Kenneth Alan Grieve (17 March 1942 – 15 November 2016) was a Scottish television director. Originally a cameraman, he moved into directing and began his career with ''
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford.
Origi ...
''.
Early life and education
Grieve was born and brought up 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 ...
, the son of Henry Grieve, a plant manager at British Aluminium, and his wife, Lesley, a seamstress. He also had an older brother named Robin. He attended the
Edinburgh Academy
The Edinburgh Academy is an Independent school (United Kingdom), independent day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, which was opened in 1824. The original building, on Henderson Row in the city's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, is now part of the Se ...
, where he excelled in geography and history, and won a scholarship to
Bryanston School
Bryanston School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the town of Blandford Forum, in Dorset in South West England. It was founded in 1928 ...
in
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 ...
.
Career
His first job was as a trainee studio cameraman with Granada Television. He became one of its elite crew, strong and skilled enough to manoeuvre the huge cameras on live pop shows. He later further trained as a director of dramas and documentaries, working on ''Coronation Street'' and ''
Crown Court
The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...
'' in the mid-1970s. He subsequently directed the 1979 ''
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 ...
'' serial ''
Destiny of the Daleks
''Destiny of the Daleks'' is the first serial of the 17th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 1 September to 22 September 1979. The story introduces ...
'' for the BBC, and episodes of ''
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 on ...
'' and ''
Peak Practice
''Peak Practice'' is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale—a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District—and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most ...
''. In 1988, he shared the direction of ''
Game, Set and Match
''Game, Set and Match'' is a 1988 television serial directed by Ken Grieve and Patrick Lau and written by John Howlett. It is based on the books ''Berlin Game'' (1983), '' Mexico Set'' (1984), and ''London Match'' (1985) by Len Deighton. The t ...
'' with Patrick Lau. In 2007, he directed the ''
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 ...
'' episode ''Stormy Weather''.
Other work
In 1975, he directed the location footage of ''Coronation Street'' that was used for the opening titles until 1990. He recorded a commentary for the DVD of ''Destiny of the Daleks'' with actors
Lalla Ward
Sarah Jill "Lalla" Ward (born 28 June 1951) is an English actress, voice artist and author. She is best known for playing the role of Romana II in the BBC television series ''Doctor Who'' from 1979 to 1981.
Career
Early career
Ward's stage na ...
and
David Gooderson
David Gooderson (born 24 February 1941) is an English actor who has appeared in several television roles.
Career
As well as portraying Davros, creator of the Daleks in the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''Destiny of the Daleks'', he appeared in epis ...
, which was released in 2007.
Personal life
Grieve had four children with his wife, Fiona. They remained together until her death in 2010.
Through working with
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' developed into a " ...
on ''Destiny of the Daleks'', they struck up a friendship that would last Adams' lifetime.
In the mid 1990s, Grieve returned to base himself in Edinburgh and lived in
Marchmont
Marchmont is a mainly residential area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies roughly one mile to the south of the Old Town, separated from it by The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links. To the west it is bounded by Bruntsfield; to the south-southwest by ...
.
In 2009 he was diagnosed with
myeloma
Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, anemi ...
and had to withdraw from a film production with
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in a ...
.
He mentored young aspiring film makers at the
Edinburgh Filmhouse
The Edinburgh Filmhouse was a cinema located in Edinburgh, Scotland, which opened in 1979. It was home to the world's oldest continually running film festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival. The cinema closed in October 2022 when its pare ...
's youth film group Scottish Kids Are Making Movies (SKAMM).
Television
References
External links
*
1942 births
2016 deaths
Scottish television directors
Deaths from multiple myeloma
Television people from Edinburgh
{{tv-director-stub