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Keith Boak is a British film and television director, best known for his work on several popular continuing drama series. He currently resides and works in the United States.


Early life

Born in
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, he attended the John Hampden High School,
High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...
and graduated in law at the
University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
in 1984. His career began in the theatre, directing 'In Nomine Patris' by Paula Maggee which won a
Scotsman Fringe First Award The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
at the 1985
Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...
and transferred to the Kings Head Theatre, London. He subsequently trained as an Assistant Director at
Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having closed for redevelopment i ...
under David Gothard running a writer's group with
Hanif Kureishi Hanif Kureishi (born 5 December 1954) is a British playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and novelist of South Asian and English descent. In 2008, ''The Times'' included Kureishi in its list of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Early l ...
and directing new work by Stephen Lowe, Tunde Ikoli and
Dario Fo Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. ...
, assisting on productions with
Paines Plough Paines Plough is a touring theatre company founded in 1974 by writer David Pownall and director John Adams. The company specialises exclusively in commissioning and producing new plays and helping playwrights develop their craft. Over the past ...
, Foco Novo, the Royal National Theatre and the Theatre of Comedy Company. Appointed Assistant Director at the
Royal Court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...
in 1986 under Max Stafford Clark, he assisted
Sir Richard Eyre Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre (born 28 March 1943) is an English film, theatre, television and opera director. Biography Eyre was born in Barnstaple, Devon, England, the son of Richard Galfridus Hastings Giles Eyre and his wife, Minna Mar ...
on Alan Bennett's ' Kafka's Dick',
Jonathan Miller Sir Jonathan Wolfe Miller CBE (21 July 1934 – 27 November 2019) was an English theatre and opera director, actor, author, television presenter, humourist and physician. After training in medicine and specialising in neurology in the late 1 ...
on
Ryszard Kapuściński Ryszard Kapuściński (; 4 March 1932 – 23 January 2007) was a Polish journalist, photographer, poet and author. He received many awards and was considered a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kapuściński's personal journals in bo ...
's 'The Emperor' and
Danny Boyle Daniel Francis Boyle (born 20 October 1956) is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including '' Shallow Grave'', '' Trainspotting'' and its sequel '' T2 Trainspotting'', '' The Beach'', ''28 Days Later'', '' S ...
on Howard Barker's 'Bite of the Night'. He directed Berkoff's 'East' and the first stage production of
Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire ''A Clockwork ...
' ' Clockwork Orange' at
Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...
, 'Requiem' with the dancer Gaby Agis at
Leicester Haymarket The Leicester Haymarket Theatre is a theatre in Leicester, England, next to the Haymarket Shopping Centre on Belgrave Gate in Leicester City centre. History The Haymarket Theatre was opened by Sir Ralph Richardson and the opening season started ...
, 'Milkwood Blues' with
Allan Corduner Allan Corduner (; born 2 April 1950) is a British actor. Born in Stockholm to a German mother and a Russo-Finnish father, Corduner grew up in a secular Jewish home in London. After earning a BA (Hons) in English and Drama at Bristol Univer ...
at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, Jean-Claude van Itallie's 'The Traveller' with
David Threlfall David John Threlfall (born 12 October 1953) is an English stage, film and television actor and director. He is best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's series '' Shameless''. He has also directed several episodes of the show. In A ...
at the
Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325-seat producing house with an international reputation, which takes its name from the street on which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diver ...
and
Heidi Thomas Heidi Thomas (born 13 August 1962) is an English screenwriter and playwright. Career After reading English at Liverpool University, Thomas gained national attention when her play, ''Shamrocks And Crocodiles'', won the John Whiting Award in ...
' 'Indigo' with
Dougray Scott Stephen Dougray Scott (born 25 November 1965) is a Scottish actor. He has appeared in the films ''Ever After'' (1998), '' Mission: Impossible 2'' (2000), ''Enigma'' (2001), ''Hitman'' (2007), and ''My Week with Marilyn'' (2011). Early life Sc ...
also at the Almeida. Other theatre credits include 'Crimes of Passion' at
Leicester Haymarket The Leicester Haymarket Theatre is a theatre in Leicester, England, next to the Haymarket Shopping Centre on Belgrave Gate in Leicester City centre. History The Haymarket Theatre was opened by Sir Ralph Richardson and the opening season started ...
, 'Water Music' at the
Soho Theatre The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces. The the ...
and 'Jitterbugger' at the Royal National Theatre Studio.


