"[2] Born in St Albans, Harper began elocution lessons at the Italia Conti Academy as a child in 1955,[3] at the encouragement of his mother who was worried that he was developing a cockney accent.
[4] Harper worked on various productions in this capacity, including the Doctor Who serial "The Power of the Daleks" and later the 1967 adaptation of The Forsyte Saga novels.
Joyce's approach to the production resulted in various delays, and Harper had to take on extra responsibility for helping to direct the serial in order to ensure it was finished in time.
In 1989 he was approached to direct the Sylvester McCoy-starring Doctor Who serial "Battlefield", but he was committed to episodes of the Central Television drama series Boon.
[4] Harper's other work has included episodes of Juliet Bravo (1984 & 1985), Bergerac (1985 & 1987), Star Cops (1987), The New Statesman (1987), The House of Eliott (1991–93), The Bill (1993), The Detectives (1995–97), Casualty (1997, 2004–05), EastEnders (2000–02) and Robin Hood (2006 & 2009).
[9] Harper directed ITV1 soap opera Coronation Street's fateful tram crash in October 2010, screened on 6 December as part of its fiftieth anniversary special.
In a deliberate attempt to emulate the appearance of 1970s British television drama, this was made using the multi-camera video, 4:3 aspect ratio production style that Harper had been used to working in at the beginning of his career.
[14] Harper directed two episodes, "42" and "Utopia", for the 2007 series of Doctor Who, as well as the mini-episode "Time Crash", part of the 2007 edition of the BBC's annual Children in Need charity telethon.
He directed five episodes of the 2008 series of Doctor Who,[15] "Planet of the Ood", "The Unicorn and the Wasp", "Turn Left", "The Stolen Earth", and "Journey's End" and the third of the 2008–10 specials, "The Waters of Mars", broadcast in November 2009.