Francis George Franc Roddam (born 29 April 1946) is an English film director, businessman, screenwriter, television producer and publisher, best known as the creator of ''

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' () is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site ...

'' and ''

Masterchef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...

'' and as the director of ''

Quadrophenia ''Quadrophenia'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the previous two being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, While ...

'' (1979). He is a graduate of the

London Film School London Film School (LFS) is a film school in London, United Kingdom, and is situated in Covent Garden, London, neighbouring Soho, a hub of the UK film industry. It is the oldest film school in the UK.

Career

Roddam's films include ''

'', '' K2'', ''

Aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

'', ''

The Lords of Discipline ''The Lords of Discipline'' is a 1980 novel by Pat Conroy that was later adapted in a 1983 film of the same name. The story centers on Will McLean, who is in his fourth year at the fictional Carolina Military Institute in Charleston, South C ...

'' and '' War Party''. He created the worldwide TV franchise, ''

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...

'', which is shown in 200 countries worldwide and there are over 50 locally-produced versions. He also produced formats for ''

'', ''

Making Out Making out is a term of American English, American origin dating back to at least 1949, and is used to refer to kissing, including extended French kissing or ''necking'' (heavy kissing of the neck, and above), or to acts of non-penetrative s ...

'', and ''

Harry Harry may refer to: Television * ''Harry'' (American TV series), 1987 comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (New Zealand TV series), 2013 crime drama starring Oscar K ...

'', all of which were highly successful TV dramas. He directed the award-winning TV drama ''Dummy'', which won the prestigious

Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international television, radio-broadcasting and web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with th ...

Drama Prize. He directed the Grammy-nominated/Golden Globe nominated US mini-series ''

Moby Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 Epic (genre), epic novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is centered on the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler ...

'' and ''Cleopatra''. Roddam won awards for his

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentaries ''Mini'' and ''The Family''. He is the Director of Ziji Publishing, whose titles include the bestseller ''

The Last Templar ''The Last Templar'' is a 2005 novel by Raymond Khoury, and is also his debut work. The novel was on the ''New York Times'' Bestseller list for 22 months. As of 2012, it has sold over 5million copies worldwide. It was adapted into a television ...

''. He is a sponsor and former Governor of the

, and is an active member of the Greenworld Campaign.

Filmography

Films

* ''

'' (1979) – director/co-writer * ''

'' (1983) – director * '' The Bride'' (1985) – director * ''

'' (1987) – segment director * '' War Party'' (1988) – director * '' K2'' (1991) – director

Television

* ''Birthday'' (1969) – Director * ''The Fight'' (1973) – Executive Producer * '' The Family'' (1974) – co-director * ''

Mini The Mini is a very small two-door, four-seat car, produced for four decades over a single generation, with many names and variants, by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors British Leyland and the Rover Group, and finally ...

'' (1975) – Director (episode of '' Inside Story'' documentary series) * ''Dummy'' (1977) – director/producer * ''

'' (1983–2004) – format creator, executive producer, writer * ''

Johnny Oddball Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Variant ...

'' (1985) – director (episode of ''

40 Minutes ''40 Minutes'' was a BBC TV documentary strand broadcast on BBC Two between 1981 and 1994. Some documentaries in the original series were revisited and updated in a 2006 version, ''Forty Minutes On''. See also * ''Sixty Minutes ''60 Minu ...

'' documentary series; sequel to ''Mini'') * ''

'' (1989) – format creator * ''

An Ungentlemanly Act ''An Ungentlemanly Act'' is a 1992 BBC television film about the first days of the invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982. Production The film was written and directed by Stuart Urban, and commissioned to mark the tenth anniversary of the F ...

'' (1992) – executive producer * ''

'' (1993–1995) – format creator, executive producer * ''

The Crow Road ''The Crow Road'' is a novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 1992. Plot introduction The novel describes Prentice McHoan's preoccupation with death, sex, his relationship with his father, unrequited love, sibling rivalry, a mi ...

'' (1996) – executive producer * ''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

'' (1999) – director (two episodes) * ''

'' (1998) – director (two episodes) * ''

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' () is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. The book presents the tales, which are mostly written in verse, as part of a fictional storytelling contest held ...

'' (2003) – format creator, executive producer * ''

'' (2005–to date) – format creator, executive producer (until 2015)

References

External links

*
Ziji Publishing - Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roddam, Francis 1946 births Living people Alumni of the London Film School English businesspeople English film directors English male screenwriters English publishers (people) English screenwriters English television producers People from Norton, County Durham British television show creators