Tim Plester

Early Life & Education

Born and raised in North Oxfordshire, Plester graduated from Dartington College of Arts in Devon, with a BA in Theatre, and went on to obtain an MA (Hons) in playwriting studies from Birmingham University.

Career

Plester's award-winning documentary Way of the Morris premiered at SXSW 2011, and received a limited theatrical release in UK cinemas before being released on DVD. Co-directed with Rob Curry, and produced independently by Fifth Column Films, the feature-length documentary includes contributions from Billy Bragg, Fairport Convention's Chris Leslie and members of The Adderbury Village Morris Men. It was selected by the UK Film Focus as one of the "Breakthrough" British films of 2011. Plester and Curry are also responsible for the short field-recorded documentary Here We’m Be Together (which premiered at the 2014 BFI London Film Festival), and are currently working together on a new feature-length film about the iconic English folk-singer Shirley Collins - partly-funded by a successful kickstarter campaign.

Plester's writing credits for film include Ant Muzak (2002), a short film directed by Ben Gregor and starring Nick Moran and Mackenzie Crook. It was the winner of an Audience Award at the 2003 Sydney Film Festival and was nominated for 'Best UK Short' at the 2003 Soho Rushes Festival and the 2002 Raindance Film Festival. He also wrote and created Blake's Junction 7 (2004), again directed by Ben Gregor, and starring Johnny Vegas, Mackenzie Crook, Mark Heap, Raquel Cassidy, and Martin Freeman – which premiered at the 2004 Edinburgh Film Festival. Both films became cult hits, and were released on DVD in 2008, along with a third film entitled World of Wrestling (2007). Again created and written by Plester and directed by Gregor, the film stars Mackenzie Crook, Kevin Eldon, Patrick Baladi, Miranda Hart and Kris Marshall. In 2007, Plester also completed work on an offbeat romantic comedy entitled English Language (With English Subtitles) - which marked his directorial debut. The short, in which Plester also starred (alongside MyAnna Buring and Craig Parkinson), premiered at the 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival, and went on to screen at over 45 film festivals worldwide, picking-up 5 awards along the way. He has also written and directed the JFK-inspired beat poem Et In Motorcadia Ego! and the award-winning 15-second film Slapphappy - which premiered at the 2008 Belfast Film Festival.

Winner of the 1992/93 'National Student Playwright Of The Year' award, Plester’s writing credits for the theatre include; Dakota (Edinburgh Festival 1995 and National Tour 1996), Mad Dog Killer Leper Fiend (Edinburgh Festival 1996 and London's Man In The Moon Theatre 1997), and Yellow Longhair (London's Oval House Theatre 2000).

Plester's many acting credits for TV and film include: Lockout (EuropaCorp), Kick-Ass (Universal), Control (Northsee Pictures), Cuban Fury (Big Talk), Closer to the Moon (Mandragora Movies), Wolf Hall (BBC), Bone in the Throat (Hello and Company), Shifty (Metrodome), Doctor Who (BBC), Life On Mars (BBC), Hustle (BBC), Murphy's Law (BBC), 1066: The Battle For Middle Earth (Channel 4), Magicians (Universal Films), It's All Gone Pete Tong (Vertigo Films), Galavant (ABC), Heist (BBC), Ant Muzak (Film Club), Criminal Justice (BBC), Five Daughters (BBC), Silent Witness (BBC), The Wrong Mans (BBC), Uncle Dad (SMG), Goths (BBC), Residents (BBC), Poliakoff's Friends and Crocodiles (BBC), both series of Paul Whitehouse’s Happiness (BBC) and the 2009 BAFTA-winning short film September. Plester played petty thief Linus Brody in the first two series’ of the BBC Birmingham production WPC 56. He played the role of Black Walder Rivers in the HBO series Game of Thrones