Martin Dennis is a Canadian-born award-winning British

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

specialising in situation comedy. He won the

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

for situation comedy in 2005, having been nominated in 1989, 1996, and 1998.

Early life and education

Dennis was born in Toronto and lived there briefly until his family moved to Surrey. He graduated from the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

alongside his fellow and now well-known award-winning contemporaries - stage and screen directors Phyllida Lloyd and Andy Wilson, producer Sarah Curtis, actor and director Owen Brenman and stage and screen designer Mark Thompson. Stage and screen writer-directors Victoria Wood and Terry Johnson had graduated from the Department in preceding years.

Career

Dennis joined the BBC in 1980 as a runner. He soon became a production manager and was part of the crew behind '' 'Allo, 'Allo'', '' Don't Wait Up'', and '' Hi-De-Hi''. In 1980, Dennis became the director of '''Allo, 'Allo'' and in 1991 he directed the first series of ''

Men Behaving Badly ''Men Behaving Badly'' is a British sitcom that was created and written by Simon Nye. It follows the lives of Gary Strang ( Martin Clunes) and his flatmates Dermot Povey ( Harry Enfield; series 1 only) and Tony Smart ( Neil Morrissey; series ...

'' for Hartswood Films, and went on to direct all the subsequent series and specials. He has also directed '' Birds of a Feather'' when it was revived by ITV in 2014. Since 2012, he has directed ''

Friday Night Dinner ''Friday Night Dinner'' is a British sitcom created by Robert Popper that aired on Channel 4 from 25 February 2011 to 1 May 2020. Starring Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal, and Mark Heap, it follows the regular Friday ...

'' on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

References

External links

*
''Martin Dennis''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Alumni of the University of Birmingham British television directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-tv-bio-stub