a number of well known full-feature documentary films. Two films he has production credits on have received Academy Awards for Best Full-Feature Documentary: he was ...

collaborated with Stroud to produce ''

The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook ''The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook'' (renamed ''The Hairy Bikers Ride Again'' for the third series and ''The Hairy Bakers'' for the fourth series) is a BBC television cookery and travel programme, that has so far run for four series and a Christmas spe ...

''.

Personal life and death

Stroud and his wife, Lesley had two children, Scarlett and Finlay. He died of brain cancer at the age of 54.

Filmography

*''

'' (1983-1988) *''

'' (1984-1996) *'' Game On'' (1995-1998) *''

'' (1998-2000) *'' My Hero'' (2000-2006) *''

'' (2006-).

References

External links

*
Guardian obituary of John Stroud.IMBb - Educating Marmalade (full cast)
1955 births 2009 deaths People from Gillingham, Kent Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge British television directors British television producers {{UK-tv-bio-stub