Bob Spiers

Director

September 27, 1945 (63 years)

† December 8, 2008

Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Biography

Robert Alexander "Bob" Spiers (27 September 1945 – 8 December 2008) was a director. He is particularly noted as the director of the early series of Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2001), the musical comedy Spiceworld, and of the second series of Fawlty Towers (1979). He also worked with Steven Moffat on Press Gang and Joking Apart. Spiers won a BAFTA Award twice for his work as a television comedy director.

Filmography

7.6

Absolutely Fabulous

Set in the world of fashion and PR, immature fun-loving mother Edina Monsoon and her best friend Patsy drive Eddie's sensible daughter, Saffron, up the wall with their constant drug abuse and outrageous selfishness. Numerous in-jokes and heavy doses of cruel humour have made this series a cult hit in the UK and abroad.

7.4

The Comic Strip Presents...

The Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, who do parodies of films, literature and sometimes major events.

6.9

Murder Most Horrid

Comedienne Dawn French tackles dark, tongue-in-cheek thrillers as her various characters embark on a different mystery every episode. In one way or another, she is involved with murder — either committing the crime or even getting bumped off herself!

7.3

Are You Being Served?

This comedy series, which follows the exploits of employees at London's fictional "Grace Brothers" department store, is full of sexual innuendo, slapstick, visual gags, and double entendres. Much of the show's humor parodies Britain's class system, and many of the show's characters are based on stereotypes of the period, including the effeminate Mr. Humphries and the rich, but stingy, store owner.

8.3

Fawlty Towers

Owner Basil Fawlty, his wife Sybil, a chambermaid Polly, and Spanish waiter Manuel attempt to run their hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding guests.

7.6

The Goodies

A British television comedy series of the 1970s and early 1980s, combining surreal sketches and situation comedy.

7.4

Dad's Army

Introducing the Walmington-On-Sea home guard. During WW2, in a fictional British seaside town, a ragtag group of Home Guard local defense volunteers prepare for an imminent German invasion.

7.5

Press Gang

The activities of the staff at The Junior Gazette, a children's weekly newspaper produced by a group of school pupils.

7.5

French & Saunders

French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act.

7.9

A Bit of Fry & Laurie

A British comedy television series with turns of phrase and elaborate wordplay, written by and starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

7.9

Bottom

Richie Richard (socially awkward, sexually inexperienced) and Eddie Hitler (carefree alcoholic ) are two social outcasts living on the dole. Trapped together in a squalid flat in Hammersmith, London they are perpetually skint, bored and sexually frustrated. They spend their days scheming, bickering, and being nasty and sadistic to each other.

4.9

Spice World

World famous pop group the Spice Girls zip around London in their luxurious double decker tour bus having various adventures and performing for their fans.

5.0

That Darn Cat

While making his nightly rounds in the neighborhood, Patti's pet cat D.C. finds himself the carrier of a call for help from a kidnap victim. Patti enlists skeptical law enforcement help to find the victim before it's too late.

7.0

Joking Apart

Joking Apart is a BBC television sitcom written by Steven Moffat about the rise and fall of a relationship. It juxtaposes a couple, Mark and Becky, who fall in love and marry, before getting separated and finally divorced. The twelve episodes, broadcast between 1993 and 1995, were directed by Bob Spiers and produced by Andre Ptaszynski for independent production company Pola Jones. The show is semi-autobiographical; it was inspired by the then recent separation of Moffat and his first wife. Some of the episodes in the first series followed a non-linear parallel structure, contrasting the rise of the relationship with the fall. Other episodes were ensemble farces, predominantly including the couple's friends Robert and Tracy. Paul Mark Elliott also appeared as Trevor, Becky's lover.

9.0

The Adventures of Lano and Woodley

The Adventures of Lano and Woodley is an Australian comedy television show starring the comedic duo of Lano and Woodley, consisting of two series which aired on ABC TV from 1997 to 1999. The first series was distributed on VHS and in 2004 The Complete Adventures of Lano and Woodley was released as a 2-disc DVD rather than each series being released separately.

N/A

Up Line

Three alternative comedians get involved in a pyramid-selling organization, Pathway, in order to finance their act. They gain great success by deploying their skills as entertainers, only to eventually discover the sinister purpose behind the Pathway organization.

7.5

Lazarus and Dingwall

Lazarus and Dingwall is a British sitcom starring Stephen Frost and Mark Dingwall as two inept detectives in a pastiche of police dramas. The programme ran for six episodes on BBC Two from 1 February 1 to 8 March 1991. Steve Lazarus and Mark Dingwall are a somewhat unconventional duo in the more than slightly unconventional sector of Really Serious Crimes. Their chief is both eccentric and incompetent, and everyone else is equally oddball, from desk worker and the object of Dingwall's affections, Beverly Armitage, to the plainclothes duo. However, despite their somewhat unique approach, what the department seems to come up trumps more often than not.

7.0

Agony Again

Agony Again is a British sitcom that aired on BBC1 in 1995. Starring Maureen Lipman, it is the sequel to Agony, an ITV sitcom that aired from 1979 to 1981. Agony Again was written by Carl Gorham, Michael Hatt and Amanda Swift.

N/A

Gino: Full Story and Pics

A hoodlum is turned into a celebrity when he steals a cab and subsequent events are blown out of proportion by the media.

7.3

Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout

Eddy and Patsy prepare to go on a skiing holiday to hopefully indulge in the jet-setting lifestyle of the international celebrity elite when Saffy is proposed to by her stuffy, upper-class boyfriend, Paolo. Eddy hits the slopes and has a near death experience where God appears to her and tells her it's not yet her time. When Eddy comes to, she waits for a sign that she should get involved in Saffy's wedding. As she returns to the house, it appears all hell has broken loose- relatives piling up, practically squatting, and Saffy about to lose her mind. Eddy calms her by throwing money at her as they bond together, planning Saffy's dream wedding. What could go wrong?