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Bill Gilmour (director)

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For other people with similar names, see Bill Gilmour.
Bill Gilmour
Born (1939-03-17) 17 March 1939 (age 85)
Peebles, Scotland, United Kingdom
OccupationTelevision director

Bill Gilmour is a Scots television director who worked for Granada Television for over twenty years.

Early life and education[edit]

He was born on 17 March 1939 in the small town of Peebles in the Tweed Valley of the Scottish Borders. He went to Ealing Art College in West London, where he specialised in photography, while attending Frank Auerbach's drawing classes. He joined Scottish Television in 1960 as a camera operator, moving after four years to floor managing, before joining Granada Television in 1967.[1] Gilmour began directing in 1972. He remained with Granada until 1989.[1]

Career[edit]

Gilmour directed the plays Happy Returns by Brian Clarke, Some Enchanted Evening by C. P. Taylor, and The Game by Paul Pender.[1][2][3][4]

He directed episodes of the off-beat detective television series, Strangers, and the 'spin off' series, Bulman by writers Murray Smith, Paul Wheeler and Eddie Boyd.[5] He directed many episodes of Sam, The Spoils of War (TV series) and This Year Next Year, series written by John Finch, which were shot in studio and on location in the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales.[6] Gilmour's work continued with Cribb, a Victorian Scotland Yard detective drama based on the novels by Peter Lovesey, and House of Caradus, a series set in a fine art auction house, as well as twenty-seven episodes of Crown Court, a courtroom drama in which a case is played before a jury drawn from members of the public. Over the years, he directed one hundred and eighty-six episodes of Britain's longest-running soap opera, Coronation Street.[1]

In the 1970s, Gilmour directed episodes of the comedy How's Your Father, written by John Stevenson. He produced and directed The Cuckoo Waltz, written by Geoffrey Lancashire, a comedy series about a young married couple and their lodger.[1][7]

He directed twenty-six episodes of Loving for ABC Television in New York, nine episodes of EastEnders for the BBC, a comedy William and Wilma for Gemini Films and WDR in Cologne and Hollyoaks for Channel 4.

In Manchester, he directed Maureen Pryor in a stage production of Before Breakfast by Eugene O'Neill.[8]

Gilmour directed twenty-six episodes of Allsorts, continuing an interest in children's reading. With Three Bob for D-Day, he went on the fortieth anniversary of D-Day to Normandy with a coach full of Liverpool riflemen to make two films. He made Working in a large psychiatric hospital. Playing is a film on children's street songs. He directed an edition of World in Action, the story being, the less you earn the higher a proportion goes in tax.

He contributed an essay to the book, Granada Television, The First Generation, edited by Michael Cox, John Finch, and Marjorie Giles.[1]

Personal life[edit]

In 1983, newspapers reported that Gilmour was going to marry Julie Goodyear, who played Bet Lynch in Coronation Street.[9][10][11][12] It was then reported that the engagement had been broken ten days before the wedding.[13][14]

Gilmour lives in Edinburgh. He is divorced, and has a daughter.[11][10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Finch, J.; Cox, M.; Giles, M. (2003). Granada Television--The First Generation. Manchester University Press. p. 278. ISBN 978-0-7190-6515-6. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  2. ^ Campbell, Patrick (10 June 1977). "Too close to reality-- too far from the truth". The Stage. Retrieved 16 June 2024. Happy Returns ... Bill Gilmour paced his direction as though for a documentary and made every one of the author's points
  3. ^ "The perils of Peter". Reading Evening Post. 19 January 1978. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Granada launch late night series 'fringe' style". The Stage. 18 February 1982. Retrieved 16 June 2024. Paul Pender's play The Game, which has been seen at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and which was suggested by Granada producer Sandy Ross. Bill Gilmour will direct
  5. ^ "Granada making private eye series". The Stage. 16 August 1984. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  6. ^ Roberts, J. (2009). Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors. Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors. Scarecrow Press. p. 573. ISBN 978-0-8108-6378-1. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  7. ^ Holt, Hazel (30 October 1975). "Lancashire brings a touch of class and originality". The Stage. Retrieved 16 June 2024. Geoffrey Lancashire's delightful Cuckoo Waltz ... The pace is crisp and lively and director/producer Bill Gilmour doesn't linger a moment too long over a line or a shot
  8. ^ "Current production". The Stage. 4 July 1974. Retrieved 16 June 2024. The following Monday, July 8, Maureen Pryor will be seen in Eugene O'Neill's "Before Breakfast," directed by Bill Gilmour.
  9. ^ "Street star to marry". Belfast Newsletter. 6 December 1983. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  10. ^ a b Lynch, Noreen (5 December 1983). "Bet of the Street to wed her boss". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  11. ^ a b Hendry, Tom (6 November 1983). "New love-tangle for Julie". Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Coronation Street barmaid Bet Lynch, actress Julie Goodyear". Leicester Mercury. 5 December 1983. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  13. ^ "Street star's love ordeal". The Liverpool Echo. 29 December 1983. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Street's Julie back with Yankee lover". Sunday People. 22 January 1984. Retrieved 16 June 2024.

External links[edit]

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