Stephen Whittaker

Directing

Stephen Whittaker

Born 1947-06-28 · London, England, UK

Stephen Whittaker (28 June 1947 – 7 February 2003) was a British actor and director. He worked largely in British film and television, and attended Henley-in-Arden School in Warwickshire before further training as an actor at London's Corona Academy. He began his career aged 17, as a "bad boy" in the film To Sir With Love (1966), and in the classic BBC Doctor Who adventure The Web of Fear, as a soldier battling Yeti in the London Underground. In 1985, Whittaker took a director's training course and directed a short training film, which he sent to John Schlesinger (who had directed him in Yanks). Schlesinger suggested him to producer Mark Shivas as director for Channel 4's drama trilogy What If It's Raining?, written by Anthony Minghella. This was the beginning of a directing career of prestigious TV and film work. Shortly before Whittaker's death, writer Julian Fellowes spoke of him as "the most exciting director in the industry." In 2001, he filmed his final project, The Rocket Post, a romantic drama set on a remote Scottish island. The film had severe funding problems and was eventually released in 2006, three years after his death. The credits bear a dedication to his memory. Whittaker died following complications from a routine surgery.

Acting credits

To Sir, with Love poster
7.4

A British Guianese engineer starts a job as a high school teacher in London’s East End, where his uninterested and delinquent pupils are in desperate need of attention and care.

To Sir, with Love

1967

Yanks poster
5.9

During WWII, the United States set up army bases in Great Britain as part of the war effort. Against their proper sensibilities, many of the Brits don't much like the brash Yanks, especially when it comes to the G.I.s making advances on the lonely British girls. One relationship that develops is between married John, an Army Captain, and the aristocratic Helen, whose naval husband is away at war. Helen loves her husband, but Helen and John are looking for some comfort during the difficult times.

Yanks

1979

The Keep poster
5.6

Set during World War II, a German army garrison is sent to guard a mountain pass in a village in Romania's Carpathian mountains and sets up barracks in an ancient stone fortress. Two of the soldiers unwittingly release a mysterious entity that kills or corrupts those within its influence, drawing the attention of a Gestapo commander, a Jewish scholar, and a mysterious traveller.

The Keep

1983

Up the Junction poster
6.2

A young woman trades her upper-class existence for a new life in an economically depressed suburb of London.

Up the Junction

1968

The World in Silence poster
NR

College student Sarah Richards is alone in fearing and disliking the new teaching machines but even she does not foresee the terrifying situation that arises when her supervisor, Stephen Kershaw, re-arranges the machines to conform with revised fire regulations.

The World in Silence

1966

The Paradise Run poster
NR

Johnny has joined the army because he likes canoeing, but ends up in a war-torn city and is compromised into helping the enemy. However, desertion will not be a solution, and he finds himself more distressed than ever.

The Paradise Run

1976

I Escaped from Devil's Island poster
5.1

In 1916, a group of prisoners plot their escape from the notorious fortress located in French Guiana.

I Escaped from Devil's Island

1973

The One and Only Phyllis Dixey poster
NR

Aspiring dancer Phyllis Dixey makes her name as a stripper.

The One and Only Phyllis Dixey

1978

Bury Me an Angel poster
5.3

After learning that her brother has been murdered, biker Dag sets out on the road with two close friends to find the killer. As they travel, they encounter various people and conflicts, and Dag’s emotional struggle becomes increasingly apparent, leading to a final violent confrontation with her brother’s murderer.

Bury Me an Angel

1971

No artwork available
NR

Murder is involved when an intruder is found in a large department store just after it closes.

Countercrime

1968

Doctor Who: The Web of Fear poster
7.7

The TARDIS narrowly avoids becoming engulfed in a cobwebby substance in space. It arrives in the London Underground railway system, the tunnels of which are being overrun by the web and by the Great Intelligence's robot Yeti. The time travellers learn this crisis was precipitated when Professor Travers, whom they first met in the Himalayas some thirty years earlier, accidentally caused one of the Yeti to be reactivated, opening the way for the Intelligence to invade again.

