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'''Waris Hussein''' directed ''[[An Unearthly Child]]'', the first broadcast ''[[Doctor Who]]'' television story. He also directed all but one of the seven episodes of ''[[Marco Polo (TV story)|Marco Polo]]''.
{{Infobox Person
|image          = Waris Hussein AAISAT.jpg
|birth date    = [[9 December (people)|9 December]] [[1938 (people)|1938]]
|job title      = [[Director (crew)|Director]]
|story          = ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'', ''[[Marco Polo (TV story)|Marco Polo]]''
|time          = 1963-1964
|non dwu        = ''Compact'', ''The Indian Tales of [[Rudyard Kipling]]'', ''Thirteen Against Fate'', ''A Touch of Love'', ''[[Henry VIII]] and his Six Wives'', ''Edward & Mrs. Simpson''
|imdb          = 0404014
|clip          = LGBTQ In The Worlds Of Doctor Who - Doctor Who The Fan Show
}}
'''Waris Hussein''' (born [[9 December (people)|9 December]] [[1938 (people)|1938]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/bbcdoctorwho/status/807132763098939392|title=Many happy returns to Waris Hussein, the director of An Unearthly Child, the first ever episode of #DoctorWho!|author=Doctor Who Official|website name=Twitter|date of source=9 December 2016|accessdate=14 December 2016}}</ref> as Waris Habibullah) [[Director (crew)|directed]] ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'', the first ''[[Doctor Who]]'' television story broadcast. He also directed episodes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 of ''[[Marco Polo (TV story)|Marco Polo]]''.


==Biography==
== Personal life ==
Waris Hussein was born on [[9th December]] [[1938]] in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, [[India]], moving with his parents to [[London]] when he was 9 years old. He attended [[Cambridge]] and worked as a trainee at the [[BBC]], where his mother, Attia Hussein, was a newsreader and dramatic star. When he became a [[director]], he was the first Asian [[BBC Drama]] director there'd ever been. According the Waris, he had to put up with a lot of "innuendo" and gossip about how he'd got to do what he was doing. He could feel himself being stared at and it made him determined not to fail.
Waris Hussein was born in {{w|Lucknow}}, {{w|Uttar Pradesh}}, [[India]].<ref>https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=warishussein</ref><ref name="DWMWaris">[[DWM 345]]</ref> He moved to [[London]] with his parents when he was nine. He attended [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]].


He was crucial to the casting of [[William Hartnell]] as [[the Doctor]], and he felt Bill had the eccentric quality that they needed for the part. Waris was part of the group that went for lunch with him, to try and convince him to accept the role. When he first met Bill, he felt terrible because he thought Bill was a ''"...very opinionated man - that is, prejudiced"'', and he felt he was looked down upon because he was an Asian "kid", although none of this was spoken between them. Later Waris got on very well with Bill.
After his time at Cambridge, he studied stage design at Slade School of Fine Art<ref name="DWMWaris" /> and then worked as a trainee at the [[BBC]], where his mother, Attia Hussein, was a newsreader and dramatic star. When he became a [[Director (crew)|director]], he was the first [[Asia]]n BBC Drama director. According to Hussein, he had to put up with a lot of "innuendo and gossip" about how he got to do what he was doing<ref name="DWMWaris" />. As a result of this, Hussein pushed himself harder in his directorial work and maintained his determination.


Waris was a very close friend of [[Wikipedia:Diane Cilento|Diane Cilento]] (former wife of [[Wikipedia:Sean Connery|Sean Connery]]) and met Sean just after ''Dr. No'' had been released.
Waris was a very close friend of {{w|Diane Cilento}} (former wife of [[Sean Connery]]) and met Connery just after ''Dr. No'' had been released.


He was director of [[the Pilot Episode]], which had many differences to the final version. After [[Sydney Newman]] saw the pilot, he took Waris and [[Verity Lambert]] ([[producer]]) out to dinner, told them he thought it was terrible, and gave them another chance at the episode, so they went and made ''[[An Unearthly Child]]''. Waris tried to forget the pilot, as he thought it was so terrible that people would fall asleep while watching it.
Hussein is gay, and lost a partner to AIDS in the 1980s.<ref>https://twitter.com/dwthefanshow/status/891237129333874689</ref>


