Bill Gilmour (director)
Encyclopedia
Bill Gilmour is a Scots
television director
. He was born on March 17, 1939 in the small town of Peebles
in the Tweed
Valley of the Scottish Borders
. He went to Ealing Art College
in West London, where he specialised in photography, while attending Frank Auerbach
's drawing classes. He joined Scottish Television
in 1960 as a camera operator, moving after four years to floor managing, before joining Granada Television
in 1967. Gilmour began directing in 1972.
Gilmour directed the plays Happy Returns by Brian Clarke, Some Enchanted Evening by C. P. Taylor, and The Game by Paul Pender. He directed episodes of the off-beat detective television series Strangers
and the 'spin off' series, Bulman
by writers Murray Smith, Paul Wheeler
and Eddie Boyd
. He directed many episodes of Sam, The Spoils of War and This Year Next Year, series written by John Finch
, which were shot in studio and on location in the Lake District
and the Yorkshire Dales
. Gilmour's work continued with Cribb
, a Victorian Scotland Yard
detective drama based on the novels by Peter Lovesey
and House of Caradus, a series set in a fine art auction house, as well as twenty-seven episodes of Crown Court
, a courtroom drama in which a case is played before a jury drawn from members of the public. Over the years, he directed one hundred and eighty-six episodes of Britain's longest running soap opera
, Coronation Street
.
In the 1970s, Gilmour directed episodes of the comedy Hows Your Father, written by John Stevenson. He produced and directed The Cuckoo Waltz
, written by Geoffrey Lancashire
, a comedy series about a young married couple and their lodger.
He directed twenty-six episodes of Loving
for ABC Television
in New York
, nine episodes of EastEnders
for the BBC
, a comedy William and Wilma for Gemini Films and WDR in Cologne
and Hollyoaks
for Channel 4
.
In Manchester
, he directed Maureen Pryor
in a stage production of Before Breakfast by Eugene O'Neill
.
Gilmour directed twenty-six episodes of Allsorts continuing an interest in children's reading. With Three Bob for D-Day, he went on the fortieth anniversary of D-Day
to Normandy
with a coach full of Liverpool
riflemen to make two films. He made Working in a large psychiatric hospital. Playing is a film on children's street songs. He directed an edition of World in Action
, the story being, the less you earn the higher a proportion goes in tax.
He contributed an essay to the book, Granada Television, The First Generation edited by Michael Cox, John Finch, and Marjorie Giles.
Gilmour lives in Edinburgh
, enjoys long distance single-handed sailing, Himalayan trekking and watching Indian tigers.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
television director
Television director
A television director directs the activities involved in making a television program and is part of a television crew.-Duties:The duties of a television director vary depending on whether the production is live or recorded to video tape or video server .In both types of productions, the...
. He was born on March 17, 1939 in the small town of Peebles
Peebles
Peebles is a burgh in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders, lying on the River Tweed. According to the 2001 Census, the population was 8,159.-History:...
in the Tweed
River Tweed
The River Tweed, or Tweed Water, is long and flows primarily through the Borders region of Great Britain. It rises on Tweedsmuir at Tweed's Well near where the Clyde, draining northwest, and the Annan draining south also rise. "Annan, Tweed and Clyde rise oot the ae hillside" as the Border saying...
Valley of the Scottish Borders
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
. He went to Ealing Art College
Ealing Art College
Ealing Art College was 'Ealing Technical College & School of Art', a further education institution on St Mary's Road, Ealing, London, England. The site today is the Ealing campus of University of West London...
in West London, where he specialised in photography, while attending Frank Auerbach
Frank Auerbach
Frank Helmut Auerbach is a painter born in Germany although he has been a naturalised British citizen since 1947.-Biography:Auerbach was born in Berlin, the son of Max Auerbach, a patent lawyer, and Charlotte Nora Burchardt, who had trained as an artist...
's drawing classes. He joined Scottish Television
Scottish Television
Scottish Television is Scotland's largest ITV franchisee, and has held the ITV franchise for Central Scotland since 31 August 1957. It is the second oldest ITV franchisee still active...
in 1960 as a camera operator, moving after four years to floor managing, before joining Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
in 1967. Gilmour began directing in 1972.
