Geoff Posner

Geoff Posner
Born	Geoffrey Harold Posner (1949-07-07) 7 July 1949 (age 76)
Occupations	Television producer, director
Years active	1981–present

Geoffrey Harold Posner (born 7 July 1949) is a British television producer and director.^[1] Posner has directed and produced some of Britain's most successful comedy shows since the early 1980s.

Career

Starting off as a director on the satirical show Not the Nine O'Clock News, he also directed Revolting Women for BBC Manchester in 1981, a sketch show featuring amongst others Jeni Barnett and Linda Broughton, and in 1982 went on to direct the groundbreaking BBC2 anti-sitcom The Young Ones. Working also as an assistant producer on that show, he went on to produce in the same year the unaired pilot of the Rowan Atkinson historical sitcom Blackadder. One of his biggest successes came in 1985, when he produced and directed the multi-award-winning Victoria Wood As Seen On TV, a sketch show written by (and starring) the comedian.^[2]

Posner has since produced and directed some of the most popular British television comedies of the 1990s and 2000s. They include Harry Enfield's Television Programme, French & Saunders, Paul Calf's Video Diaries, and dinnerladies. More recently, he was one of the TV directors covering the Live 8 concert. He was also producer of the second and third series of Little Britain.^[3][4]

His shows have won six BAFTA awards and been nominated for another seven.^{[citation needed]}

Posner formed Pozzitive Television with fellow TV producer David Tyler in 1992.^[5]

Posner also directed the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest in Birmingham and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Concert in 2012.

He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex in 2016.^[6]

Television productions

• Revolting Women, director, episode one, 1981
• Top of the Pops, director, five episodes, 1980-1981^[7]
• Not the Nine O'Clock News, director, series 4, 1982^{[citation needed]}
• Blackadder, director, pilot, 1982^[8]
• Blankety Blank, director, one episode, 1982^{[citation needed]}
• The Young Ones, director, 1982^[9]
• Carrott's Lib, director, 1982 - 1983^{[citation needed]}
• The Lenny Henry Show, director, 1984-1988^[10]
• Madness The Pilot, director, TV short, 1984^{[citation needed]}
• Lenny Henry Tonite, director, 1986^[11]
• French and Saunders, director, 1987-1988^[12]
• The Robbie Coltrane Special, director, 1989^{[citation needed]}
• Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, director/producer, 1989^[13]
• John Sessions' Tall Tales, director, 1991^[14]
• Josie, director, 1991^[15]
• Paul Merton: The Series, director, 1991^{[citation needed]}
• Harry Enfield's Television Programme, director, 1992^[16]
• Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast, director, 1992^{[citation needed]}
• It's A Mad World, World, World, World, director, 1994^{[citation needed]}
• Paul Calf's Video Diary, director / producer, 1994^{[citation needed]}
• Victoria Wood: Live In Your Own Home, director/ producer, 1994^[17]
• A Christmas Night With the Stars, director, 1994^{[citation needed]}
• Pauline Calf's Wedding Video, director/ producer, 1994^[18]
• Coogan's Run, director/ producer, 1995^[19]
• The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon, director/ producer, 1997^[20]
• Harry Enfield and Chums, director/ producer, 1997^[21]
• Victoria Wood: Live, director/ producer, 1997^{[citation needed]}
• Eurovision Song Contest 1998, director, 1998^{[citation needed]}
• Stephen Fry's Live From The Lighthouse, director/ producer, 1998^{[citation needed]}
• Steve Coogan: The Man Who Thinks He's It, director/ producer, 1998^{[citation needed]}
• dinnerladies, director/ producer, 1998-2000^[22]
• tlc, director/ producer, 2002^[23]
• The Prince's Trust 30th Birthday: Live, director/ producer, 2006^{[citation needed]}
• Little Britain series 2 and 3, director/ producer, 2004-2006^{[citation needed]}
• Music Hall Meltdown, director/ producer, 2007^[24]
• Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off... to Glastonbury, director/producer, 2007^{[citation needed]}
• Marcus Brigstocke: Planet Corduroy, director/producer, 2007^{[citation needed]}
• Saturday Live Again, director/ producer, 2007^{[citation needed]}
• Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, 'The Aftermath', director, 2009^{[citation needed]}
• Big Top, director/ producer, 2009^[25]
• The Angina Monologues, director/ producer, 2010^{[citation needed]}
• The One Ronnie, director/ producer, 2010^[26]
• Come Fly With Me, producer, 2010-2011^{[citation needed]}
• The One Griff Rhys Jones, director/ producer, 2012^{[citation needed]}
• Catherine Tate's Nan, director/ producer, 2014-2015^{[citation needed]}
• Victoria Wood: From Soup to Nuts, executive producer, 2018^[27]

Other work

Posner also produced and directed a number of live events, including the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, and the Jubilee Gala 2013.

