Roger Tucker (born 13 May 1945) is a British television and film director. Since 1972 he has directed over 40 television series, miniseries, and television films, including many dramas, thrillers, and action series.

Career

Roger Tucker was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England. He made his first film, ''Karst'', at the age of 18, and it was screened at the 1965

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

's Young Film-makers' Competition and awarded the Senior Trophy. The film was also screened at the

London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

and at

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most su ...

.Noble, Peter (ed). ''International Film and TV Yearbook'', Volume 35. Screen International, King Publications Ltd., 1980. p. 698. Tucker was president of the

film society A film society is a membership-based club where people can watch screenings of films which would otherwise not be shown in mainstream cinemas. In Spain, Ireland and Italy, they are known as "cineclubs", and in Germany they are known as "filmclubs" ...

Sussex University , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

, which he attended 1964–1967, and he received a BA in psychology and philosophy. On the strength of his film ''Karst'', after graduation he was hired at

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

, and directed in current affairs, documentaries, arts features, and drama. While at Granada, he directed the young

Ian Charleson Ian Charleson (11 August 1949 – 6 January 1990) was a Scottish stage and film actor. He is best known internationally for his starring role as Olympic athlete and missionary Eric Liddell in the Oscar-winning 1981 film '' Chariots of Fire''. ...

in his first starring screen role in ''A Private Matter'' (TV movie, 1974), opposite

Rachel Kempson Rachel, Lady Redgrave (28 May 1910 – 24 May 2003), known primarily by her birth name Rachel Kempson, was an English actress. She married Sir Michael Redgrave, and was the matriarch of the famous acting dynasty. Career Kempson trained at RADA ...

(Lady Redgrave). While living in Manchester, Tucker also did theatre work, directing actors such as Richard Wilson and

Maureen Lipman Dame Maureen Diane Lipman (born 10 May 1946) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakesp ...

, and plays such as ''The Wages of Thin'', the first stage play by

Trevor Griffiths Trevor (Trefor (disambiguation), Trefor in the Welsh language) is a common given name or surname of Welsh language, Welsh origin. It is an habitational name, deriving from the Welsh ''tre(f)'', meaning "homestead", or "settlement" and ''fawr'', ...

. In 1976 he left Granada to be a freelance director. Work on many of the classic television

action series Action fiction is a literary genre that focuses on stories that involve high-stakes, high-energy, and fast-paced events. This genre includes a wide range of sub-genres, such as spy novels, adventure stories, tales of terror and intrigue ("cloak a ...

followed, including ''

Gangsters A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and r ...

'' (3 episodes), '' Shoestring'', '' The Professionals'', and ''

Dempsey and Makepeace ''Dempsey and Makepeace'' is a British television crime drama made by LWT for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham. Lead roles were played by Michael Brandon (Lieutenant Dempsey) and Glynis Barber (Detective Makepeace), who later married e ...

''. He also directed the 1986 TV spy movie ''Deadly Recruits'', starring

Terence Stamp Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Stamp is known for his sophisticated villain roles. He was named by ''Empire Magazine'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades inc ...

. Other TV series directed by Tucker include, among many others, ''

Chessgame ''Chessgame'' is a British television series produced by Granada Television for the ITV network in 1983. Based on a series of novels by Anthony Price, the series dealt with the activities of a quartet of counter-intelligence agents: David Aud ...

'' (all), ''

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 ...

'' (6 episodes), ''

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 ...

'' (7 episodes), ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'' (2 episodes), '' Sexton Blake and the Demon God'' (all), ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...

'' (4 episodes), ''

The Enigma Files ''The Enigma Files'' is a British television police procedural that ran for one series of fifteen episodes in 1980. Plot summary The series was a police procedural, written by Derek Ingrey, about a police officer who has been sidelined from ...

'' (2 episodes), ''

Moody and Pegg ''Moody and Pegg'' was a bittersweet British comedy-drama, produced by Thames Television for ITV between 1974 and 1975, and written by Donald Churchill and Julia Jones. Derek Waring and Judy Cornwell starred in this series that accented comed ...

'', ''

Bulman ''Bulman'' is a British television crime drama series, principally written and created by Murray Smith. It was first broadcast on ITV on 5 June 1985. The series, featuring retired ex-cop George Bulman (Don Henderson) and his assistant Lucy Mc ...

'', ''

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

'', ''

The New Adventures of Robin Hood ''The New Adventures of Robin Hood'' is an action adventure television series that premiered on January 13, 1997, on TNT. The show was based on the legend of Robin Hood, the English folk hero, and was filmed in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was produce ...

'', ''

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

'', ''

Soldier Soldier ''Soldier Soldier'' is a British television drama series. The title comes from a traditional song of the same name - "Soldier, soldier won't you marry me, with your musket, fife and drum?" - an instrumental version of which was used as its t ...

'', ''

Strangers A stranger is a person who is unknown to another person or group. Because of this unknown status, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity (social science), identity and Character structure, character can be ascertained. Differ ...

'', ''

Angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles incl ...

'', and '' Sutherland's Law''. In

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, he directed two

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

: ''Bookie'', and ''Winners and Losers'', the latter of which he also wrote the script for. Working internationally, he has directed series in Dutch (''Villa Borghese'', a 12-part 1991 series) and German (''

Die Wache ''Die Wache'' is a German weekly police procedural show that was broadcast from 1994 until 2006 by RTL Television. Set in a fictional police station in Cologne, it was modelled on the British series ''The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British p ...

'', 1994). He also directed a Bollywood co-production series (''Bombay Blue'', 1997). Tucker's feature film ''Waiting for Dublin'' (2007) won the Seahorse Award (Best Feature Film by male filmmakers) and the Audience Award at the

Moondance International Film Festival The Moondance International Film Festival is an independent annual film festival and awards competition in the USA that takes place in the fall. The first Moondance Film Festival was held in 2000. The festival has usually been held in Boulder, Co ...

, and was also screened at the

Shanghai International Film Festival The Shanghai International Film Festival (, French: ''Festival international du film de Shanghai''), abbreviated SIFF, is one of the largest film festivals in East Asia. "China's biggest film festival" according to the Hollywood Reporter. Nex ...

. His work has also been screened at the

San Francisco Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

(''And on the Eighth Day'', 1968 documentary), and the

Banff World Television Festival The Banff World Media Festival (formerly known as the Banff World Television Festival) is an international media event held in the Canadian Rockies at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The festival is dedicated to world ...

(''

'', "The Axeman Cometh", 1986). Tucker has written several film screenplays and television scripts. He has also directed more than two dozen commercials and longer promotions for various international brands, including Panasonic, Vidal Sassoon, Fiat, and Nissan. His advertising work has been screened at the IVCA Awards, and in 1967 he won an Advertising Creative Circle Award and subsequently gave an illustrated talk at the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

.''Journal of the Royal Society of Arts'', Volume 116. Royal Society of Arts, 1967. p. 352.

Personal life

Tucker was married in 1968 to television producer Susi Hush (1945–1995) and has a son, Simon, who runs the

Young Foundation The Young Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental think tank based in London that specialises in social innovation to tackle structural inequality. It is named after Michael Young, the British sociologist and social activist who created ...

's Launchpad. He lived in London for many decades, and in 2011 he moved to

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

References

External links

*
Roger Tucker
at the

Official Site

Roger Tucker
– CV

– article by Roger Tucker {{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, Roger British television directors British film directors Mass media people from Bristol Alumni of the University of Sussex 1945 births Living people