Peter Duffell

With a strong academic bent and great enthusiasm for the arts, he studied at London University and then at Keble College, Oxford, where he took an honours degree in English language and literature.

Duffell began his career as a director with installments of the film series Scotland Yard and the Edgar Wallace Mysteries second features for Anglo-Amalgamated, both originally made for cinema release in the UK, as well as making documentaries and television commercials.

Duffell won the BAFTA award for Best Director for Caught on A Train (1980) written by Stephen Poliakoff and featuring Peggy Ashcroft and Michael Kitchen.

Duffell's many TV credits as director and writer include The Avengers (1967), Man in a Suitcase (1967–68), Journey to the Unknown (1969), Strange Report (1969), The Adventures of Black Beauty (1972), The Racing Game (1979–80), Inspector Morse (1988), and Space Precinct (1995).

His autobiography Playing Piano in A Brothel, the title derived from an old film industry joke, was published in the USA by Bear Manor Media.

Duffell in 1975