Notable awards and nominations

• Carrott's Lib, BAFTA, Best Light Entertainment Programme - winner, 1984^[28]
• Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, BAFTA, Best Light Entertainment Programme - winner, 1986^[29]
• Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, BAFTA, Best Light Entertainment Programme - winner, 1987^[30] a
• Victoria Wood on TV, BAFTA, Best Light Entertainment Programme - winner, 1988^[31]
• French and Saunders, BAFTA, Best Light Entertainment Programme - nominated, 1989^[32]
• The Lenny Henry Show, BAFTA, Best Light Entertainment Programme - nominated, 1989^[32]
• Harry Enfield's Television Programme, BAFTA, Best Light Entertainment Programme - nominated, 1993^[33]
• Pauline Calf's Wedding Video (as Three Fights, Two Weddings, and a Funeral), BAFTA, Best Television Comedy - winner, 1995^[34]
• dinnerladies, BAFTA, Television Comedy - nominated, 1999^[35]
• Eurovision Song Contest, Best Live Outside Broadcast Coverage - nominated, 1999^[36]
• dinnerladies, BAFTA, Situation Comedy - nominated, 2000^[37]

References

1. "Search The Collection". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
2. Brandwood, Neil (2002). Victoria Wood – The Biography (1st ed.). London: Boxtree. ISBN 1-85227-982-6.
3. "Little Britain TV Series Two". davidwalliamsfans.com. Archived from the original on 2007-04-09. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
4. "Little Britain TV Series Three". davidwalliamsfans.com. Archived from the original on 2008-02-03. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
5. Comedy, Pozzitive. "Pozzitive: Welcome to Pozzitive". pozzitive.co.uk.
6. "Graduation 2016 at the University of Essex". University of Essex. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
7. "Top of the Pops[29/01/81] (1981)". BFI.^{[dead link]}
8. Posner, Geoff (April 23, 2016). "'I felt spoiled to be there.' Geoff Posner remembers Victoria Wood". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
9. "The accidental humorist". The Independent. November 17, 1995.
10. "The Lenny Henry Show". www.bbc.co.uk.
11. "Lenny Henry Tonite". September 25, 1986. p. 76 – via BBC Genome.
12. "BFI Screenonline: French and Saunders (1987-)". www.screenonline.org.uk.
13. Ashfield (June 2018), Steve. "Victoria Wood As Seen on TV". Television Heaven.
14. "John Sessions's Tall Tales". September 15, 1991. p. 52 – via BBC Genome.
15. "Josie[08/05/91] (1991)". BFI.^{[dead link]}
16. "Harry Enfield's Television Programme (1992)". BFI.^{[dead link]}
17. "Victoria Wood: Live in Your Own Home (1994)". BFI.^{[dead link]}
18. "Three Fights, Two Weddings and a Funeral Pauline Calf's Wedding Video (1994)". BFI. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019.
19. "Coogan's Run". www.bbc.co.uk.
20. Guide, British Comedy. "The Tony Ferrino Phenomenon - BBC2 Comedy". British Comedy Guide.
21. "The New Harry Enfield & Chums". bbfc.co.uk.^{[dead link]}
22. Guide, British Comedy. "Geoff Posner". British Comedy Guide.
23. Deans, Jason (April 8, 2002). "TLC to inject humour into the NHS". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
24. "BBC Four - Music Hall Meltdown". BBC.
25. Guide, British Comedy. "Big Top - BBC1 Sitcom". British Comedy Guide.
26. "BBC One - The Ones, Series 1, The One Ronnie". BBC.
27. "BBC Radio 4 - Victoria Wood - From Soup to Nuts, From Soup..." BBC.
28. "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
29. "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
30. "1987 Television Light Entertainment Programme | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
31. "1988 Television Light Entertainment Programme | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
32. "1989 Television Light Entertainment Programme | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
33. "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
34. "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
35. "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
36. "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
37. "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.

External links

• Geoff Posner at the BBC Programme Catalogue^{[permanent dead link]}
• Geoff Posner at IMDb