Verity lambert waris hussein biography

British-Indian television and film director (born 1938)

Waris Hussein (néHabibullah; born 9 December 1938) is a British-Indian television and film director. At the beginning of his career he was employed by the BBC as its youngest drama director. He directed early episodes of Doctor Who, including the first serial, An Unearthly Child (1963), and later directed the multiple-award-winning Thames Television serial Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978).

Early life

Hussein was born Waris Habibullah in Lucknow, British India, into a family of the aristocratic Taluqdar class, and spent his early years mainly in Bombay. He came to the UK with his family in 1946, when his father, Ali Bahadur Habibullah, was appointed to the Indian High Commission. After the independence of India in 1947, his father returned to India, but his mother, Attia Hosain, chose to stay in England with her children, and worked as a writer and as broadcaster on the Indian Section of the BBC's Eastern Service from 1949.

He was educated at Clifton College, and then studied English literature at Queens' College, Cambridge, where he directed several plays. His contemporaries included Derek Jacobi, Margaret Drabble, Trevor Nunn, and Ian McKellen, whom he directed in several productions, including a Marlowe Society revival of Caesar and Cleopatra.

Career

After graduating in 1960, he joined the BBC to train as a director. He also changed his name from Habibullah to Hussein:

"It sounded like the King of Jordan then, but [later] turned out to be more like Saddam – and that doesn't help in life".

Hussein directed the first Doctor Who serial, An Unearthly Child, in 1963, although he was unsure about the effect directing television science fiction would have on his career:

"[I was] a graduate from Cambridge with honours,

Waris Hussein was born in India, less than a year before the outbreak of the Second World War. By the end of the 1940s his family had moved to England where his mother, writer Attia Hussein, joined the BBC as a radio broadcaster. After studying at Eton, Cambridge and the Slade School of Fine Art, Hussein found work acting before deciding to operate on the other side of the camera… He was placed on the BBC directors’ training course and made his directorial debut on the long-running Compact before being handed the responsibility of directing Doctor Who’s first four episodes.

It was challenge he met with striking panache. The opening episode in particular has a smooth confidence that immediately set Doctor Who – and Waris Hussein – apart. He was back the following year to direct the majority of Marco Polo – an epic historical adventure that sadly no longer exists in the BBC archives. But stills and audio from the piece reveal it was another imaginatively directed story – bold in its fusion of period drama and cliff-hanging adventure. Little wonder it became the first Doctor Who serial to claim the front page of the Radio Times, for the issue dated 22-28 February, 1964.

He achieved another first in 1978 when he directed the first story in the fondly remembered Armchair Thriller anthology series. He also worked again with Verity Lambert (Doctor Who’s first producer) on dramas including Shoulder to Shoulder and the acclaimed Edward and Mrs Simpson, for which he won a BAFTA. Hussein’s other work is startling in its breadth, so his CV includes Lynda La Plante’s Supply and Demand, Divorce His – Divorce Hers (starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor) and Copacabana (starring Barry Manilow), a 1986 musical for which Hussein scooped a Primetime Emmy.

Hussein continues to direct and occasionally appears at Doctor Who conventions where he is able to give a fascinating insight into the creation of the world’s longest running sci-fi show. ‘I walked into he

Last week, on April 10, I attended the event “Doctor Who: How It All Began – An Evening With Waris Hussein,” held at the Paley Center for Media in Manhattan.  Waris Hussein is the man who directed the very first Doctor Who serial, “An Unearthly Child,” far back in 1963.  In addition, he directed the majority of the seven part lavish historical epic “Marco Polo,” also produced during the show’s first season.  For a long-time fan of Doctor Who, it was a real thrill to be able to attend this event, to hear the reminiscences of one of the production personnel who were there at the very beginning.

The event was moderated by Barnaby Edwards, president of the fan organization Doctor Who New York.  It began with a screening of the very first episode of “An Unearthly Child,” with commentary by Hussein and Edwards.  Afterwards, Hussein discussed a wide variety of topics with Edwards.

The Indian-born, Cambridge-educated Hussein explained how he came to be one of the very first non-white directors at the BBC.  He explained how the BBC initially wanted to offer him a position in their foreign office, but how he insisted that he was keen to become a director in England.  I had to admire Hussein’s determination and confidence, in that he turned down a lucrative offer of a permanent, pensioned job with the BBC abroad to accept a six month trial run at the BBC’s home office.  Obviously that worked out well for Hussein, as he spent a number of years with the BBC before going on to a long, prolific career directing at various other television stations, both in the UK and here in the States.

In regards to his involvement with Doctor Who’s early days, Hussein spoke of his collaborations with series creator Sydney Newman and producer Verity Lambert.  It was interesting to hear about how he and Lambert went about courting William Hartnell for the role of the Doctor, and Hussein’s key role in casting Carol Anne Ford as his granddaughter Susan.  Hussein touched upon how there ha

Born: 9th December 1938 (as Waris Habibullah)
Episodes Broadcast: 1963-1964

Waris Habibullah was born in Lucknow, Utter Pradesh in what was then still British India, and grew up in Bombay (now Mumbai). His family relocated to the UK when his father was named to the Indian High Commission, but the appointment ended soon thereafter, following the partition of India in August 1947. Habibullah's mother chose to remain in Britain with her children; she later became a broadcaster with the BBC's Eastern Service. He went to Cambridge, graduating in 1960 with a degree in English literature. While there, Habibullah directed a number of plays, working with the likes of Derek Jacobi. After graduation, he adopted the stage name “Waris Hussein”, as he felt that “Habibullah” was too long and difficult to pronounce; although “Hosein” was his mother's maiden name, he chose a spelling which had regal connotations, by virtue of its association with the King of Jordan. Hussein briefly tried his hand at acting but, after appearing in an episode of Corrigan Blake, he soon concluded that he needed to alter his career plans.

Hussein was instead accepted into the BBC's directors' training course, leading to his first professional work on the soap opera Compact. He also directed episodes of programmes such as Suspense and Moonstrike before being assigned to the first-ever Doctor Who serial, 100,000 BC. As later chronicled in the 2013 docudrama An Adventure In Space And Time (where he was portrayed by Sacha Dhawan), he quickly forged a close bond with Doctor Who producer Verity Lambert who, like Hussein, was amongst the youngest staffers at the BBC. He helped guide the development of the fledgling series, including the assembly of the regular cast. Hussein returned to Doctor Who a few months later to direct Marco Polo.

At one point, it was hoped that Hussein would direct half the serials for Doctor Who's debu