Sandy Johnson (director)

Last updated

Sandy Johnson is a Scottish director who has directed episodes of The Comic Strip Presents , Inspector Morse , A Touch of Frost , The Ruth Rendell Mysteries , Jonathan Creek and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet . His first full-length film was Coast to Coast (1987) written by Stan Hey and starring John Shea, Lenny Henry and Pete Postlethwaite. In Scotland he directed Leaving (1988), The Gift (1989) and The Wreck on the Highway (1990) starring Lynn Anderson.

In 1989 he directed Defrosting The Fridge, written by Ray Connolly and starring Joe Don Baker.

In the 1990s he directed Gone to the Dogs , Gone to Seed and Roughnecks . In Australia he directed Supernova starring Rob Brydon. He directed the final two episodes of the first series of Kingdom and a 2007 episode of The Last Detective .

In 2001 he directed Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years starring Stephen Mangan and Alison Steadman, written by Sue Townsend.

In 2008 he directed Love Soup , written by David Renwick and starring Tamsin Greig, and Series 2–7 of Benidorm (29 episodes from 2008 to 2015) written by Derren Litten.

In 1998 he won a BAFTA for Best Drama Series for Jonathan Creek, and in both 2009 and 2011 won BAFTAs for Harry & Paul .

While studying drawing and painting at Glasgow School of Art in the 1970s, he was also an actor. He played several roles with Strathclyde Theatre Group and on film including one of the Knights of Ni in Monty Python and the Holy Grail .

In 2013 he directed Big Bad World for Comedy Central starring Blake Harrison, Rebecca Humphries, Seann Walsh and David Fynn and The Spa written by Derren Litten, starring Rebecca Front.

In 2015 he directed the 8-part series Cradle to Grave written by Danny Baker and Jeff Pope, starring Peter Kay, Lucy Speed and Laurie Kynaston.

Johnson's father Alfred managed a hotel near Loch Lomond which was frequented by celebrities and film stars touring the UK. Betty Hutton stayed there when appearing at the Glasgow Empire in 1952, also the likes of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Glynis Johns, Richard Todd (whose Irish Wolfhounds were bigger than him), Jack Train, Kenneth Wolstenholme, Ralph Reader and Terence Rattigan.

In 1955 Johnson (aged 2) was introduced to Tyrone Power who was visiting Glasgow to present Ruchill Hospital with equipment funded by the Roosevelt Memorial (Polio) Fund.


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Rendell</span> British writer (1930–2015)

Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries.

<i>Jonathan Creek</i> British mystery crime drama series

Jonathan Creek is a long-running British mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the titular character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician while also solving seemingly supernatural mysteries through his talent for logical deduction and his understanding of illusions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Baker (British actor)</span> English actor and writer (1931-2011)

George Morris Baker, MBE was an English actor and writer. He was best known for portraying Tiberius in I, Claudius, and Inspector Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries.

David Peter Renwick is an English author, television writer, actor, director and executive producer, best known for creation of the sitcom One Foot in the Grave and the mystery series Jonathan Creek. He was awarded the Writers Guild Ronnie Barker Award at the 2008 British Comedy Awards.

<i>The Ruth Rendell Mysteries</i> British television crime drama series

The Ruth Rendell Mysteries is a British television crime drama series, produced by TVS and later by its successor Meridian Broadcasting, in association with Blue Heaven Productions, for broadcast on the ITV network. Twelve series were broadcast on ITV between 2 August 1987 and 11 October 2000. Created by renowned author Ruth Rendell, the first six series focused entirely on her main literary character, Chief Inspector Reg Wexford, played by George Baker. Repeat airings of these series changed the programme's title to The Inspector Wexford Mysteries. However, later series shifted focus to other short stories previously written by Rendell, with Wexford featuring in only three further stories, in 1996, 1998 and 2000. When broadcast, these three stories were broadcast under the title Inspector Wexford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Capaldi</span> Scottish actor, director and writer

Peter Dougan Capaldi is a Scottish actor, director, writer and musician. He portrayed the twelfth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who (2013–2017) and Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It (2005–2012), for which he received four British Academy Television Award nominations, winning Best Male Comedy Performance in 2010. When he reprised the role of Tucker in the feature film In the Loop, Capaldi was honoured with several film critic award nominations for Best Supporting Actor.

Derren Ronald Litten is an English comedy writer and actor, best known as the creator and writer of the sitcom Benidorm. Litten also co-wrote The Catherine Tate Show, for which he both wrote and appeared as several different characters in the first two series and the 2005 Christmas Special. He has also acted in many comedy and drama series including Perfect World, French and Saunders, Spaced, EastEnders, Coronation Street, Pie in the Sky with Richard Griffiths. Litten's first sitcom was Benidorm, which began airing on ITV in 2007. The series follows various groups of holiday makers and staff in the all-inclusive Solana resort located in Benidorm. The series received strong ratings and later extended its runtime, running for 10 series ending in 2018.

Nick Robinson is an English actor who has appeared regularly on British television, most famously as William Beech in Goodnight Mister Tom, starring John Thaw. He also played the lead in the television series Harry and the Wrinklies based upon the book of the same name by Alan Temperley, produced by Scottish Television. He has made a few other television programmes including an episode of Midsomer Murders and he was also in the film version of Tom's Midnight Garden. Other appearances include Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Urban Gothic and Down to Earth.

