Colin Gregg

Gregg's first film was the 1969 documentary Once upon a Time ... .{{cite web |url= http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6cac2282|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160819201815/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6cac2282|url-status= dead|archive-date= August 19, 2016|title= Once upon a Time ... |author= | website= British Film Institute | accessdate= 9 June 2016 }} In 1977, he was the photographer for a series entitled Those We Love to Hate produced by Devon County Educational Television Service for Paignton Zoo's Education Office, including Those We Love to Hate: Bats.{{cite web |url= http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6de332ed|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160819192605/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6de332ed|url-status= dead|archive-date= August 19, 2016|title= Those We Love to Hate: Bats (1977) |author= | website= British Film Institute | accessdate= 9 June 2016 }}

In 1982, Gregg's film Remembrance gave Gary Oldman his film debut. The following year, Gregg directed the BBC's 1983 adaptation of Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, with a cast which included Rosemary Harris, Michael Gough, Kenneth Branagh, and Suzanne Bertish. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, John J. O'Connor began by noting, "Few works of literature would seem to lend themselves less readily to dramatization than Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, but the BBC and Colin Gregg Ltd. have made the effort and the result is very special indeed"; although, he added, "Purists should be warned that changes have been made". He concluded by writing, "Colin Gregg's direction relies openly and rewardingly on the cool distancing manner of Ingmar Bergman in remaining faithful to the tone and mood of Mrs. Woolf. With Alan Shallcross as producer, the admirable dedication of all concerned is apparent throughout."{{cite news |last= O'Connor |first= John J.|title= TV Weekend; Virginia Woolf's 'To The Lighthouse'| url= https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/12/arts/tv-weekend-virginia-woolf-s-to-the-lighthouse.html| date= 12 October 1984|newspaper= The New York Times |location=New York City| accessdate= 9 June 2016 }} To the Lighthouse was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award in the Best Single Drama category in 1984.{{cite web |url= http://awards.bafta.org/award/1984/television/single-drama|title= Television: Single Drama in 1984|author= | website= |publisher= British Academy of Film and Television Arts | accessdate= 11 June 2016 }}{{cite book | author-last= Roberts | author-first= Jerry | title= Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors |publisher= Scarecrow Press|date=5 June 2009| isbn=978-0810863781| page= 661 }}

Gregg directed British drama film Lamb in 1985; it starred Liam Neeson, Hugh O'Conor (in his first film appearance) and Ian Bannen. The film was based on the novel by Bernard MacLaverty, who also wrote the screenplay, and won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1986 Locarno International Film Festival. In 1988, Gregg worked with Gary Oldman again in We Think the World of You, which also starred Alan Bates. It was adapted from J. R. Ackerley's novel of the same name.{{cite news |last= French |first= Philip |title= My Dog Tulip – review |url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/may/01/my-dog-tulip-review| date= 6 July 2014|newspaper= The Observer |location=London| accessdate= 10 June 2016 }}

He directed the first two episodes of Kavanagh QC, "Nothing but the Truth" and "Heartland", in 1995, as well as the episode "A Sense of Loss" in the following year's Series 2.

The 1996 television St George advertisement for the British drink Blackcurrant Tango, which was directed by Gregg, won several awards,{{cite news |last= Macdonald |first= Marianne |title= Tango advert is flavour of the year|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/tango-advert-is-flavour-of-the-year-1270928.html| date= 4 March 1997|newspaper= The Independent |location=London| accessdate=10 June 2016 }}{{cite news |last= McCann |first= Paul |title= Purple passion puts Tango on top of the advertising world |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/purple-passion-puts-tango-on-top-of-the-advertising-world-1294728.html| date= 18 November 1997|newspaper= The Independent |location=London| accessdate=10 June 2016 }} including a Cannes Gold Lion and a D&AD silver Pencil, and in 2008 was voted number 2 in the funniest TV adverts of all time in an online poll organised by advertising industry publication Campaign.{{cite news |last= Marrs |first= Colin |title= The top ten funniest TV ads of all time |url= http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/867935/top-ten-funniest-tv-ads-time#| date= 5 December 2008|work= Campaign |location=London| accessdate=10 June 2016 }} It also won the grand prize in the 1997 London International Advertising Awards, but was also one of the top 10 most complained about adverts reported to the Independent Television Commission in 1996, with complainants citing it as 'insulting and xenophobic'.

• {{IMDb name|0339567|name= Colin Gregg}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160306194257/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9fa9b8d0 Colin Gregg] at the British Film Institute

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Category:British film directors

Category:British television directors

Category:1947 births

Category:Living people