Gavin Millar
Encyclopedia
Gavin Millar is a Scottish
film
director
, critic
and television presenter.
Millar's early career was as a film critic, most notably for The Listener from 1970 to 1984. He also contributed to Sight and Sound and The London Review of Books. With the film director Karel Reisz
, he co-authored The Technique of Film Editing (1968). On television, he wrote, produced and presented Arena
Cinema for the BBC
from 1976 to 1980, and wrote and presented numerous other cinema and visual arts documentaries.
In 1980, he directed Dennis Potter
's Cream in My Coffee
for London Weekend Television
, which received a BAFTA
nomination. His first feature film as director was 1985's Dreamchild
. His 1994 television film Pat and Margaret
, featuring Victoria Wood
, received a further BAFTA nomination, and Housewife, 49
(2006), a later collaboration with Wood, won the 2007 award
.
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...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, critic
Critic
A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...
and television presenter.
Millar's early career was as a film critic, most notably for The Listener from 1970 to 1984. He also contributed to Sight and Sound and The London Review of Books. With the film director Karel Reisz
Karel Reisz
Karel Reisz was a Czech-born British filmmaker who was active in post–war Britain, and one of the pioneers of the new realist strain in 1950s and 1960s British cinema.-Early life:...
, he co-authored The Technique of Film Editing (1968). On television, he wrote, produced and presented Arena
Arena (TV series)
Arena is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC. It has run since 1 October 1975, and over five hundred episodes have been made. Arena covers all manner of subjects, from profiles of notable people such as Bob Dylan to the Ford Cortina car...
Cinema 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...
from 1976 to 1980, and wrote and presented numerous other cinema and visual arts documentaries.
In 1980, he directed Dennis Potter
Dennis Potter
Dennis Christopher George Potter was an English dramatist, best known for The Singing Detective. His widely acclaimed television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. He was particularly fond of using themes and images from popular culture.-Biography:Dennis Potter was born...
's Cream in My Coffee
Cream in My Coffee
Cream in My Coffee is a television drama by Dennis Potter, broadcast on ITV on 2 November 1980 as the last in a loosely-connected trilogy of plays exploring language and betrayal. A juxtaposition between youth and old age, the play combines a non-linear narrative with the use of popular music to...
for London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
, which received a BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
nomination. His first feature film as director was 1985's Dreamchild
Dreamchild
Dreamchild is a 1985 British drama film produced by Verity Lambert, directed by Gavin Millar and written by Dennis Potter. It stars Coral Browne, Ian Holm, Peter Gallagher, Nicola Cowper and Amelia Shankley and is a fictionalized account of Alice Liddell, the child who inspired Lewis Carroll's...
. His 1994 television film Pat and Margaret
Pat and Margaret
Pat and Margaret is a British television film written by comedian Victoria Wood. The story follows sisters Margaret, a cook, and Pat, a successful actress in the United States, after they are reunited on a television programme after spending 27 years apart...
, featuring Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood CBE is a British comedienne, actress, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and director. Wood has written and starred in sketches, plays, films and sitcoms, and her live stand-up comedy act is interspersed with her own compositions, which she accompanies on piano...
, received a further BAFTA nomination, and Housewife, 49
Housewife, 49
Housewife, 49 was a 2006 television drama based on the wartime diaries of Nella Last. Written by and starring English actress and comedian Victoria Wood, it follows the experiences of an ordinary housewife and mother in the Northern English town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria during the Second World...
(2006), a later collaboration with Wood, won the 2007 award
British Academy Television Awards 2007
The 2007 British Academy Television Awards were held on Sunday 20 May at the London Palladium Theatre in London. They were broadcast live on BBC One in the UK...
.
Feature films
- 1985 DreamchildDreamchildDreamchild is a 1985 British drama film produced by Verity Lambert, directed by Gavin Millar and written by Dennis Potter. It stars Coral Browne, Ian Holm, Peter Gallagher, Nicola Cowper and Amelia Shankley and is a fictionalized account of Alice Liddell, the child who inspired Lewis Carroll's...
