Jeremy Summers obituary

This article is more than 7 years old

Television and film director known for the TV series The Saint and the 1963 film The Punch and Judy Man, starring Tony Hancock

He was not on the list.

Film Director. Born Walter John Jeremy Summers, he dropped his two first names in order to differentiate himself from his father, Walter Summers (1892-1973), who had also been a well-known director. Jeremy Summers directed twelve feature films, of which the best remembered are The Punch and Judy Man (1962) with Tony Hancock, and Ferry Cross the Mersey (1964) with Gerry and the Pacemakers and Cilla Black. In addition, he did much work on television, directing episodes of, among others: The Saint; Danger Man; Coronation Street; and All Creatures Great and Small.

Born in St Albans in 1931, Summers was born into a family of theatrical tradition and his father Walter Summers (1896-1973) was a film director and screenwriter.

He directed nearly 50 different TV programmes between 1960 and 1999, including The Saint and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).

In his early career, Summers worked as a runner and then later assistant director on films such as The Dam Busters (1955) with Michael Anderson and Moby Dick (1956) with John Huston.

Summers became a director with the support film Depth Charge (1960), the screenplay of which he also co-wrote, but he immediately turned his attention to television and directed episodes of Desert Hi-Jack, Interpol Calling and four episodes of International Detective between 1960 and 1961.

A sequence of feature films followed, the Tony Hancock feature film vehicle The Punch and Judy Man, Crooks in Cloisters (1964) with Ronald Fraser and Barbara Windsor, Dateline Diamonds (1965) starring William Lucas and Kenneth Cope[2] as well as the Gerry and the Pacemakers feature film Ferry Cross the Mersey (1965). Meanwhile, he continued in television with Man of the World and, in 1965, episodes of Court Martial, Gideon's Way and the film San Ferry Ann.

In 1966, Summers directed one episode of Danger Man; he also directed some 12 episodes of The Saint from 1964 to 1966. Episodes of The Saint that Summers filmed include "The Lawless Lady", "The Death Penalty" and "The Unkind Philanthropist" (1964), "The Abducters" (1965) and "The Man Who Liked Lions" (1966).

This was followed in 1967 by The Baron and several foreign films of that year The Vengeance of Fu Manchu, Five Golden Dragons and The House of 1,000 Dolls for Harry Alan Towers. He also directed an episode of Man in a Suitcase in 1968.

In 1969, still under contract with ITC, Summers directed a number of episodes of the popular series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), working with actors Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. In the 1970s, Summers directed two episodes of UFO and several of The Protectors, both being Gerry Anderson series. Other directing credits include Jason King (1971–72), Boy Dominic (1974), and Return of the Saint (1978, this version with Ian Ogilvy cast as Simon Templar). He also directed films for the Children's Film Foundation, including Sammy's Super T-shirt.

During the 1980s, he directed multiple episodes of dramas for the BBC and independent television, including Tenko (1982–84), Strangers and Brothers, Big Deal (1985–86), All Creatures Great and Small (1988), Howard's Way (1989–90), and Hannay' (1988, with Robert Powell appearing as Richard Hannay).

In the 1990s he directed many episodes of the television soap operas Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Brookside (including the film spin offs The Lost Weekend, Friday the 13th and Double Take!) before his retirement in 2001. While on Brookside, he also directed the Liverpool FC feature The Last night of the Kop commemorating the final time the football stand was used before Anfield became an all-seater stadium.

Director

Sue Jenkins, Sue Johnston, Dean Sullivan, and Claire Sweeney in Brookside (1982)

Brookside

6.6

TV Series

Director

1993–2002

161 episodes

Brookside: Double Take! (1999)

Brookside: Double Take!

5.7

Video

Director

1999

Sue Jenkins, Sue Johnston, Dean Sullivan, and Claire Sweeney in Brookside: Friday the 13th (1998)

Brookside: Friday the 13th

7.0

Video

Director

1998

Brookside: The Lost Weekend (1997)

Brookside: The Lost Weekend

7.2

Video

Director

1997

And the Beat Goes On (1996)

And the Beat Goes On

7.3

TV Series

Director

1996

2 episodes

Hollyoaks (1995)

Hollyoaks

4.6

TV Series

Director

1996

2 episodes

Peter Adamson, Jean Alexander, Johnny Briggs, Margot Bryant, and Doris Speed in Coronation Street (1960)

Coronation Street

5.6

TV Series

Director

1977–1994

61 episodes

Emmerdale Farm (1972)

Emmerdale Farm

4.8

TV Series

Director

1992–1993

9 episodes

Trainer (1991)

