Ken Grieve

Ken Grieve (17 March 1942 – 15 November 2016) was a Scottish television director. Originally a cameraman, he moved into directing and began his career with Coronation Street.

Ken Grieve
Born	Kenneth Alan Grieve 17 March 1942 Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Died	15 November 2016 (aged 74) Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Occupation	Director
Spouse(s)	Fiona Grieve (died 2010)
Partner(s)	Jane

Early life and education

Grieve was born and brought up in Edinburgh, the son of Henry Grieve, a plant manager at British Aluminium, and his wife, Lesley, a seamstress. He also had an older brother named Robin. He attended the Edinburgh Academy, where he excelled in geography and history, and won a scholarship to Bryanston School in Dorset.

Career

His first job was as a trainee studio cameraman with Granada Television. He became one of its elite crew, strong and skilled enough to manoeuvre the huge cameras on live pop shows. He later further trained as a director of dramas and documentaries, working on Coronation Street and Crown Court in the mid-1970s.[1] He subsequently directed the 1979 Doctor Who serial Destiny of the Daleks for the BBC,[2] and episodes of The Bill and Peak Practice. In 1988, he shared the direction of Game, Set and Match with Patrick Lau.[3][4] In 2007, he directed the Casualty episode Stormy Weather.

Other work

In 1975, he directed the location footage of Coronation Street that was used for the opening titles until 1990.[5] He recorded a commentary for the DVD of Destiny of the Daleks with actors Lalla Ward and David Gooderson, which was released in 2007.

Personal life

Grieve had four children with his wife, Fiona. They remained together until her death in 2010.

Through working with Douglas Adams on Destiny of the Daleks, they struck up a friendship that would last Adams' lifetime.[6]

In the mid 1990s, Grieve returned to base himself in Edinburgh and lived in Marchmont.[7] In 2009 he was diagnosed with myeloma and had to withdraw from a film production with Hugh Laurie.[7] He mentored young aspiring film makers at the Edinburgh Filmhouse's youth film group Scottish Kids Are Making Movies (SKAMM).[8][9][10]

Television

Year	Title	Notes
1974 - 1983	Coronation Street	(Various Episodes)
	Crown Court
(?)	The Bill	(Various Episodes)
1976	The XYY Man[11]
	Strangers
	Bulman
1979	Doctor Who : Destiny of the Daleks
1979	The Omega Factor
1980	Buccaneer
1983	Chessgame	Only one episode was made
1985	The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes	"The Norwood Builder"[12]
1988	Game, Set and Match
1990	Bergerac	"Entente Cordiale" and "Diplomatic Incident"
1992	Moon and Son	"Star of Fortune", "GI Joe Is Missing"
1993	Agatha Christie's Poirot	"Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan", "The Chocolate Box"
1995	Bugs	Five Episodes
1997	Peak Practice
1997 - 1998	Cadfael	"The Raven in the Foregate", "The Holy Thief" and "The Pilgrim of Hate"
2005	The Royal	"It's What's on the Inside that Counts", "Dutybound"
2007	Casualty	"Stormy Weather"
2010	Law and Order:UK	"Community Service"

References

1. "Directors UK - News - Ken Grieve: an appreciation". www.directors.uk.com.
2. "BBC - Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide - Destiny of the Daleks - Details". www.bbc.co.uk.
3. Wilks, Carol (29 December 2016). "Ken Grieve obituary". the Guardian.
4. Howlett, John (24 February 2017). "Letter: Ken Grieve's encounter with the Stasi". the Guardian.
5. Mark (27 November 2016). "So It Goes...: RIP Ken Grieve".
6. "Obituary - Ken Grieve, Scots director who worked on Doctor Who and Coronation Street's opening titles". HeraldScotland.
7. "Transcript Ken Grieve - Southsiders". www.edinburghsouthsiders.co.uk.
8. "Final exam" (PDF). skammblog.files.wordpress.com. 2012.
9. "Annual report" (PDF). skammblog.files.wordpress.com. 2012.
10. "Ken Grieve".
11. Dfordoom (3 August 2014). "Cult TV Lounge: The XYY Man, season one (1976)".
12. "The Norwood Builder" – via www.imdb.com.

External links

• Ken Grieve at IMDb