Doctor Who: The Web of Fear

1968

No artwork available
NR

Play adapted from the diary of Eamonn Dunphy, the ex-Milwall and Ireland footballer. With a new season and a promising team, professional footballer Willy Hutchison has a chance of promotion to Division One The dreams and dramas behind an unfashionable football team's struggle for success.

Only a Game

1981

Behind the camera

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby poster
7.6

A young, compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his cold-hearted, grasping uncle.

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

2001

Closing Numbers poster
4.7

Keith, Anna and their son Peter are a close, loving family living in a smart suburban street of a provincial city. Anna is a typical middle-class housewife, filling her day with good works, until one day, when she finds a note that leads to a shattering discovery - her husband has been having an affair. Anna's intense shock at finding out Keith's secret is compounded when she arranges to meet his lover. When Steve arrives at the meeting place, Anna is forced to accept the fact that Keith has been leading a double life for the length of their marriage. Steve stresses the risk of AIDS and urges Anna to have an AIDS test. To show her what it can be like to live with the disease, he introduces her to Jim, who needs 24-hour care and has developed a realistic attitude towards his own death. When Keith leaves home suddenly, Anna is forced to tell her son about the threat of HIV, but Peter turns violently against her and runs away.

Closing Numbers

1993

No artwork available
3.7

Yaasin, a policeman from Tangier who has almost become an alcoholic, spends most of his time in an exclusive brothel. Several characters arrive in the city at the same time: the millionaire Eric Burns; the German woman Eva Miller who, with her little daughter Gudrun, makes herself a living by doing frauds and small thefts; the smart gangster Rustum Wadi who is looking for a talisman that at that moment is in the hands of Andrews, a homosexual British collector. Yaasin is supposed to protect Burns, but when Andrew's corpse appears the case takes an unexpected turn.

Tangier Cop

1997

Sons & Lovers poster
6.0

Filmmaker Stephen Whittaker adapts author D.H. Lawrence's simmering tale of sex, love, and family. In the years leading up to World War I, the problems faced by many families were uncannily similar to the issues that mankind would still be struggling with nearly a century later. Human relationships remain as fragile as ever, and the only constant in life seems to be a humbling sense of uncertainty. Sarah Lancashire stars in a drama detailing the anguish of first love, and the awkward confusion of first sex.

Sons & Lovers

2003

The Rocket Post poster
5.4

Switch off and enjoy the beautiful scenery of Scotland. Based on fact, this film will take you on a journey of love amidst spectacular scenery. The Rocket Post will give a convincing portrayal of island life, beliefs and culture of the time A definite for those who have even the tiniest drop of Scottish blood..... as it will tug at the heart strings and stir the soul. Something that can be shared with the family and watched time and time again..................a real classic, one that I am sure will walk alongside some of the great films that never die.

The Rocket Post

2004

No artwork available
8.0

The 1998 dramatization of a 1970s UK miscarriage of justice, centered around Stefan Khizcho, and his mother's subsequent battle for his freedom.

A Life for a Life

1998

Killing Me Softly poster
4.3

Sara Thornton was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of the 1989 murder of her violent and alcoholic husband. Thornton never denied the killing, but claimed it had been an accident during an argument.

Killing Me Softly

1996

Love Birds poster
NR

Barbara and Naseem are in the same hospital, having babies. They make friends. But the celebrations of their husbands, Kenny and Quereshi, 'Jimmy', lead to a headlong chase, with crazy mix-ups, collisions and brushes with the law

Love Birds

1988

Stone, Scissors, Paper poster
10.0

Jean moves to a riverside cottage in an effort to escape her violent husband. There she meets Redfern, a married stonemason, with whom she forms a relationship.

Stone, Scissors, Paper

1997

Stone Cold poster
3.8

A young boy, tired of his mother's abusive boyfriend, sets out on an adventure to London, meeting a friendly man. But there is fear on the streets and people are missing. Will Link be next?

Stone Cold

1997