Published on: 22 January 2018 in Industry

Remembering Paul Annett

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We were saddened to hear of the passing in late 2017 of Paul Annett, a film and TV director and Directors UK member. Annett directed the original Poldark BBC series, alongside several other programmes and feature films. 

Paul Annett was born in Kensington in 1937. He started by working as a cameraman on several shows, including Emergency – Ward 10, where he met the actor Margo Andrew (The Avengers). The two were wed in 1964. 

Paul began his directing career towards the end of the 60s, directing several episodes of The Worker (1969) starring Charlie Drake, and the police drama Fraud Squad (1969). He also directed the TV movie documentary The Battle for the Battle of Britain, featuring Michael Caine

The seventies saw a foray into feature film, with the horror mystery The Beast Must Die released in 1974, starring Calvin Lockhart and Peter Cushing (pictured above). But Annett continued to make a name for himself in television, and in 1975 directed several episodes of Poldark for the BBC. The World War Two drama Secret Army (1977) and Agatha Christie mystery Partners in Crime (1983) came soon after.

Annett continued to work in television throughout the eighties, and the nineties saw him move into some of the UK’s best-known continuing dramas. Over nearly two decades he directed multiple episodes of Byker Grove (1992), Emmerdale (1995), Grange Hill and EastEnders (both 1998).

Paul Annett passed away on December 11 2017. He is survived by his partner Joseph Burt, his children Chloe and Jamie and their mother Margo. A full obituary can be found on The Times website. 

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