Keith Boak

Keith Boak is a British film and television director, best known for his work on several popular continuing drama series.[1][2] He currently resides and works in the United States.

Keith Boak
Born
Edinburgh, Scotland
Alma materUniversity of Bristol
OccupationDirector
Years active1993 – present

Early life

Born in Edinburgh, he attended the John Hampden High School, High Wycombe and graduated in law at the University of Bristol in 1984.

His career began in the theatre, directing 'In Nomine Patris' by Paula Maggee which won a Scotsman Fringe First Award at the 1985 Edinburgh Festival and transferred to the Kings Head Theatre, London. He subsequently trained as an Assistant Director at Riverside Studios under David Gothard running a writer's group with Hanif Kureishi and directing new work by Stephen Lowe, Tunde Ikoli and Dario Fo, assisting on productions with Paines Plough, Foco Novo, the Royal National Theatre and the Theatre of Comedy Company.

Appointed Assistant Director at the Royal Court in 1986 under Max Stafford Clark, he assisted Sir Richard Eyre on Alan Bennett's 'Kafka's Dick', Jonathan Miller on Ryszard Kapuściński's 'The Emperor' and Danny Boyle on Howard Barker's 'Bite of the Night'.

He directed Berkoff's 'East' and the first stage production of Anthony Burgess' 'Clockwork Orange' at Edinburgh Festival, 'Requiem' with the dancer Gaby Agis at Leicester Haymarket, 'Milkwood Blues' with Allan Corduner at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, Jean-Claude van Itallie's 'The Traveller' with David Threlfall at the Almeida Theatre and Heidi Thomas' 'Indigo' with Dougray Scott also at the Almeida. Other theatre credits include 'Crimes of Passion' at Leicester Haymarket, 'Water Music' at the Soho Theatre and 'Jitterbugger' at the Royal National Theatre Studio.

Career

Boak was the first director on the widely acclaimed BBC revival of the classic science fiction series Doctor Who (BAFTA Award for Best TV Drama Series in 2005), directing the episodes "Rose", "Aliens of London" and "World War Three".[3][4] For C4, he directed in New York City and London for the transatlantic series NY-LON and his first film Impact Earth was broadcast on Discovery Channel/C4 in 2008.[5]

His extensive TV directing credits include Village by the Sea (from Anita Desai's novel in Sri Lanka), Case Histories, Silent Witness, Hotel Babylon, Strictly Confidential, Death in Paradise, New Tricks, Thieftakers, City Central, London's Burning, Waterloo Road, The Knock, True or False, Pie in the Sky, Sunburn, Out of the Blue, Staying Alive, Wokenwell, Merseybeat, The Bill, Holby City, Casualty, Eastenders, and the single drama Substance.

He directed the documentary Running the Bulls and six short films for C4, including These Colours Don't Run (with John Hannah), Fist of the Dragonfly (with Simon Russell Beale and Burt Kwouk), After the Party (with Jemma Redgrave and Morag Hood), Nightclub, The Return of Neville Dead, and The Loser (with Phil Daniels and Sean Bean).

In 2012, Boak directed the cybercrime film Companies Like Yours for The Edge Picture Company. That year, it won the IVCA Award for Best Director and two Best Film Gold Awards at the New York International Film and Television Festival.

In the United States, Boak has directed multiple episodes of Turn: Washington's Spies for the AMC Network, Rectify for the Sundance Channel, and Outsiders for WGN America.

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role(s) Notes
1993-94 EastEnders Director 15 episodes
1994-95 The Bill Director 6 episodes
1995 Thieftakers Director
1996 Out of the Blue Director 2 episodes
Pie in the Sky Director 2 episodes
1997 Wokenwell Director 2 episodes
1998 City Central Director 2 episodes
1999 Harbour Lights Director 4 episodes
2000 The Knock Director
Sunburn Director
2001/03 Mersey Beat Director 3 episodes
2001-04 Holby City Director 12 episodes
2003 The Royal Director 3 episodes
2004 NY-LON Director Episode: "Something About Chemicals"
2005 Doctor Who Director 3 episodes
2006 Hotel Babylon Director 2 episodes
Strictly Confidential Director
2008 Casualty Director 2 episodes
2009 Waterloo Road Director 2 episodes
2011-16 Silent Witness Director 6 episodes
2013 Death in Paradise Director 2 episodes
Case Histories Director Episode: "Jackson and the Women"
2014 New Tricks Director 2 episodes
2015-17 Turn: Washington's Spies[6] Director 4 episodes
2018 Krypton Director 1 episode
2019 For the People[7] Director 1 episode

Film
Year Title Role(s) Notes
1990 The Loser Director, producer Short Film
2007 Futureshock: Comet Director TV movie
2014 Amendment Director Short Film

References
  1. "Waterloo Road". YouTube. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  2. "New Tricks". BBC One. BBC. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  3. Jeffery, Morgan (19 September 2019). "Christopher Eccleston says he'd "still be playing the Doctor now" if THIS one thing had been different". Radio Times. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  4. Meegan, Danny (2020-09-04). "Doctor Who: 10 Behind The Scenes Bust-Ups BBC Doesn't Want You To Know". WhatCulture.com. Retrieved 2021-09-20.
  5. "Keith Boak". BFI. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  6. "Turn: Washington's Spies". Rotten Tomatoes. 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  7. "For the People". Rotten Tomatoes. 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
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