- 1989 Danny, the Champion of the WorldDanny, the Champion of the World (film)Danny, the Champion of the World is a 1989 film starring British Oscar winning actor Jeremy Irons, with his son, Samuel Irons, in the title role. It is based on the 1975 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl, and tells of a father and son who conspire to thwart a local businessman's plans to buy...
- 2000 ComplicityComplicity (film)Complicity is a 2000 film based on the novel Complicity by Iain Banks. The screenplay was written by Bryan Elsley. It was directed by Gavin Millar...
- 2009 Albert Schweitzer: A Life for Africa
TV
- 1980 Cream in My CoffeeCream in My CoffeeCream in My Coffee is a television drama by Dennis Potter, broadcast on ITV on 2 November 1980 as the last in a loosely-connected trilogy of plays exploring language and betrayal. A juxtaposition between youth and old age, the play combines a non-linear narrative with the use of popular music to...
- 1982 SecretsSecrets (TV series)Secrets is an RTÉ television light entertainment show hosted by Gerry Ryan that was broadcast on Saturday evenings for three series between 1990 and 1993. The studio-based show allowed viewers and audience members to realise their ambitions and dreams....
; Intensive Care - 1983 The Weather in the Streets
- 1984 Unfair Exchanges
- 1985 The Russian Soldier; Mr and Mrs Edgehill
- 1986 Scoop
- 1988 Tidy Endings
- 1990 A Murder of Quality
- 1991 My Friend WalterMy Friend WalterMy Friend Walter is a children's fiction novel by Michael Morpurgo. It was first published in Great Britain by William Heinemann publishers in 1988. The book was shortlisted for the 1989 Smarties Prize. It has been made into a TV film starring Ronald Pickup as Sir Walter Raleigh and Polly Grant as...
- 1992 Look at it This Way; The Young Indiana Jones ChroniclesThe Young Indiana Jones ChroniclesThe Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. The series explores the childhood and youth of the fictional character Indiana Jones and primarily stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Corey Carrier as the title character, with...
- 1993 The Dwelling Place
- 1994 Pat and MargaretPat and MargaretPat and Margaret is a British television film written by comedian Victoria Wood. The story follows sisters Margaret, a cook, and Pat, a successful actress in the United States, after they are reunited on a television programme after spending 27 years apart...
; A Case of Coincidence - 1995 Belle Epoque
- 1996 The Crow RoadThe Crow Road (TV series)The Crow Road was a television miniseries by BBC Scotland in 1996, based faithfully on the complex novel by Scottish novelist Iain Banks. It was directed by Gavin Millar....
- 1998 This Could be the Last Time; Talking Heads 2
- 2000 My Fragile Heart
- 2001 Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister
- 2002 Ella and the Mothers
- 2002 The ViceThe Vice (TV series)The Vice is an ITV police drama about the Metropolitan Police Vice Squad. It ran for five short series between 1999 and 2003. It tells the story of the London Metropolitan police forces vice squad, where prostitution, underage sex, and other such organized crime are regular occurrences...
- 2002 The Last DetectiveThe Last DetectiveThe Last Detective is an ITV drama starring Peter Davison as Dangerous Davies. The first series aired in 2003 with three more seasons succeeding this...
- 2004 King of Fridges
- 2004-7 Foyle's WarFoyle's WarFoyle's War is a British detective drama television series set during World War II, created by screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz, and was commissioned by ITV after the long-running series Inspector Morse came to an end in 2000. It has aired on ITV since 2002...
- 2005 Pickles, the Dog who won the World Cup
- 2006 Housewife, 49Housewife, 49Housewife, 49 was a 2006 television drama based on the wartime diaries of Nella Last. Written by and starring English actress and comedian Victoria Wood, it follows the experiences of an ordinary housewife and mother in the Northern English town of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria during the Second World...