Graeme Harper (1945 - )

Date of Birth: 11 March 1945
Place of Birth: UK
Date of Death:
Place of Death:
Also Known As:

BIOGRAPHY

In some quarters, Graeme Harper's name has become synonymous with Doctor Who, though like so many directors of cult television shows, the majority of his work has been in more mainstream fare. Originally a child actor, he appeared in British TV shows like The Silver Sword (where he acted alongside future Doctor Who companion Frazer Hines in a show written by one of the prime movers in getting Who off the ground, C.E. Webber), The Pickwick Papers and The Secret Sword (1960).

In 1965, at the age of 20, he gave up life in front of the camera for a career behind it, becoming a floor assistant at the BBC. Four years later, he moved up to assistant floor manager and began his association with Doctor Who in 1971 as assistant floor manager on Colony in Space (1971), Planet of the Daleks (1973) and Planet of the Spiders (1974).

In 1980, Harper joined the BBC's director's training scheme and, on graduation he worked on the popular soap opera Angels before going freelance and landing perhaps his most famous directing gig, overseeing the Peter Davison Doctor Who adventure The Caves of Androzani (1984), regularly voted one of - if not the best - Doctor Who story of all time. A second Who adventure followed with Revelation of the Daleks in 1985 and he was scheduled to direct the third story in series twenty three before it was abandoned and the show put on temporary hiatus.

Harper's other work for British television included four episodes of the science fiction show Star Cops (1987) as well as such popular shows as Boon (1986 - 1992), The Bill (1984 - ) and children's drama series Grange Hill (1978 - ). His association with Doctor Who has continued, having been slated to direct the thirtieth anniversary special The Dark Dimension in 1993 before it was scrapped, and returning to the show in 2006 to oversee the return of the Cybermen in The Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel.
KEVIN LYONS

GENRE FILMOGRAPHY

1971
Doctor Who: Colony in Space (10 April 1971 - 15 May 1971) (assistant floor manager) *

1973
Doctor Who: Planet of the Daleks (7 April 1973 - 12 May 1973) (assistant floor manager) *

1974
Doctor Who: Planet of the Spiders (4 May 1974 - 8 June 1974) (assistant floor manager) *

1976
Doctor Who: The Brain of Morbius (3 January 1976 - 24 January 1976) (performer (mind battle face (uncredited))) *

Doctor Who: The Seeds of Doom (31 January 1976 - 6 March 1976) (production assistant) *

1981
Doctor Who: Warriors' Gate (3 January 1981 - 14 January 1981) (production assistant) *

The Nightmare Man (production manager) *

1984
Doctor Who: The Caves of Androzani (8 March 1984 - 16 March 1984) (director) *

1985
Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks (23 March 1985 - 30 March 1985) (director) *

1987
Star Cops: Trivial Games and Paranoid Pursuits (27 July 1987) (director) *

Star Cops: This Case To Be Opened In a Million Years (3 August 1987) (director) *

Star Cops: In Warm Blood (10 August 1987) (director) *

Star Cops: Little Green Men and Other Martians (31 August 1987) (director) *

2006
Doctor Who: Rise of the Cybermen (director) *

Doctor Who: The Age of Steel (director) *

Doctor Who: Army of Ghosts (director) *

Doctor Who: Doomsday (director) *

NO DATE
Myth Makers 48: Graeme Harper (performer (himself))

Myth Makers: Nicola Bryant and Graeme Harper (performer (himself))

NON-GENRE FILMOGRAPHY

1952
The Pickwick Papers (performer)

1957
The Silver Sword (performer)

1960
The Secret Kingdom: Episode 6 (performer (Ted Rimmer)) *

1982
Angels: 15 November 1982 (director) *

Angels: 16 November 1982 (director) *

Angels: 13 December 1982 (director) *

Angels: 14 December 1982 (director) *

Angels: 20 December 1982 (director) *

Angels: 21 December 1982 (director) *

1983
Angels: 10 November 1983 (director) *

Angels: 15 November 1983 (director) *

Angels: 24 November 1983 (director) *

1984
The Hope and the Glory (director) *

Juliet Bravo: Sins of the Father (6 October 1984) (director) *

Juliet Bravo: Alibi (3 November 1984) (director) *

1985
Bergerac: Sins of the Father (director) *

Eastenders: episodes unknown (director) *

Howards' Way: episodes unknown (director) *

Juliet Bravo: Inspection (9 November 1985) (director) *

Juliet Bravo: The Cut (12 October 1985) (director) *

1987
Bergerac: Memory Man (director) *

The New Statesman: episodes unknown (director) *

The Bretts: A House Divided (director) *

The Bretts: The Luck of the Irish (director) *

1989
Boon: The Relief of Matty King (16 October 1989) (director) *

Boon: Do Not Forsake Me (30 October 1989) (director) *

Boon: Don't Buy From Me Argentine (11 December 1989) (director) *

Stay Lucky: Bring Back My Barney to Me (6 October 1990) (director) *

Stay Lucky: Trial By Marriage (27 October 1990) (director) *

1990
Boon: Undercover (20 November 1990) (director) *

1991
Boon: Bad Pennies (3 December 1991) (director) *

The House of Eliott: episodes unknown (director) *

1992
Get Back (director) *

Heartbeat: Gone Tomorrow (director) *

Heartbeat: Gone Vigilante (director) *

1993
The Detectives: episodes unknown (director) *

1994
The House of Windsor (director) *

Wycliffe: Sup With the Devil (director) *

1997
Wycliffe: Old Times, New Crimes (director) *

1998
Babes in the Wood (director) *
Babes in the Wood - French title
Huonosti käyttäytyvät naiset - Finnish title

The Last Salute (director) *

1999
See How They Run (director) *

2001
The Bill: The Victim (16 January 2001) (director) *

The Bill: Real Crime (13 February 2001) (director) *

The Bill: Temptation (3 July 2001) director *

The Bill: Envy (6 July 2001) (director) *

2002
The Bill: 9 May 2002 (director) *

The Bill: 16 May 2002 (director) *

Grange Hill: episodes unknown (director) *

High Hopes: pilot (director) *

2003
Custer's Last Stand Up (director) *

The Face at the Window (director) *

2004
The Royal: Doing Time (director) *

The Royal: Reckoning (director) *

Steel River Blues (director) *

2005
Coronation Street: episodes unknown (director) *

The Royal: Say a Little Prayer (director) *

The Royal: The Way We Were (director) *

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009