:''Not be confused with Robert M. Young (director).'' Robert William Young (born 16 March 1933) is a British television and film director.

Life and career

Young was born in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, and in the 1980s and early 1990s, established himself as a leading director of British TV drama. In the 1970s, he directed ''

Vampire Circus ''Vampire Circus'' is a 1972 British horror film directed by Robert Young and starring Adrienne Corri, Thorley Walters and Anthony Higgins. It was written by Judson Kinberg, and produced by Wilbur Stark and Michael Carreras (uncredited) for ...

'' (1972), ''

Soldier's Home "Soldier's Home" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. It was included in the 1925 ''Contact Collection of Contemporary Writers'' and published by Boni & Liveright in Hemingway's 1925 New York collection short stories, '' In Our Time''.Oliver, ( ...

'' (1977) and an episode of ''

Hammer House of Horror ''Hammer House of Horror'' is a British horror anthology television series produced in Britain in 1980. Created by Hammer Films in association with Cinema Arts International and ITC Entertainment, it consists of 13 hour-long episodes, origin ...

''. He directed several episodes of ''

Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

'' and '' Bergerac'' in the early 1980s, and the acclaimed TV serial '' The Mad Death'' which centred on a

rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. It was historically referred to as hydrophobia ("fear of water") because its victims panic when offered liquids to drink. Early symptoms can include fever and abn ...

outbreak. Perhaps his best remembered television work was on ''

Robin of Sherwood ''Robin of Sherwood'' is a British television series, based on the legend of Robin Hood. Created by Richard Carpenter, it was produced by HTV in association with Goldcrest, and ran from 28 April 1984 to 28 June 1986 on the ITV network. In th ...

'', for which he directed many of the best-regarded episodes. Young moved towards black comedy in the early 1990s, directing ''

Jeeves and Wooster ''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a British Aca ...

'' based on the stories written by

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

, and '' G.B.H.'', for which he was nominated for a

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 ...

award. It was partly on the strength of ''GBH'' that he was assigned to direct ''

Fierce Creatures ''Fierce Creatures'' is a 1997 farcical comedy film. While not literally a sequel, ''Fierce Creatures'' is a spiritual successor to the 1988 film '' A Fish Called Wanda''. Both films star John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michae ...

'',

John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...

's 1997 follow-up to ''

A Fish Called Wanda ''A Fish Called Wanda'' is a 1988 heist comedy film directed by Charles Crichton and written by Crichton and John Cleese. It stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. The film follows a gang of diamond thieves who double- ...

'', which featured many of the same cast as ''GBH''. However, the production ran into problems and

Fred Schepisi Frederic Alan Schepisi ( ;Pauline Kael, Kael, Pauline (1984). ''Taking It All In''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 55. born 26 December 1939) is an Australian film director, producer, and screenwriter. His credits include ''The Cha ...

was brought in to finalise the movie. Young did, however, direct ''

Splitting Heirs ''Splitting Heirs'' is a 1993 British black comedy film directed by Robert Young and starring Eric Idle, Rick Moranis, Barbara Hershey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cleese and Sadie Frost. It features music by Michael Kamen. It was entered ...

'', which starred Cleese and

Eric Idle Eric Idle (born 29 March 1943) is an English actor, comedian, songwriter, musician, screenwriter and playwright. He was a member of the British comedy group Monty Python and the parody rock band the Rutles. Idle studied English at Pembroke Co ...

. Young has continued to work on television drama since then. In addition to television, in early 2016, Young would return to directing ''

'' for an ITV/Spiteful Puppet production audio drama. The audio drama entitled '' Robin of Sherwood: The Knights Of The Apocalypse'' featured the original television series cast, was written by Richard Carpenter before his death in 2012, and was released in May 2016.

Selected filmography

*1972: ''

'' *1974: '' Romance with a Double Bass'' (short film) *1976: ''

Keep It Up Downstairs ''Keep It Up Downstairs'' (also known as ''Can You Keep It Up Downstairs?'' and ''My Favorite Butler''), is a 1976 British period sex comedy film, directed by Robert Young and starring Diana Dors, Jack Wild and William Rushton. It was writte ...

'' *1977: ''

'' (short film) *1979: '' The World Is Full of Married Men'' *1986: ''

The Worst Witch ''The Worst Witch'' is a series of children's books written and illustrated by English author Jill Murphy. The series are primarily about a girl named Mildred Hubble who attends a witch school and fantasy stories, with eight books published. ...

'' (TV) *1986: ''The Ninja Squad'' *1987: ''Three Wishes for Jamie'' (TV) *1987: ''Harry's Kingdom'' *1990: ''

'' (TV) *1991: '' G.B.H.'' (TV miniseries) *1993: ''

'' *1994: ''

Doomsday Gun ''Doomsday Gun'' is a 1994 television film produced by HBO, dramatizing the life of Canadian supergun designer Dr. Gerald Bull and his involvement in Project Babylon, Saddam Hussein's plan to build a supergun with a range of over . Synopsis The ...

'' (TV) *1997: ''

'' *1997: ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...

'' (TV) *1999: '' Captain Jack'' *2001: '' The Infinite Worlds of H. G. Wells'' (TV miniseries) *2007: '' Blood Monkey'' *2007: ''

Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ;"Eichmann"
''

Wide Blue Yonder'' *2014: ''Curse of the Phoenix''

References

External links

* 1933 births Living people British film directors British television directors {{UK-film-director-stub