Philippa Lowthorpe

Last updated

Philippa Lowthorpe
Born (1961-12-27) 27 December 1961 (age 62)
Occupations
  • Film director
  • screenwriter
Years active1992–present

Philippa Lowthorpe (born 27 December 1961) [1] is an English film and television director. She was awarded the Deluxe Director Award at the WFTV Film and Television Awards for the miniseries Three Girls . [2] She recently directed episodes of the second season of The Crown and the 2020 film Misbehaviour .

Contents

Early life

Lowthorpe was born in a village near Doncaster, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire, [3] [4] and grew up in Nettleham, Lincolnshire. She attended De Aston School in Market Rasen and then went to St Hilda's College, Oxford to study Classics. [5] Lowthorpe moved to Bristol to make documentaries for BBC Bristol, including Three Salons at the Seaside and A Skirt Through History about women's untold stories.

Career

Lowthorpe started out as a director in documentaries. Her award-winning documentaries led her to be invited to write and direct her first drama Eight Hours from Paris (1997) for George Faber, a film for Screen Two in which real people played themselves, alongside professional actors. [5] This was followed by The Other Boleyn Girl (2003), adapted from the 2001 novel of the same name by Philippa Gregory, for BBC films, shown on BBC 2.

She was lead director on the very first series of Call the Midwife . Her opening episode gained the highest audience for any debut of a drama in the past decade. She also directed the first Call the Midwife Christmas Special (2013), for which she won a BAFTA for directing. She is the only woman ever to have won this award.

Other directing credits include the multi-award-winning Five Daughters (2010), Jamaica Inn (2014), Cider with Rosie (2015), and the feature film Swallows and Amazons (2016) for BFI/Studio Canal/BBC films.

Her credits include Jamaica Inn , Call the Midwife , for which she won a British Academy Television Craft Award in 2013, [6] Five Daughters, Beau Brummell: This Charming Man (2006), and The Other Boleyn Girl (2003). A 2013 interview with her appears on the BAFTA website, [7] and she received a British Film Institute award in 2013. [8] Her very first feature film Swallows and Amazons won Grand Prize Feature at New York International Children's Film Festival, and the Youth Jury Award for Best Films4Families Feature at Seattle International Film Festival in 2017. [9] [10] [11]

Lowthorpe's recent work, the BBC mini-series Three Girls (2017) about the Rochdale young child exploitation, reunited her with Executive Producer Susan Hogg and Producer Simon Lewis who she had previously worked with on the award-winning Five Daughters. The series was awarded by BAFTA for best directing in fiction, with writer Nicole Taylor recognised for best writing in a drama series, and Úna Ní Dhonghaíle for best editing in fiction, in 2018. In May 2018 "Three Girls" was also voted Best Mini Series at the BAFTA TV Awards (shared with Nicole Taylor, Susan Hogg and Simon Lewis). In October 2018 "Three Girls" also won the Prix Italia (again shared with Nicole Taylor, Susan Hogg and Simon Lewis).

Filmography

Film and television

DR Director WR Writer OT Other
YearTitleDRWROTNotes
1992 BBC 40 Minutes Yes check.svgDocumentary series; [12]
Episode: "Not at Their Age"
1994Three Salons at the SeasideYes check.svgYes check.svgDocumentary; [13] also producer
1994A Skirt Through HistoryYes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svgDocumentary series; [14] also producer;
Episodes: "The Experiment", "A Marriage"
1997Eight Hours from ParisYes check.svgYes check.svgYes check.svg Television film for Screen Two; also producer
2003 The Other Boleyn Girl Yes check.svgYes check.svgTelevision film
2006 Beau Brummell: This Charming Man Yes check.svgTelevision film
2007Sex, the City and MeYes check.svgYes check.svgTelevision film [15]
2010 Five Daughters Yes check.svg Miniseries; all 3 parts
2013-2014 Call the Midwife Yes check.svg5 episodes
2014 Jamaica Inn Yes check.svgMiniseries; all 3 parts
2015Cider with RosieYes check.svgTelevision film [16]
2016 Swallows and Amazons Yes check.svg
2017 Three Girls Yes check.svgMiniseries; all 3 parts
2017 The Crown Yes check.svgEpisodes: "Marionettes", "Vergangenheit"
2020 Misbehaviour Yes check.svg
2022 Willow Yes check.svgNoNo

Awards and nominations

YearAssociationCategoryWorkResultRef.
1995 RTS Programme Awards Best Single DocumentaryThree Salons at the SeasideWon [17]
2011 RTS Programme Awards - West of EnglandBest Television Drama Five Daughters Nominated [4a] [18]
Best DirectorWon
RTS Programme AwardsBest Drama SerialFive DaughtersWon [4a] [19]
2013 British Academy Television Craft Awards Best Director - Fiction / Entertainment Call the Midwife Won
British Academy Television Awards Radio Times Audience Award Nominated [1a]
Television and Radio Industries Club Awards HD Drama Programme of the YearWon [1a] [20]
Christopher Award Television & CableWon [1b] [21]
RTS Programme Awards - West of EnglandBest Director DramaCall the MidwifeWon [22]
RTS Programme Awards Best Drama SeriesCall the Midwife]Nominated [1a] [23]
2017 Seattle International Film Festival Youth Jury Award for Best Films4Families Feature Swallows and Amazons Won [3a] [24]
RTS Programme Awards - West of EnglandBest Director, DramaNominated [25]
New York International Children's Film Festival Grand Prize FeatureWon [3a] [26]
2017 WFTV Awards The Deluxe Director AwardHerselfWon [27]
Festival de la Fiction TV Awards  [ fr ] Jury Special Prize for European Fiction  [ fr ]Three GirlsWon [2a]
2018British Academy Television Craft Awards Best Director: Fiction Three Girls Won
British Academy Television Awards Best Mini-Series Nominated [2a]
Broadcasting Press Guild Awards Best Single Drama/Mini-seriesWon [2a] [28]
UK Broadcast Awards Best Drama Series or SerialWon [2a] [29]
RTS Programme Awards - West of EnglandBest Television DramaThree GirlsWon [2a] [30]
Best Director DramaWon
RTS Programme AwardsBest Mini-SeriesThree GirlsWon [2a] [31]
Notes
1. 1aCall the Midwife with Heidi Thomas (writer), Hugh Warren (producer), and Pippa Harris (executive producer)
... 1b with Heidi Thomas (writer) and Pippa Harris (executive producer)
2. 2aThree Girls with Nicole Taylor (writer), Simon Lewis (producer), and Susan Hogg (executive producer)
3. 3aSwallows and Amazons with Andrea Gibb
4. 4aFive Daughters with Stephen Butchard and Simon Lewis

Honours

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References

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  4. "Interview: Acting for Crewe and camera" . The Independent. 13 November 1997. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
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