
Stephen Whittaker
Director · 1947 – 2003 · London, England, UK
Stephen Whittaker (28 June 1947 – 7 February 2003) was a British actor and director. He worked largely in British film and television, and attended Henley-in-Arden School in Warwickshire before further training as an actor at London's Corona Academy. He began his career aged 17, as a "bad boy" in the film To Sir With Love (1966), and in the classic BBC Doctor Who adventure The Web of Fear, as a soldier battling Yeti in the London Underground. In 1985, Whittaker took a director's training course and directed a short training film, which he sent to John Schlesinger (who had directed him in Yanks). Schlesinger suggested him to producer Mark Shivas as director for Channel 4's drama trilogy What If It's Raining?, written by Anthony Minghella. This was the beginning of a directing career of prestigious TV and film work. Shortly before Whittaker's death, writer Julian Fellowes spoke of him as "the most exciting director in the industry." In 2001, he filmed his final project, The Rocket Post, a romantic drama set on a remote Scottish island. The film had severe funding problems and was eventually released in 2006, three years after his death. The credits bear a dedication to his memory. Whittaker died following complications from a routine surgery.
Series16
TV7.9DramaAction & AdventureThe adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, The Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right many wrongs.
Doctor Who
1963 · 723 votes
TV7.9Sci-Fi & FantasyComedySamantha Stephens is a seemingly normal suburban housewife who also happens to be a genuine witch, with all the requisite magical powers. Her husband Darrin insists that Samantha keep her witchcraft under wraps, but situations invariably require her to indulge her powers while keeping her bothersome mother Endora at bay.
Bewitched
1964 · 766 votes
TV5.7DramaCrown Court is 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.
Crown Court
1972 · 6 votes
TV5.2DramaA BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
BBC Play of the Month
1965 · 8 votes
TV5.5DramaCrossroads is a British television soap opera set in a fictional motel near Birmingham, England. Created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling, the commercial ITV network originally broadcast the series between 1964 and 1988. Produced by ATV and later by Central it became a byword for cheap production values, particularly in the 1970s and early 1980s. The series was revived in a glossier version by Carlton Television in 2001, but was again cancelled in 2003. The original theme tune was composed by Tony Hatch, and notably covered by Paul McCartney & Wings on their 1975 album Venus and Mars. A new version, which was first aired in 1987 when the series was relaunched as Crossroads, Kings Oak, was composed by Raf Ravenscroft and Max Early.
Crossroads
1964 · 6 votes
TV7.8Sci-Fi & FantasyComedyWhile on a mission, American astronaut Captain Tony Nelson is forced to make an emergency landing that will forever change his life. On a deserted South Pacific island, Captain Nelson happens upon a bottle containing a beautiful two-thousand-year-old female genie named Jeannie. Rescuing her from the bottle nets Tony the requisite three wishes, and then some, when Jeannie pledges total devotion to her new "master".
I Dream of Jeannie
1965 · 845 votes
TV5.2DramaAn anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured.
The Wednesday Play
1964 · 5 votes
TV7.3DramaZ-Cars or Z Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.
Z-Cars
1962 · 7 votes
TV4.2DramaAn anthology of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short length, and which therefore attracted many writers who later became well known.
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965 · 8 votes
TV4.0DramaComedyA UK anthology series of single plays from major playwrights old and new. It ran from 1955 to 1974, producing about five hundred ninety-minute episodes from Granada Television. Season 1 also incorporates the Plays from the 'H.M. Tennant Globe Theatre' series, some of which were incorporated and labelled in listings as official Play of the Week episodes and some of which were played in place of Play of the Week episodes in alternative ITV regions. All 8 plays have been incorporated into this entry for convenience.
ITV Play of the Week
1955 · 5 votes
TV7.1Sci-Fi & FantasyDramaOut of the Unknown is a British television science fiction anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Each episode was a dramatisation of a science fiction short story; some were created for the series, but most were adaptations of already published stories. The first three years were exclusively science fiction, but that genre was abandoned in the final year in favour of horror and fantasy. A number of episodes were wiped during the early 1970s, as was standard procedure at the time.
Out of the Unknown
1965 · 8 votes
TV7.4Action & AdventureDramaThe Legend of Robin Hood was a 1975 BBC television serial that told the story of the life of Robin Hood.
The Legend of Robin Hood
1975 · 4 votes
TV6.0DramaArmchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.
Armchair Theatre
1956 · 6 votes
- TV6.0
Sanctuary (1967–1968) is a British primetime television drama created by Philip Levene. Set in a convent in London, the series follows the daily lives and character conflicts of a community of nuns, starring Fay Compton, Peggy Thorpe-Bates, and Joanna Dunham. The show aired across two seasons with a total of 26 episodes, running from June 1967 through 1968. It is known for its intimate look at the religious life and the moral dilemmas faced by the sisters as they interacted with individuals seeking their help
Sanctuary
1967 · 3 votes
- TV10.0Drama
The Yorkshire-based Champion family and the dramas surrounding the family textiles firm, Champion Mills.
Champion House
1967 · 1 votes
- TVDrama
A view of young people's lives in the north of England, centring around a rich young woman named Charlotte, her relationships with a wealthy man named Peter and a poor yet intriguing boy named Frankie, and their weekend adventures.
Movies10
Movie7.4DramaA British Guianese engineer starts a job as a high school teacher in London’s East End, where his uninterested and delinquent pupils are in desperate need of attention and care.
To Sir, with Love
1967 · 363 votes
Movie5.6HorrorFantasySet during World War II, a German army garrison is sent to guard a mountain pass in a village in Romania's Carpathian mountains and sets up barracks in an ancient stone fortress. Two of the soldiers unwittingly release a mysterious entity that kills or corrupts those within its influence, drawing the attention of a Gestapo commander, a Jewish scholar, and a mysterious traveller.
The Keep
1983 · 337 votes
Movie5.9RomanceDramaDuring WWII, the United States set up army bases in Great Britain as part of the war effort. Against their proper sensibilities, many of the Brits don't much like the brash Yanks, especially when it comes to the G.I.s making advances on the lonely British girls. One relationship that develops is between married John, an Army Captain, and the aristocratic Helen, whose naval husband is away at war. Helen loves her husband, but Helen and John are looking for some comfort during the difficult times.
Yanks
1979 · 67 votes
Movie5.1ActionAdventureIn 1916, a group of prisoners plot their escape from the notorious fortress located in French Guiana.
I Escaped from Devil's Island
1973 · 25 votes
Movie5.2ActionDramaAfter learning that her brother has been murdered, biker Dag sets out on the road with two close friends to find the killer. As they travel, they encounter various people and conflicts, and Dag’s emotional struggle becomes increasingly apparent, leading to a final violent confrontation with her brother’s murderer.
Bury Me an Angel
1971 · 12 votes
MovieDramaTV MovieAspiring dancer Phyllis Dixey makes her name as a stripper.
Movie6.2DramaA young woman trades her upper-class existence for a new life in an economically depressed suburb of London.
Up the Junction
1968 · 16 votes
MovieDramaWarJohnny has joined the army because he likes canoeing, but ends up in a war-torn city and is compromised into helping the enemy. However, desertion will not be a solution, and he finds himself more distressed than ever.
The Paradise Run
1976
- Movie
Play adapted from the diary of Eamonn Dunphy, the ex-Milwall and Ireland footballer. With a new season and a promising team, professional footballer Willy Hutchison has a chance of promotion to Division One The dreams and dramas behind an unfashionable football team's struggle for success.
Only a Game
1981
- MovieDrama
Murder is involved when an intruder is found in a large department store just after it closes.
Countercrime
1968