Roy Battersby

Directing

Roy Battersby

Born 1936-04-20 · London, England

Roy Battersby (1936-2024) was a British director. He started his career making documentary features for the BBC, including work on their groundbreaking science series Tomorrow's World. In 1970 he directed the innovative scientific documentary film The Body, before moving into drama and directing TV plays, often working with writer Colin Welland. He made with several films for the Play for Today series but his role as an organiser with the Workers Revolutionary Party and his Trotskyist politics led to him being blacklisted by the BBC at the behest of Special Branch and the security services, a fact which Battersby was unaware of at the time. Once his association ended in the 1980s, Battersby was allowed to direct at the BBC once more. Serials such as 1986's King of the Ghetto led to regular work on Between the Lines in the early 90s. Now specialising in crime drama, he also helmed several episodes of ITV's Inspector Morse, A Touch of Frost and Cracker. His 2005 film Red Mercury was shown at the Montreal World Film Festival, where it was nominated for best film. In 1996, Battersby was awarded the Alan Clarke award at BAFTA. He was married to actress Judy Loe and is the stepfather of actress Kate Beckinsale.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

The Moth poster
6.7

This 1940s drama presents a story of class conflict and its influence on romance. Robert Bradley leaves the shipyards to work in his uncle's furniture business but soon finds himself at odds with the old man. So he becomes a servant for the destructive Thormans, and falls for the lady of the house, Sarah. But in 1913 this upstairs/downstairs romance can only lead to disaster.

The Moth

1997

The Palestinian poster
9.0

A powerful Palestinian documentary starring Vanessa Redgrave about the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) and its role in Lebanon, as well as the daily struggles and resistance of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. Filmed right after the Tel al-Zaatar massacre, the film highlights the Palestinian fight for identity, dignity, and homeland.

The Palestinian

1977

Mr. Love poster
4.8

An fifty-year-old mild-mannered gardener becomes a lovable legend in his town for his talent to romantically please every woman that fancies him.

Mr. Love

1986

Red Mercury poster
5.3

Three young Muslim men, part of a terror cell, are making a bomb in a London flat, when they get a call to vacate immediately with their gear. The police have been alerted and they are under suspicion.

Red Mercury

2005

The Black Candle poster
5.0

Lily Whitmore is the heir to a crumbling factory that she's determined to restore to its former glory. Unfortunately, Lily must instead turn her attention to the conniving Lionel Filmore who's determined to marry into the family no matter what.

The Black Candle

1991

Winter Flight poster
6.3

As the Falklands War looms, an RAF recruit falls for a young barmaid, but their romance is quickly complicated with some surprising news.

Winter Flight

1984

Doomwatch: Winter Angel poster
7.3

University lecturer Neil Tannahill is drawn into a sinister conspiracy involving secretly-stored Soviet nuclear waste at a remote British nuclear facility after receiving an enigmatic note from legendary atomic scientist and one-time former head of "Doomwatch" (the infamous Scientific watchdog group of the seventies), Dr Spencer Quist.

Doomwatch: Winter Angel

1999

Some Women poster
NR

A film about four women who have been in prison.

Some Women

1969

No artwork available
9.0

"When you marry, have kids...you'll still be in that chair." An ordinary city flat. Evening. A man tries to talk to his daughter. She will not answer. The play moves through the prison of the mind, to that of the outside world in a search that leads to a tragedy.

Olly's Prison

1993

The Act poster
NR

Eastern Europe, February 1944: Johann Frink and Otto Hansen, once famous Berlin cabaret artists, are summoned to take part in a special 'entertainment', devised by a mysterious Nazi captain. When they discover where they are to perform, they find themselves with an appalling dilemma.

The Act

1989

Leeds United! poster
10.0

The true story of a strike in 1970 by female textile-factory workers in Leeds who wanted to be paid the same as their male colleagues, but whose efforts were undermined by the trade union that they belonged to.

Leeds United!

1974

Yellowbacks poster
8.0

Britain in the very near future. In an abandoned hotel, a young female doctor and a middle-aged scientist are interrogated separately. The question they are both asked is 'Where is Martin Pitt?'

Yellowbacks

1990

The Body poster
4.6

A psychedelic documentary of the body electric, with music by Pink Floyd. The film was directed and produced by Roy Battersby. The film's narrators, Frank Finlay and Vanessa Redgrave, provide commentary that combines the knowledge of human biologists and anatomical experts. The film's soundtrack, Music from the Body, was composed by Ron Geesin and Roger Waters.

The Body

1970

Escape From Kampala poster
NR

The true story of a daring prison break. Wycliffe Kato, Director of Civil Aviation in Idi Amin's Uganda was at the airport to catch a flight to Canada for a conference when he was arrested by Amin's secret police, members of the notorious State Research Bureau, and thrown into the Nakasero prison. This should have meant certain death, but, along with his cell mates, army officers who had come under suspicion of organizing a coup, he escaped and made it on foot to Nairobi. This TV movie is based on Wycliffe Kato's own account in his book "Escape From Idi Amin's Slaughterhouse".

Escape From Kampala

1991

The Operation poster
NR

David Adler is an operator. He strips assets, other men's wives, and his oldest friend's soul - anything for a cool million.

The Operation

1973

Gentry poster
7.0

Gerald and Susannah, an affluent young couple, inspect a shabby town house for sale. Gerald has plans to renovate it and sell it on for a big profit. But their expedition quickly turns into a nightmare when three criminals arrive, searching for the money they hid in the building years ago.

Gentry

1987

Better Than the Movies poster
NR

A man celebrating his birthday comes to appreciate the difference between media fantasy and mundane reality.

Better Than the Movies

1972

Post Mortem poster
NR

With her boss unexpectedly absent. Helen, his secretary takes charge.

Post Mortem

1975

Roll On Four O'Clock poster
6.0

Compelling drama from screenwriter Colin Welland set in a city comprehensive school of low expectations and ambitions. Pupil Latimer does not conform to the macho culture and is labeled a homosexual, leading to bullying by both the pupils and some of the teachers.

Roll On Four O'Clock

1970