Andrew Morgan
Born: 1942 (as Andrew Vladimir Rhydwen Morgan)
Episodes Broadcast: 1987-1988
Andrew Morgan was born in Somerset, the son of an actress mother who was
the daughter of acclaimed playwright Ben Travers. He decided to become
an actor himself and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
However, as Morgan related to interviewer Toby Hadoke for the Who's
Round podcast in 2016, a spell in repertory theatre convinced him
that he was destined to be a character actor rather than a leading man.
In search of a more stable income, Morgan became involved in stage
management. In 1968, he secured a holiday replacement position with the
BBC as an assistant floor manager, working on programmes such as
Sherlock Holmes. His position having been made permanent, Morgan
was soon promoted to production assistant, in which capacity he worked
on shows like Who Pays The Ferryman?.
In 1975, Morgan completed the BBC's internal directors' course, and
initially handled episodes of Sutherland's Law, Softly Softly:
Task Force and The Onedin Line. However, he was still
primarily working as a production assistant, so Morgan left the BBC to
go freelance, and almost immediately won assignments on both Secret
Army and Blake's 7. During the Eighties, his credits included
Triangle, Swallows And Amazons Forever! and Knights Of
God; he both produced and directed One By One. He was invited
to make 1982's Time-Flight, but
disappointment with Peter Grimwade's scripts prompted Morgan to decline
the opportunity at a late stage. Finally, however, he was enticed to
1987's Time And The Rani,
Sylvester McCoy's debut serial as the Seventh Doctor. Although Morgan
again found the writing underwhelming, he enjoyed the experience so much
that he agreed to return for the 1988 season premiere, Remembrance Of The Daleks. He also
made a cameo appearance as a tourist in the same season's Silver Nemesis.
During the Nineties, Morgan often concentrated on children's programmes
such as Little Sir Nicholas and The Worst Witch, although
he also made adult fare including Casualty and EastEnders.
Following the turn of the century, he directed all twenty-one
installments of the family series Harry And The Wrinklies, and
nearly two dozen episodes of Heartbeat. In 2009, Morgan received
a one-year appointment as the High Sheriff of Greater London.
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