Alastair Reid (21 July 1939 – 17 August 2011) was a Scottish television and film director, described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' on his death as "one of Britain's finest directors of television drama".

Early life and education

Born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Reid studied at the

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

and the

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre. BOVTS was an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance a ...

Career

In 1964, Reid directed episodes of ''

Emergency-Ward 10 ''Emergency Ward 10'' is a British medical soap opera series shown on ITV between 1957 and 1967. It is considered to be one of British television's first major soap operas. Overview The series was made by the ITV contractor ATV and set in a f ...

'' for

ATV ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television broadcaster * Andorra Televisió * Anguilla Television * Ayna TV, Afghanistan * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourn ...

and worked regularly in television for over thirty years. His work included writing the screenplay of the film ''

Shout at the Devil ''Shout at the Devil'' is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, released on September 26, 1983. It was the band's breakthrough album, establishing Mötley Crüe as one of the top selling heavy metal acts of the 198 ...

'' (1976) and directing the first episode of ''

Inspector Morse Endeavour Morse, GM, is the namesake character of the series of "Morse" detective novels by British author Colin Dexter, a Detective Chief Inspector in the Thames Valley Police in Oxford, England. On television he was portrayed by John ...

'' in 1987, as well as directing the television series ''

Gangsters A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level ...

'' (1976—78), the serial ''

Traffik ''Traffik'' is a 1989 British television serial about an illegal drug trade. Its three stories are interwoven, with arcs told from the perspectives of Afghan and Pakistani growers, dealers and manufacturers, German dealers, and British users. ...

'' (1989), the television series ''

Selling Hitler ''Selling Hitler'' is a 1991 ITV television comedy-drama mini-series about the Hitler Diaries hoax and was based on Robert Harris's 1986 book ''Selling Hitler: The Story of the Hitler Diaries.'' The screenplay was written by Howard Schuman. P ...

'' (1991), based on the Hitler diaries, the miniseries ''

Tales of the City ''Tales of the City'' is a series of ten novels written by American author Armistead Maupin from 1978 to 2024, depicting the life of a group of friends in San Francisco, many of whom are LGBTQ. The stories from ''Tales'' were originally seri ...

'' (1993), and the 1997 television adaptation of

Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad (born Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, ; 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Poles in the United Kingdom#19th century, Polish-British novelist and story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the Eng ...

's novel ''

Nostromo ''Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard'' is a 1904 novel by Joseph Conrad, set in the fictitious South American republic of "Costaguana". It was originally published serially in monthly instalments of '' T.P.'s Weekly''. In 1998, the Modern Libra ...

''.Gaughan, Gavin (22 September 2011)
Alastair Reid: Director whose career highlights included 'Traffik' and 'Tales of the City'
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. Retrieved 2 February 2025.

Filmography

*''

Baby Love "Baby Love" is a song by the American music group the Supremes from their second studio album, '' Where Did Our Love Go''. It was written and produced by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland and was released on September 17, ...

'' (1969) *''

The Night Digger ''The Road Builder'' (U.S. title: ''The Night Digger'') is a 1971 British thriller film directed by Alastair Reid and starring Patricia Neal, Pamela Brown and Nicholas Clay. The screenplay was by Roald Dahl based on the novel ''Nest in a Fall ...

'' (1971) *'' Something to Hide'' (1972) *''

Shades of Greene ''Shades of Greene'' is a British television series based on short stories written by the author Graham Greene. The series began in 1975, with each hour-long episode featuring a dramatisation of one of Greene's stories, many of which dealt with ...

'' (1975) *''

'' (1976) (screenplay) *''

'' (1976–77) *'' Hazell'' (1979) *''

Artemis 81 ''Artemis 81'' is a British television play which was written by David Rudkin and directed by Alastair Reid. Commissioned by BBC producer David Rose, it was broadcast by the BBC on 29 December 1981. It was one of the last TV performances from ...

'' (1981) *''

'': ''

The Dead of Jericho ''The Dead of Jericho'', published in 1981, is a work of English detective fiction by Colin Dexter. It is the fifth novel in the Inspector Morse series. In 1987 it was adapted as the first episode of the highly successful television series insp ...

'' (1987) *''

'' (1989) *''

'' (1991) *''

'' (1993) *''

'' (1996) *''

What Rats Won't Do ''What Rats Won't Do'' is a 1998 British comedy film directed by Alastair Reid and starring James Frain and Natascha McElhone. Plot Kate Beckenham is hired by American heiress Mirella Burton to defend Burton's claim to the £15million estate of ...

'' (1998)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Alastair Place of death missing 1939 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Scottish male writers 20th-century Scottish screenwriters 21st-century Scottish male writers 21st-century Scottish screenwriters Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Film people from Bristol Film people from Edinburgh Scottish film directors Scottish male screenwriters Scottish television directors Television people from Edinburgh Writers from Bristol Writers from Edinburgh Writers from Somerset