Richard Alexander is a British actor, writer and broadcaster who has hosted talk shows, played characters in comedy programming and made documentary films detailing how ordinary people cope with serious illness and loss.
[citation needed] While finishing his studies, Alexander directed a short film about football featuring John Helm, Eddie Gray, Chris Kamara, Paul Hart and others, which earned him a recommendation as a Director of Photography for an independent project about Little Germany in Bradford.
[7] The later incarnations mirror a technique first used in BRAZEN, specifically where the show's voiceover is done by a computer-generated personality but according to feedback found in various sources, this unique approach is not always popular with viewers (an innovation unusual at the time that was portentous of future trends as it is now widely employed by millions of social media posts.).
[18] In 2016, Alexander met a Second World War veteran at an annual historical reenactment show called The Yorkshire Wartime Experience [19] in Bradford, making a short from his visit[20] where he volunteered to film a proposed re-enactment of a specific Normandy Landings moment (see Publishing, below).
On 6 June 2017, Alexander filmed David Teacher MBE,[23] a D-Day veteran who landed on Juno Beach as part of the first assault wave in a Bedford QL 3-ton truck, using a similar vehicle on the same stretch of sand as 1944.
[24] The owner of the QL in 2017, Craig Keeble,[25] also owned a transport company and had previously supplied the vehicle for many historic TV shows and films (such as SS-GB and Home Fires volunteered to take it back to Normandy to allow Teacher a chance to repeat his once in a lifetime experience.
However, with the COVID-19 pandemic causing all events and travel plans to be cancelled, and in early 2020, the RAF veteran suffered a fall at home at age 96[29] and was treated as an in-patient at Royal Oldham Hospital in Lancashire, where he was befriended by a young man who subsequently stole his only contact with his relatives and friends, his mobile phone.
To celebrate this milestone, Alexander planned a special surprise for his friend in Ingleton, North Yorkshire; a reunion with the QL, now completely renovated and replete with RAF Beach Unit (part of Combined Operations) markings, access provided by the new owner, Chris Atkinson.
[33] The chief executive of Broughton House, Karen Miller, said that WWII veterans are an inspiration[34] and that after his military term, Teacher continued to "dedicate his life to serve others, not only through his charitable work but also by sharing with the younger generation the values of friendship, duty and service.