Graeme Harper

For other individuals of the same name, see Harper.

Harper, discussing his role in filming The Unicorn and the Wasp on Confidential

Graeme Harper (born 11th March 1945 in London) directed several Doctor Who stories and is unique in being the only director to have directed episodes from the original run of Doctor Who and the revived run. Prior to becoming a director, he was Assistant Floor Manager for Colony in Space, Planet of the Daleks (with John Cook and Sue Hedden), and Planet of the Spiders. He was then Production Assistant for The Seeds of Doom and Warriors' Gate.

He also has an uncredited onscreen appearance in The Brain of Morbius as one of the faces of the Doctor during the mindbending contest.

He has written about his experiences in directing Doctor Who in his book, Calling the Shots, co-written with Adrian Rigelsford.

The "Harper treatment"

Graeme Harper has penchant for including a distorted image of a main character in most (but not all) of the stories he's directed for BBC Wales, often enough for it to be considered something of a directorial "signature". Characters are seen through magnifying glasses in Rise of the Cybermen, Army of Ghosts, The Unicorn and the Wasp, and Utopia, reflected in a series of mirrors in Turn Left, and through a curved window that gives a fish-eye effect in Journey's End.

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  Army of Ghosts

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  42

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  Utopia

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  The Unicorn and the Wasp

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  Turn Left

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  Journey's End

Selected credits

Director

Doctor Who

• Warriors' Gate (uncredited)
• The Caves of Androzani
• Revelation of the Daleks
• Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel
• Army of Ghosts / Doomsday
• 42
• Utopia
• Time Crash
• Planet of the Ood
• The Unicorn and the Wasp
• Turn Left
• The Stolen Earth / Journey's End
• The Waters of Mars

The Sarah Jane Adventures

• Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?
• The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith
• Enemy of the Bane

External links

• Graeme Harper at the Internet Movie Database