Stephen Poliakoff

Writer

December 1, 1952 (73 years)

Holland Park, London, England

Biography

Stephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL (born 1 December 1952) is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, widely judged amongst Britain's foremost television dramatists.

Filmography

6.6

Play for Today

Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.

7.1

Screen Two

Series of single made-for-television dramas.

7.0

Playhouse

A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.

6.0

Plays for Britain

An anthology series of six contemporary plays from writers at relatively early stages in their careers.

6.7

Dancing on the Edge

An explosive 1930s drama following a jazz band in London at a time of huge change.

5.1

Close to the Enemy

A British intelligence officer has to ensure that a captured German scientist helps the British develop jet aircraft.

6.0

Glorious 39

A mysterious tale set around a traditional British family on the eve of World War Two. Oblivious to the looming shadow of World War II, the wealthy Keyes maintain a confident façade in the British countryside until daughter Anne becomes an unexpected pawn. Her accidental discovery of secret recordings creates a rift in the family.

7.2

The Lost Prince

The life of Prince John, youngest child of Britain's King George V and Queen Mary, who died at the age of 13 in 1919.

6.6

Summer of Rockets

Samuel, a Russian-born Jewish inventor who specialises in the development of hearing aids, is tasked with a secret mission by MI5 to use his technological expertise to contribute to western Cold War efforts. Following the tensions of the space race and the first hydrogen bomb test, Samuel's efforts factor in to the emergence of the modern world.

6.6

Perfect Strangers

Daniel Symon comes face to face with his extended family – a cadre of eccentrics, all of whom hiding their own secrets. At a reunion, patriarch Raymond is presented with a copy of the family tree and is enthralled by the complexity of his family ties.

5.8

Close My Eyes

After some years of tension, Richard begins a sexual relationship with his sister Natalie. Now married, the relationship proves dangerously obsessional.

7.1

Shooting the Past

A US property developer realises that he has a battle on his hands when he tries to renovate a London building containing a vast photographic collection and discovers that the library employees will resort to anything to thwart him.

5.0

The Tribe

Property developer Jamie has to evict some weird, post-modern hippies from a building. But they slowly drag him into their dark underworld of bizarre rituals and dangerous liaisons.

5.9

Joe's Palace

A drama centered on the relationship between Elliot, a strange and wealthy Londoner, and Joe, a teenager who takes care of an empty house Elliot owns.

5.4

Runners

When his young daughter disappears, her father refuses to accept that she is dead and sets out on a journey to find her.

6.5

Bloody Kids

Two boys pull a Saturday night prank on the police in a seaside British town.

6.3

Capturing Mary

A young man ushers an older woman into a dark exploration of her past - back to the time when, as a young girl, she met a stranger who affected her life forever.

10.0

Soft Targets

Stephen Poliakoff's parody of the spy-thriller genre. A Russian diplomat becomes convinced that he is at the centre of a Foreign Office plot.

5.4

Hidden City

Cassies Stuart leads the uncooperative Charles Dance into a world of misplaces government secrets, capalistic artists and bungling secret agents. Will the truth be out, or will the attempts of agents suppress the truth hidden within government propaganda films, classified as top secret by complete mistake, be successful. Or is it the mysterious medical records that are the true catch of the spies.

8.0

Astonish Me

When a young boy gets locked in the Natural History Museum after closing, a mysterious guard gives him a magical ticket that allows him to visit a restricted area of the museum, where a professor and a guide show him examples of the wondrous new species of animals being discovered every day on Earth.