Paul Holmes is a British freelance television director and lecturer at Napier University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Holme wrote and directed a short film Sniper 470, starring actors Billy Boyd and Carmen Pieraccini. Holmes was nominated for a BAFTA for producing the short A Small Deposit, along with director Eleanor Yule. He also produced and directed a short film Going Down.

Joanna Jeffrees is an English actress. She was born in Winchester, Hampshire. She is notable for her work in television, including the British TV series The Ruth Rendell Mysteries. Joanna Jeffrees can be seen later this year playing the role of Kirsty in the Channel 5 TV reconstruction documentary drama 'Fingers in the Till', made by Silver River Productions, directed by Sam Wildman.

<i>Benidorm</i> (British TV series) British television series

Benidorm is a British sitcom written and created by Derren Litten and produced by Tiger Aspect for ITV that aired for ten series from 1 February 2007 until 2 May 2018. The series features an ensemble cast of holiday makers and staff at the Solana all-inclusive hotel in Benidorm, Spain over the course of a week each year.

Jim Goddard was an English film and TV director who was born in Battersea, London. He directed episodes of many UK TV series such as Public Eye, Callan, Special Branch, The Sweeney, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, The Bell and Holby City. He may be best known outside England for the TV series Kennedy starring Martin Sheen or directing the film Shanghai Surprise as a vehicle for newlyweds Sean Penn and Madonna.

The Spa is a sitcom created, written and starring Derren Litten broadcast by Sky Living. It is set in a health spa in Hertfordshire and follows the daily goings-on of the business. The first series consisted of seven episodes and aired between February and March 2013. A New Year Special concluded the series on 27 December 2013.

Benjamin Caron is a Golden Globe, Emmy and BAFTA-winning British film and television director.

<i>Benidorm</i> (series 5) Fifth season of TV show Benidorm

The fifth series of the ITV1 television series Benidorm, which is a sitcom set in an all-inclusive holiday resort in Benidorm, Spain, began broadcasting on 24 February 2012, consisting of seven episodes. The series was directed by both John Henderson and Sandy Johnson, though was written by Derren Litten, Steve Pemberton and Neil Fitzmaurice. The series saw the returns of Garvey family, consisting of Mick, Janice, Michael Garvey and Janice's mother Madge Barron ; swingers Donald and Jacqueline Stewart ; Noreen Maltby ; hairdressers Gavin Ramsbottom and Kenneth Du Beke ; Sam Wood and Solana staff Mateo Castellanos, Les/Lesley Conroy and Liam Conroy. Sherrie Hewson and Michelle Butterly joined the cast of Joyce Temple-Savage, the new Solana manageress, and Trudy, the new holiday companion of Sam, respectively. Paul Bazely, Kathryn Drysdale and Selina Griffiths did not return; Crissy Rock did not return either, though did make a brief return during the sixth episode.

<i>The Barbara Vine Mysteries</i>

The Barbara Vine Mysteries is a British television mystery drama series, principally written by Sandy Welch and Jacqueline Holborough and directly solely by Tim Fywell, that first broadcast on BBC1 on 10 May 1992.

<i>Scarborough</i> (TV series) British television series

Scarborough is a British television sitcom set in the North Yorkshire seaside town of Scarborough, England. The series was aired on BBC One, and revolves around the lives of a group of friends who regularly meet up in a pub for karaoke on a Friday night.

<i>Benidorm</i> (series 2) Season of television series

The second series of the ITV1 television series Benidorm, which is a sitcom set in an all-inclusive holiday resort in Benidorm, Spain, began broadcasting on 28 March 2008, consisting of eight episodes. The entire series was directed by Sandy Johnson and written by Derren Litten. Returning from the first series were the Garvey family, consisting of Mick, Janice, Chantelle, Michael and Janice's mother Madge Barron, whereas Geoffrey Hutchings was introduced as Mel Harvey, Madge's new fiancé; swingers Donald and Jacqueline Stewart ; mother and son Noreen and Geoff "The Oracle" Maltby ; homosexual couple Gavin and Troy Ramsbottom ; un-keen couple Kate and Martin Weedon ; and Solana staff Mateo Castellanos and manageress Janey York.

<i>Benidorm</i> (series 7) Seventh season of television series

The seventh series of the ITV television series Benidorm, which is a sitcom set in an all-inclusive holiday resort in Benidorm, Spain, began broadcasting on 2 January 2015, consisting of seven episodes. The entire series was written by Derren Litten whereas both Sandy Johnson and David Sant were credited as individual directors throughout the series. This was the final series to feature the Garvey family, consisting of Mick, Janice, Michael Garvey and Janice's mother Madge Barron, though Reid did briefly return in the eighth series. Furthermore, it was the first series not to feature Donald Stewart, due to Ireland's diagnosis of cancer and subsequent death. Janine Duvitski reprised her role of Jacqueline Stewart, the character's wife, who was joined by newcomer Glynn. Other returning cast members included Tiger and Clive Dyke, who were joined by Terry Dyke ; hairdressers Liam Conroy and Kenneth Du Beke ; and Solana staff, consisting of barmen Mateo Castellanos and Les/Lesley Conroy, and manageress Joyce Temple-Savage. Elsie Kelly and Johnny Vegas, who are both original cast members of the programme, also reprised their roles during the seventh series.