His next Doctor Who association was in the story ''[[Marco Polo (TV story)|Marco Polo]]'', in which he directed six of the seven episodes. He had a self-proclaimed strange imagination and, in one of the scenes, wanted to have a dwarf on an actor's shoulder, which was eventually substituted with a spider-monkey.
== Work on ''Doctor Who'' ==
He was crucial to the casting of [[William Hartnell]] as [[the Doctor]]. He felt Hartnell had the eccentric and powerful quality required for the part. Waris was one of the group that went for lunch with him to try to convince him to accept the role. When he first met Hartnell, he felt terrible because he was under the impression that Hartnell was "a very opinionated man — that is, prejudiced"<ref name="DWMWaris" />, and he felt he was looked down upon because he was an Asian "kid". However, none of this was spoken between them and first impressions notwithstanding, Hussein eventually got on very well with Hartnell.


==Other credits==
He was the director of [[The Pilot Episode|the pilot episode]], which was very different from the final version. After [[Sydney Newman]] saw the pilot, he took Waris and [[producer]] [[Verity Lambert]] to dinner, told them he thought it was terrible and gave them another chance at the episode. They made ''[[An Unearthly Child (TV story)|An Unearthly Child]]'' together. Waris tried to forget the pilot, as he thought it was so terrible that people would fall asleep while watching it.
In addition to his work on ''[[Doctor Who]]'', Hussein has also directed the theatrical films, ''Henry VIII and His Six Wives'' ([[1972]]), ''The Possession of Joel Delaney'' (1972), the television movies ''Daphne Laureola'' ([[1978]]), ''Little Gloria... Happy at Last'' ([[1982]]), ''Princess Daisy'' ([[1983]]), ''The Winter of Our Discontent'' (1983), ''Copacabana'' ([[1985]]), ''The Face on the Milk Carton'' ([[1995]]), and ''Her Best Friend's Husband'' ([[2002]]), among others. He has also written the television movies ''Days in the Trees'' ([[1967]]) and ''St. Joan'' ([[1968]]). Prior to his career behind the camera, Mr. Hussein had one acting credit, appearing in an episode of ''Corrigan Blake'' in [[1962]].


Mr. Hussein continues to direct and produce in the [[UK]], the [[US]], and his native [[India]].
His next ''Doctor Who'' association was with the story ''[[Marco Polo (TV story)|Marco Polo]]'', for which he directed six of the seven episodes ([[John Crockett]] directed episode 4 to give Hussein a break). He claimed he had a strange imagination and, in one of the scenes, wanted to have a dwarf on an actor's shoulder. In the end, a [[spider monkey]] was used.
 
=== Contributions to retrospectives ===
He shared his memories of his Doctor Who career in the documentary ''[[Doctor Who: Origins (documentary)|Origins]]'', the audio commentary for the DVD release of ''An Unearthly Child'' and [[THWR 6|the 6th]] and [[THWR 103|103rd editions]] of [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]]'s charity podcast series ''[[Toby Hadoke's Who's Round]]''.
 
=== Dramatic depiction ===
In ''[[An Adventure in Space and Time (TV story)|An Adventure in Space and Time]]'', Hussein was played by [[Sacha Dhawan]]. In this docudrama, it was said that he left to direct ''A Passage to India'', when in fact he directed ''The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling''.
 
== Other credits ==
Hussein directed the theatrical films ''Henry VIII and His Six Wives'' (1972), ''The Possession of Joel Delaney'' (1972), the television movies ''Daphne Laureola'' (1978), ''Little Gloria... Happy at Last'' (1982), ''Princess Daisy'' (1983), ''The Winter of Our Discontent'' (1983), ''Copacabana'' (1985), ''The Shell Seekers'' (1989), ''The Face on the Milk Carton'' (1995) and ''Her Best Friend's Husband'' (2002), among others. He has also written the television movies ''Days in the Trees'' (1967) and ''St. Joan'' (1968). Before he moved behind the camera, Hussein had one acting credit, appearing in an episode of ''Corrigan Blake'' in 1962.
 
Hussein continues to direct and produce in the [[United Kingdom|UK]], the [[United States of America|USA]] and in his native [[India]].
 
