Bob Spiers
Encyclopedia
Bob Spiers was a director. He is particularly noted as the director of the early series of Absolutely Fabulous
(1992–2001), the musical comedy Spiceworld
, and of the second series of Fawlty Towers
(1979). He also worked with Steven Moffat
on Press Gang
and Joking Apart
. Spiers won a BAFTA Award twice for his skill as a television director.
, Scotland
, he attended Southgate College
in the 1960s, also organising several student trips from the college to Europe during this time. Spiers joined the staff of the BBC
in 1970, working as an assistant floor manager and later a production assistant
, before eventually working his way up to become a director and producer. In this capacity he worked on several high-profile programmes, such as Dad's Army
, Are You Being Served?
and It Ain't Half Hot Mum
, all sitcoms, a genre with which he became particularly associated. During the 1970s he met his wife, Annie Spiers.
It was because of his talent for directing comedy that he was chosen to handle the second series of Fawlty Towers
in 1979, which already had an enormous reputation on the basis of its initial six episodes in 1975, and it won him his first BAFTA award. Shortly after he directed the series and the unbroadcast pilot of Not the Nine O'Clock News
, Spiers left the staff of the BBC to work as a freelance director.
Throughout the 1980s he worked on a number of programmes, of particular note being Channel 4
's anthology comedy series The Comic Strip Presents... and the BBC sketch shows French and Saunders
and A Bit of Fry and Laurie
. He began his association with writer Steven Moffat
in 1989, directing over half of the episodes of the teen comedy drama series Press Gang
(1989–1993) for the ITV
network. According to Moffat, Spiers was the "principal director" taking an interest in the other episodes and setting the visual style of the show. Spiers particularly used tracking shot
s, sometimes requiring more dialogue to be written to accommodate the length of the shot. The other directors would come in and "do a Spiers". Spiers then directed all twelve episodes of Moffat's sitcom Joking Apart
(1993, 1995). The show won the Bronze Rose of Montreux
and was entered for the Emmys.
His association with comedians Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders
from directing their sketch show led to him working on individual projects from each of them during the 1990s. With French he worked on the macabre comedy anthology series Murder Most Horrid
, with some episodes written by Moffat (such as "Overkill
"). More famously, with Saunders, he helmed Absolutely Fabulous
throughout the decade, the show having originated in a sketch from an episode of French and Saunders
which had also been directed by Spiers. Absolutely Fabulous won Spiers his second BAFTA award.
In 1997 he directed the pop group the Spice Girls
in their film Spiceworld
. He had been working in America on the Disney
film That Darn Cat at the peak of the Spice Girls' popularity, and was unaware of the group when first offered the job of directing Spiceworld until friend Jennifer Saunders
advised that he take it. He arrived at a meeting with them in a New York hotel unaware of what they looked like. He also directed two episodes of the Australian ABC
series The Adventures of Lano and Woodley
.
He died in December 2008 in Widecombe, Devon
at a family home after a long illness. He owned a restaurant in Ashburton, Devon called Number 14, which still displays one of his BAFTA awards.
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
(1992–2001), the musical comedy Spiceworld
Spiceworld (film)
Spice World is a 1997 British musical comedy film directed by Bob Spiers, written by Kim Fuller and Jamie Curtis, and starring the best-selling pop girl group the Spice Girls...
, and of the second series of Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters...
(1979). He also worked with Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
on Press Gang
Press Gang
Press Gang is a British children's television comedy-drama consisting of forty-three episodes across five series that were broadcast from 1989 to 1993...
and Joking Apart
Joking Apart
Joking Apart is a BBC television sitcom written by Steven Moffat about the rise and fall of a relationship. It juxtaposes a couple, Mark and Becky , who fall in love and marry, before getting separated and finally divorced...
. Spiers won a BAFTA Award twice for his skill as a television director.
Biography
Born in GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland
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...
, he attended Southgate College
Southgate College
Southgate College campus is located in the London Borough of Enfield, and situated beside the Southgate's main shopping centre and within a 200m walk of the Southgate tube station on the Piccadilly Line...
in the 1960s, also organising several student trips from the college to Europe during this time. Spiers joined the staff of 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...
in 1970, working as an assistant floor manager and later a production assistant
Production assistant
A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production...
, before eventually working his way up to become a director and producer. In this capacity he worked on several high-profile programmes, such as Dad's Army
Dad's Army
Dad's Army is a British sitcom about the Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft and broadcast on BBC television between 1968 and 1977. The series ran for 9 series and 80 episodes in total, plus a radio series, a feature film and a stage show...
, Are You Being Served?
Are You Being Served?
Are You Being Served? is a British sitcom broadcast from 1972 to 1985. It was set in the ladies' and gentlemen's clothing departments of Grace Brothers, a large, fictional London department store. It was written mainly by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, with contributions by Michael Knowles and John...
and It Ain't Half Hot Mum
It Ain't Half Hot Mum
It Ain't Half Hot Mum was a British sitcom about the adventures of a Royal Artillery Concert Party, broadcast on the BBC between 1974 and 1981, and written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, the creators of Dad's Army...
, all sitcoms, a genre with which he became particularly associated. During the 1970s he met his wife, Annie Spiers.
It was because of his talent for directing comedy that he was chosen to handle the second series of Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters...
in 1979, which already had an enormous reputation on the basis of its initial six episodes in 1975, and it won him his first BAFTA award. Shortly after he directed the series and the unbroadcast pilot of Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC 2 from 1979 to 1982.Originally shown as a comedy "alternative" to the BBC Nine O'Clock News on BBC 1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy...
, Spiers left the staff of the BBC to work as a freelance director.