Career

Boak was the first director on the widely acclaimed
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
revival of the classic
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
series '' Doctor Who'' ( BAFTA Award for Best TV Drama Series in 2005), directing the episode "
Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
". For C4, he directed in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
for the transatlantic series
NY-LON ''NY-LON'' is a 2004 British drama series that aired on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. The series was created and written by Simon Burke and Anya Camilleri, and starred Rashida Jones and Stephen Moyer. ''NY-LON'' was also broadcast on BBC A ...
and his first film Impact Earth was broadcast on Discovery Channel/ C4 in 2008. His extensive TV directing credits include ''Village by the Sea'' (from Anita Desai's novel in Sri Lanka), ''
Case Histories ''Case Histories'' (2004) is a detective novel by British author Kate Atkinson and is set in Cambridge, England. It introduces Jackson Brodie, a former police inspector and now private investigator. The plot revolves around three seemingly unc ...
'', '' Silent Witness'', '' Hotel Babylon'', '' Strictly Confidential'', '' Death in Paradise'', ''
New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the ...
'', '' Thieftakers'', '' City Central'', '' London's Burning'', '' Waterloo Road'', ''
The Knock ''The Knock'' is a British television crime drama, created by Anita Bronson and broadcast on ITV, which portrayed the activities of customs officers from the London City & South Collection Investigation Unit of HM Customs and Excise. The seri ...
'', ''True or False'', ''
Pie in the Sky Pie in the sky, an idiom meaning an impossible or unlikely idea or plan as well as an empty wish or promise. Pie in the sky may refer to: * ''Pie in the Sky'' (TV series), a UK television series about a police officer turned restaurateur * ''Pie ...
'', ''Sunburn'', '' Out of the Blue'', '' Staying Alive'', ''
Wokenwell ''Wokenwell'' was a six-part British television crime drama series, first broadcast on 18 May 1997, that aired on ITV. The series was produced by LWT and created by screenwriter Bill Gallagher. The series centred on three policemen and their ...
'', ''Merseybeat'', ''
The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused o ...
'', '' Holby City'', ''
Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
'', '' Eastenders'', and the single drama ''Substance''. He directed the documentary Running the Bulls and six short films for C4, including These Colours Don't Run (with John Hannah), Fist of the Dragonfly (with
Simon Russell Beale Sir Simon Russell Beale (born 12 January 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Eliza ...
and
Burt Kwouk Herbert Tsangtse Kwouk, (; ; 18 July 1930 – 24 May 2016) was a British actor, known for his role as Cato in the ''Pink Panther'' films. He made appearances in many television programmes, including a portrayal of Imperial Japanese Army Ma ...
), After the Party (with
Jemma Redgrave Jemima Rebecca Redgrave (born 14 January 1965), known as Jemma Redgrave, is a fourth-generation British actress of the Redgrave family. She played the title character in four series of '' Bramwell'', and has a recurring role in '' Doctor Who'' a ...
and Morag Hood), Nightclub, The Return of Neville Dead, and The Loser (with
Phil Daniels Philip William Daniels (born 25 October 1958) is an English actor, musician and singer, most noted for film and television roles playing Londoners, such as the lead role of Jimmy Cooper in ''Quadrophenia'', Richards in '' Scum'', Stewart in '' T ...
and
Sean Bean Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean on 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire ac ...
). In 2012, Boak directed the
cybercrime A cybercrime is a crime that involves a computer or a computer network.Moore, R. (2005) "Cyber crime: Investigating High-Technology Computer Crime," Cleveland, Mississippi: Anderson Publishing. The computer may have been used in committing th ...
film Companies Like Yours for The Edge Picture Company. That year, it won the IVCA Award for Best Director and two Best Film Gold Awards at the New York International Film and Television Festival. In the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, Boak has directed multiple episodes of '' Turn: Washington's Spies'' for the AMC Network, ''
Rectify ''Rectify'' is an American television drama series exploring the life of a man after he is released from prison after nearly 20 years on death row following a wrongful conviction. It was created by Ray McKinnon and is the first original series f ...
'' for the
Sundance Channel Sundance Channel can refer to: * Sundance TV, formerly known as Sundance Channel (United States). * Sundance Channel (Canada) * Sundance Channel (Netherlands) * Sundance Channel (Europe) Sundance Channel can refer to: * Sundance TV, formerly kno ...
, and ''
Outsiders Outsider(s) may refer to: Film * Outsider (1997 film), ''Outsider'' (1997 film), a 1997 Slovene-language film * Outsider (2012 film), ''Outsider'' (2012 film), a Malayalam-language Indian film * Outsiders (1980 film), ''Outsiders'' (1980 film), a ...
'' for
WGN America WGN America was an American subscription television network that was owned by the Nexstar Media Group, and was the company's only wholly owned, national cable-originated television channel. The channel in its final form under the WGN branding ra ...
.


Filmography


Television


Film


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boak, Keith British television directors Living people Alumni of the University of Bristol British expatriates in the United States British film directors Television people from Edinburgh Year of birth missing (living people)