== Documentary appearances ==
 
* ''[[Doctor Who: Origins (documentary)|Doctor Who: Origins]]''
* ''[[Over the Edge: The Story of "The Edge of Destruction" (documentary)|Over the Edge]]''
* ''[[Inside the Spaceship: The Story of the TARDIS (documentary)|Inside the Spaceship]]''
 
''to be completed''
 
== External links ==
{{imdb name|id=0404014}}
 
== Footnotes ==


==External links==
*{{imdb name|id=0404014|name=Waris Hussein}}
{{NameSort}}
{{NameSort}}


[[Category:Doctor Who directors|Hussein, Waris]]
{{reflist}}
[[cs:Waris Hussein]]
 
[[Category:Doctor Who directors]]
[[Category:BAFTA award winners]]
[[Category:Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:Directors interviewed on Toby Hadoke's Who's Round]]
[[Category:Directors interviewed on Doctor Who Confidential]]
[[Category:People interviewed on The Fan Show]]
[[Category:Television directors]]

Latest revision as of 20:12, 3 November 2024

RealWorld.png

Waris Hussein (born 9 December 1938[1] as Waris Habibullah) directed An Unearthly Child, the first Doctor Who television story broadcast. He also directed episodes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7 of Marco Polo.

Personal life[[edit] | [edit source]]

Waris Hussein was born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.[2][3] He moved to London with his parents when he was nine. He attended Cambridge.

After his time at Cambridge, he studied stage design at Slade School of Fine Art[3] and then worked as a trainee at the BBC, where his mother, Attia Hussein, was a newsreader and dramatic star. When he became a director, he was the first Asian BBC Drama director. According to Hussein, he had to put up with a lot of "innuendo and gossip" about how he got to do what he was doing[3]. As a result of this, Hussein pushed himself harder in his directorial work and maintained his determination.

Waris was a very close friend of Diane Cilento (former wife of Sean Connery) and met Connery just after Dr. No had been released.

Hussein is gay, and lost a partner to AIDS in the 1980s.[4]

Work on Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]

He was crucial to the casting of William Hartnell as the Doctor. He felt Hartnell had the eccentric and powerful quality required for the part. Waris was one of the group that went for lunch with him to try to convince him to accept the role. When he first met Hartnell, he felt terrible because he was under the impression that Hartnell was "a very opinionated man — that is, prejudiced"[3], and he felt he was looked down upon because he was an Asian "kid". However, none of this was spoken between them and first impressions notwithstanding, Hussein eventually got on very well with Hartnell.

He was the director of the pilot episode, which was very different from the final version. After Sydney Newman saw the pilot, he took Waris and producer Verity Lambert to dinner, told them he thought it was terrible and gave them another chance at the episode. They made An Unearthly Child together. Waris tried to forget the pilot, as he thought it was so terrible that people would fall asleep while watching it.

His next Doctor Who association was with the story Marco Polo, for which he directed six of the seven episodes (John Crockett directed episode 4 to give Hussein a break). He claimed he had a strange imagination and, in one of the scenes, wanted to have a dwarf on an actor's shoulder. In the end, a spider monkey was used.

Contributions to retrospectives[[edit] | [edit source]]

He shared his memories of his Doctor Who career in the documentary Origins, the audio commentary for the DVD release of An Unearthly Child and the 6th and 103rd editions of Big Finish's charity podcast series Toby Hadoke's Who's Round.

Dramatic depiction[[edit] | [edit source]]

In An Adventure in Space and Time, Hussein was played by Sacha Dhawan. In this docudrama, it was said that he left to direct A Passage to India, when in fact he directed The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling.

Other credits[[edit] | [edit source]]

Hussein directed the theatrical films Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), The Possession of Joel Delaney (1972), the television movies Daphne Laureola (1978), Little Gloria... Happy at Last (1982), Princess Daisy (1983), The Winter of Our Discontent (1983), Copacabana (1985), The Shell Seekers (1989), The Face on the Milk Carton (1995) and Her Best Friend's Husband (2002), among others. He has also written the television movies Days in the Trees (1967) and St. Joan (1968). Before he moved behind the camera, Hussein had one acting credit, appearing in an episode of Corrigan Blake in 1962.

Hussein continues to direct and produce in the UK, the USA and in his native India.

Documentary appearances[[edit] | [edit source]]

to be completed

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ Doctor Who Official (9 December 2016). Many happy returns to Waris Hussein, the director of An Unearthly Child, the first ever episode of #DoctorWho!. Twitter. Retrieved on 14 December 2016.
  2. ↑ https://guide.doctorwhonews.net/person.php?name=warishussein
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 DWM 345
  4. ↑ https://twitter.com/dwthefanshow/status/891237129333874689
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