Throughout the 1980s he worked on a number of programmes, of particular note being Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's anthology comedy series The Comic Strip Presents... and the BBC sketch shows French and Saunders
French and Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
and A Bit of Fry and Laurie
A Bit of Fry and Laurie
A Bit of Fry & Laurie is a British sketch comedy television series starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, broadcast on both BBC1 and BBC2 between 1989 and 1995. It ran for four series and totalled 26 episodes, including a 35 minute pilot episode in 1987.As in The...
. He began his association with writer Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat
Steven Moffat is a Scottish television writer and producer.Moffat's first television work was the teen drama series Press Gang. His first sitcom, Joking Apart, was inspired by the breakdown of his first marriage; conversely, his later sitcom Coupling was based upon the development of his...
in 1989, directing over half of the episodes of the teen comedy drama series Press Gang
Press Gang
Press Gang is a British children's television comedy-drama consisting of forty-three episodes across five series that were broadcast from 1989 to 1993...
(1989–1993) for the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
network. According to Moffat, Spiers was the "principal director" taking an interest in the other episodes and setting the visual style of the show. Spiers particularly used tracking shot
Tracking shot
In motion picture terminology, a tracking shot is a segment in which the camera is mounted on a camera dolly, a wheeled platform that is pushed on rails while the picture is being taken...
s, sometimes requiring more dialogue to be written to accommodate the length of the shot. The other directors would come in and "do a Spiers". Spiers then directed all twelve episodes of Moffat's sitcom Joking Apart
Joking Apart
Joking Apart is a BBC television sitcom written by Steven Moffat about the rise and fall of a relationship. It juxtaposes a couple, Mark and Becky , who fall in love and marry, before getting separated and finally divorced...
(1993, 1995). The show won the Bronze Rose of Montreux
Rose d'Or
The Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...
and was entered for the Emmys.
His association with comedians Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
from directing their sketch show led to him working on individual projects from each of them during the 1990s. With French he worked on the macabre comedy anthology series Murder Most Horrid
Murder Most Horrid
Murder Most Horrid is a BBC dark comedy anthology series starring comedian Dawn French. It ran for four series runs, in 1991, 1994, 1996 and 1999....
, with some episodes written by Moffat (such as "Overkill
Overkill (Murder Most Horrid episode)
"Overkill" is an episode of the British comedy television series Murder Most Horrid. It was written by Steven Moffat, who had worked with director Bob Spiers on Press Gang and Joking Apart.-Plot:...
"). More famously, with Saunders, he helmed Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous
Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
throughout the decade, the show having originated in a sketch from an episode of French and Saunders
French and Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
which had also been directed by Spiers. Absolutely Fabulous won Spiers his second BAFTA award.
In 1997 he directed the pop group the Spice Girls
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
in their film Spiceworld
Spiceworld (film)
Spice World is a 1997 British musical comedy film directed by Bob Spiers, written by Kim Fuller and Jamie Curtis, and starring the best-selling pop girl group the Spice Girls...
. He had been working in America on the Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
film That Darn Cat at the peak of the Spice Girls' popularity, and was unaware of the group when first offered the job of directing Spiceworld until friend Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Saunders
Jennifer Jane Saunders is an English comedienne, screenwriter, singer and actress. She has won two BAFTAs, an International Emmy Award, a British Comedy Award, a Rose d'Or Light Entertainment Festival Award, two Writers' Guild of Great Britain Awards, and a Peoples Choice Award.She first came into...
advised that he take it. He arrived at a meeting with them in a New York hotel unaware of what they looked like. He also directed two episodes of the Australian ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
series The Adventures of Lano and Woodley
The Adventures of Lano and Woodley
The Adventures of Lano and Woodley is an Australian comedy television show starring the comedic duo of Lano and Woodley , consisting of two series which aired on ABC TV from 1997 to 1999...
.
He died in December 2008 in Widecombe, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
at a family home after a long illness. He owned a restaurant in Ashburton, Devon called Number 14, which still displays one of his BAFTA awards.
Works
- Fawlty TowersFawlty TowersFawlty Towers is a British sitcom produced by BBC Television and first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975. Twelve television program episodes were produced . The show was written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, both of whom played major characters...
: Series 2 (all 6 episodes) - The GoodiesThe Goodies (TV series)The Goodies is a British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s. The series, which combines surreal sketches and situation comedy, was broadcast by BBC 2 from 1970 until 1980 — and was then broadcast by the ITV company LWT for a year, between 1981 to 1982.The show was...
(1977–82) - Press GangPress GangPress Gang is a British children's television comedy-drama consisting of forty-three episodes across five series that were broadcast from 1989 to 1993...
- Joking ApartJoking ApartJoking Apart is a BBC television sitcom written by Steven Moffat about the rise and fall of a relationship. It juxtaposes a couple, Mark and Becky , who fall in love and marry, before getting separated and finally divorced...
- Absolutely FabulousAbsolutely FabulousAbsolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a British sitcom created by Jennifer Saunders, based on an original idea by her and Dawn French, and written by Saunders, who plays the leading character. It also stars Joanna Lumley and Julia Sawalha, along with June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks...
- BottomBottom (TV series)Bottom was a British sitcom television series that originally aired on BBC2 between 1991 and 1995. It was written by comic duo Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson who star as Richie and Eddie, two flatmates living on the dole in Hammersmith, London...
: Series 3 (all 6 episodes) - SpiceworldSpiceworld (film)Spice World is a 1997 British musical comedy film directed by Bob Spiers, written by Kim Fuller and Jamie Curtis, and starring the best-selling pop girl group the Spice Girls...
- That Darn Cat
- The Adventures of Lano and WoodleyThe Adventures of Lano and WoodleyThe Adventures of Lano and Woodley is an Australian comedy television show starring the comedic duo of Lano and Woodley , consisting of two series which aired on ABC TV from 1997 to 1999...
: "The Girlfriend", "Starquest"