Name Bill Sellars | Role Television producer Employer BBC | |
Born 5 June 1925 (aged 90) Brighton, England Nominations British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series Similar People Christopher Timothy, Mary Hignett, Carol Drinkwater, John McGlynn, Robert Hardy | ||
William "Bill" Sellars (born 5 June 1925) is a British television producer, most active from the 1960s to the 1980s. His entire 33-year-career was spent working on projects for the British Broadcasting Corporation. Of these, All Creatures Great and Small, which he produced for its entire run, was the biggest success. Conversely, his biggest critical failure was likely Triangle, a soap opera set on board a ferry in the North Sea.
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As director
Sellars' first significant creative work for the BBC was as a director. From 1962-1965, he was periodically assigned to some of the more daring shows of the time, such as the upscale soap, Compact, and the early Doctor Who. For this latter programme, he oversaw The Celestial Toymaker. He also directed episodes of United! and 199 Park Lane during this period. However, due to the BBC's policy of wiping videotape, little of Sellars' directorial work survives.
As producer
After a three-year period as a contract director, Sellars shifted into the role as producer. His first in this role was as Verity Lambert's successor on The Newcomers. From the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, he moved through a quick succession of soap operas, including The Doctors and The Brothers. By 1973, he had entered a five-year period of directing shorter-form dramas. Most of these endeavours were, like The Chinese Puzzle and a portion of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries, far afield from his usual work in soap opera.
By 1978, however, he found himself back to regular series work. This time, however, he was handed All Creatures Great and Small. Although he would produce other shows in the downtime from All Creatures — such as the poorly received Triangle and the Creatures-clone One By One — he would work on All Creatures until the close of his active career in 1990. Indeed, it was for Creatures that he received his only two significant awards nominations: a BAFTA nomination for Best Drama Series in 1979, and a Primetime Emmy nomination for Best Children's Series in 1990.