Gilmour directed the plays Happy Returns by Brian Clarke, Some Enchanted Evening by C. P. Taylor, and The Game by Paul Pender. He directed episodes of the off-beat detective television series Strangers
Strangers (TV series)
Strangers was a UK police drama that appeared on ITV between 1978 and 1982.After the success of the TV series The XYY Man, adapted from books by Kenneth Royce, Granada TV devised a new series to feature the regular characters of Detective Sergeant George Bulman and his assistant Detective...
and the 'spin off' series, Bulman
Bulman
Bulman was a Granada TV series which ran from 1985-1987 and followed the fortunes of the major character from the earlier XYY Man and Strangers series....
by writers Murray Smith, Paul Wheeler
Paul Wheeler
Paul Wheeler is a former Welsh professional footballer.Wheeler began his career at Bristol Rovers, signing as an apprentice after being spotted by one of the clubs scouts Stan Montgomery who scouting the South Wales area...
and Eddie Boyd
Eddie Boyd
Edward Riley Boyd known as Eddie Boyd was an American blues piano player, born on Stovall's Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States.-Life and career:...
. He directed many episodes of Sam, The Spoils of War and This Year Next Year, series written by John Finch
John Finch
John Finch, 1st Baron Finch was an English judge, and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1614 and 1629. He was Speaker of the House of Commons.-Early life:...
, which were shot in studio and on location in the Lake District
Lake District
The Lake District, also commonly known as The Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous not only for its lakes and its mountains but also for its associations with the early 19th century poetry and writings of William Wordsworth...
and the Yorkshire Dales
Yorkshire Dales
The Yorkshire Dales is the name given to an upland area in Northern England.The area lies within the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire, though it spans the ceremonial counties of North Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and Cumbria...
. Gilmour's work continued with Cribb
Cribb
Cribb is a television police drama which debuted in 1979 as a 90-minute TV film from Granada Television in the UK...
, a Victorian Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
detective drama based on the novels by Peter Lovesey
Peter Lovesey
Peter Lovesey is a British writer of historical and contemporary crime novels and short stories. His best-known series characters are Sergeant Cribb, a Victorian-era police detective based in London, and Peter Diamond, a modern-day police detective in Bath...
and House of Caradus, a series set in a fine art auction house, as well as twenty-seven episodes of Crown Court
Crown Court (TV series)
Crown Court was an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984....
, a courtroom drama in which a case is played before a jury drawn from members of the public. Over the years, he directed one hundred and eighty-six episodes of Britain's longest running soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
.
In the 1970s, Gilmour directed episodes of the comedy Hows Your Father, written by John Stevenson. He produced and directed The Cuckoo Waltz
The Cuckoo Waltz
The Cuckoo Waltz was a British television sitcom made by Granada Television for the ITV network between 1975 and 1977 and in 1980.The series which was set in 1970s and Manchester, written by Geoffrey Lancashire, produced and directed by Bill Gilmour, dealt with the comic complications that ensue...
, written by Geoffrey Lancashire
Geoffrey Lancashire
Geoffrey Lancashire was a British television scriptwriter. He is best remembered for writing television comedy series such as The Lovers and The Cuckoo Waltz.-Early life:...
, a comedy series about a young married couple and their lodger.
He directed twenty-six episodes of Loving
Loving (TV series)
Caden Grant Carlton loves Mika Ayako Ryan more.Loving is an American television soap opera which aired on ABC's daytime lineup from June 26, 1983 to November 10, 1995 for 3,169 episodes...
for ABC Television
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, nine episodes of EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, a comedy William and Wilma for Gemini Films and WDR in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
and Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...
for Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
.
In Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, he directed Maureen Pryor
Maureen Pryor
Maureen Pryor was an Irish-born English character actress. She appeared on stage, screen and television.-Early life:Maureen Pryor was born Maureen Pook in 1922 in Limerick, Ireland, to a Cockney father and an Irish mother...
in a stage production of Before Breakfast by Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
.
Gilmour directed twenty-six episodes of Allsorts continuing an interest in children's reading. With Three Bob for D-Day, he went on the fortieth anniversary of D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
to Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
with a coach full of Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
riflemen to make two films. He made Working in a large psychiatric hospital. Playing is a film on children's street songs. He directed an edition of World in Action
World in Action
World in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television from 1963 until 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its production teams often took audacious risks and gained a solid reputation for its often...
, the story being, the less you earn the higher a proportion goes in tax.
He contributed an essay to the book, Granada Television, The First Generation edited by Michael Cox, John Finch, and Marjorie Giles.
Gilmour lives in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, enjoys long distance single-handed sailing, Himalayan trekking and watching Indian tigers.