Karl Neilson

Karl Neilson
Born1971 (age 52–53)
Liverpool, England
OccupationTelevision director
AwardsTV Moments 2004

Karl Neilson (born 1971 in Liverpool) is a British television director.

He left school and started work as a van driver for an electrical goods company in Southport. Harbouring an ambition to be a director, he returned to education at the Liverpool Community College. He won a place on the Media Production Bachelor of Arts course at Bournemouth University, and graduated with first class honours in 1996.[citation needed]

Neilson's television career began as an assistant director on EastEnders back in 1998.[1] Alongside EastEnders, he was also the assistant director for Silent Witness.[2] It was then in September 2001 that Neilson appeared officially in the credits as a director, when he directed his first episode of EastEnders.[3] In 2004, a double episode set in the launderette with Dot Cotton telling Den Watts she had cancer won a TV Moments award, named as 'Best Popular Drama Moment' of 2004.[4]

As well as directing for the BBC, he has also directed episodes of The Bill and Family Affairs for TalkbackThames. In 2008 he began directing the new series of Minder for FIVE[5][6] which was later axed due to poor viewing figures.[7]

In 2015, EastEnders celebrated its thirtieth anniversary with a Live Week. Neilson directed the live week episodes along with the flashback episode.[8][9][10] Commenting upon directing the dramatic culmination of the week, Neilson said: "As a director it's an absolute gift of a week, because it's a story where the audience are continually looking for meaning in every line and every reaction. Because of that I was determined to get very specific performances which would steer the story as I wanted it to be steered throughout the week."[11]

  1. ^ "Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  2. ^ "An Academic Exercise: Part One – Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  3. ^ "Episode dated 2 September 2001". IMDb. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Winners of 2004 TV Moments announced". BBC. 26 January 2004. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  5. ^ "Five searches for Arthur Daley magic with Minder remake". Brand Republic. 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
  6. ^ "Revived Minder will stick to original's principles, says Five". Broadcast. 2008. Retrieved 31 October 2008.
  7. ^ "Shane Richie Five remake of Minder axed after ratings flop". Daily Mirror. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  8. ^ "17/02/2015". BBC. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  9. ^ "19/02/2015 - Flashback". BBC. 19 February 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  10. ^ "20/02/2015 (Fully live)". BBC. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  11. ^ Kilkelly, Daniel (18 February 2015). "EastEnders director shares teasers on Live Week and 'Who Killed Lucy?'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 23 January 2016.