DAVID WHEATLEYDavid Wheatley, who died on 5 April, 2009, aged 59, was a successful British television director who worked in various genres and mediums.
He was known for directing animations, documentary dramas, children’s fantasy, historical romance and detective shows.
Born in Sunderland on 20 December, 1949, David was interested in art from an early age and studied sculpture at Maidstone College of Art, before taking an MA in film at the Royal College of Art.
In 1979, his animated film, inspired by the surrealist art of René Magritte, was broadcast on the BBC’s Omnibus arts programme and went on to win several awards. He was then hired as a director of Omnibus and Arena films, recounting the lives of great artistic and literary figures. He also directed the famous Arena title sequence.
In the mid ’80s he began directing films and television dramas, focusing on gritty social commentaries set in the north of England. Meanwhile, The Magic Toyshop (1987), his first theatrical feature, was a return to his earlier work within the realms of fantasy and surrealism.
In the following decade his career took another turn as he directed a series of Catherine Cookson historical romances for Tyne Tees, gaining audiences as high as 14 million and winning him a Royal Television Society award.
He continued to collect strings to his bow in the later part of his life, directing episodes of prime time shows like Fat Friends and Dalziel and Pascoe, before a long illness ended his career and eventually his life.
He was survived by his long-term partner Camilla Tress, their Francesca, a son from his previous marriage to Melanie Pringle, and both his parents.
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