Trainer

8.1

TV Series

Director

1991–1992

10 episodes

Colin Blumenau, Nula Conwell, Peter Ellis, Trudie Goodwin, Jon Iles, Gary Olsen, Eric Richard, John Salthouse, Tony Scannell, Jeff Stewart, Mark Wingett, and Delia Swan in The Bill (1984)

The Bill

6.7

TV Series

Director

1989–1991

5 episodes

Maurice Colbourne, Jan Harvey, and Stephen Yardley in Howards' Way (1985)

Howards' Way

6.8

TV Series

Director

1989–1990

6 episodes

Peter Davison, Carol Drinkwater, Robert Hardy, and Christopher Timothy in All Creatures Great & Small (1978)

All Creatures Great & Small

8.4

TV Series

Director

1988

4 episodes

Anthony Valentine, Tim Barlow, Robert Powell, and Gavin Richards in Hannay (1988)

Hannay

7.2

TV Series

Director

1988

2 episodes

Truckers (1987)

Truckers

8.0

TV Series

Director

1987

3 episodes

Jane Krakowski, Matthew Ashford, Domini Blythe, Colleen Dion, Terri Eoff, David Forsyth, Lee Godart, Louan Gideon, Marcia McCabe, Jeffrey Meek, Jacqueline Schultz, and Mary Stuart in Search for Tomorrow (1951)

Search for Tomorrow

7.1

TV Series

Director

1986

1 episode

Big Deal (1984)

Big Deal

8.1

TV Series

Director

1985–1986

8 episodes

Albion Market (1985)

Albion Market

5.3

TV Series

Director

1985–1986

6 episodes

Stephanie Cole in Tenko (1981)

Tenko

8.5

TV Series

Director

1982–1984

10 episodes

Strangers and Brothers (1984)

Strangers and Brothers

7.2

TV Series

Director

1984

7 episodes

The Chinese Detective (1981)

The Chinese Detective

7.4

TV Series

Director

1982

1 episode

Joanne Whalley and Clive Wood in A Kind of Loving (1982)

A Kind of Loving

8.6

TV Mini Series

Director

1982

5 episodes

County Hall (1982)

County Hall

TV Series

Director

1982

7 episodes

Trevor Eve in Shoestring (1979)

Shoestring

7.5

TV Series

Director

1980

1 episode

Alan Dobie in The ITV Play (1968)

The ITV Play

TV Series

Director

1980

1 episode

Tourist (1980)

Tourist

6.5

TV Movie

Director

1980

Richard Hurndall and John Shrapnel in Screenplay (1979)

Screenplay

7.3

TV Series

Director

1980

1 episode

Fallen Hero (1978)

Fallen Hero

7.8

TV Series

Director

1979

1 episode

Anthony Andrews, Judy Geeson, Iain Cuthbertson, and Maurice Roëves in Danger UXB (1979)

Danger UXB

8.4

TV Series

Director

1979

1 episode

Sammy's Super T-Shirt (1978)

Sammy's Super T-Shirt

6.4

Director

1978

Ian Ogilvy in Return of the Saint (1978)

Return of the Saint

6.7

TV Series

Director

1978

3 episodes

Jayne Collins and Toby Bridge in One Hour to Zero (1976)

One Hour to Zero

6.0

Director

1976

Invasion: UFO (1974)

Invasion: UFO

5.7

Director (as Summers)

1974

In Venice, Like Rome-Milan-Turin, the Spiral of Crime (1974)

In Venice, Like Rome-Milan-Turin, the Spiral of Crime

Director

1974

Brian Blessed in Boy Dominic (1974)

Boy Dominic

7.9

TV Series

Director

1974

2 episodes

Robert Vaughn, Tony Anholt, and Nyree Dawn Porter in The Protectors (1972)

The Protectors

6.7

TV Series

Director

1972–1974

17 episodes

Michael Billington, Ed Bishop, and Wanda Ventham in UFO: Allarme rosso... Attacco alla Terra! (1973)

UFO: Allarme rosso... Attacco alla Terra!

4.6

Director

1973

Pathfinders (1972)

Pathfinders

7.9

TV Series

Director

1972–1973

3 episodes

Nightmare (1972)

Nightmare

3.4

Director

1972

Jason King (1971)

Jason King

6.9

TV Series

Director

1971–1972

9 episodes

Ed Bishop in UFO (1970)

UFO

7.9

TV Series

Director

1970–1971

2 episodes

Jane Seymour in Here Come the Double Deckers! (1970)

Here Come the Double Deckers!

7.6

TV Series

Director

1970

2 episodes

Kenneth Cope in My Partner the Ghost (1969)

My Partner the Ghost

7.7

TV Series

Director

1969–1970

7 episodes

Ty Hardin in Riptide (1969)

Riptide

7.8

TV Series

Director

1969

6 episodes

Celeste Yarnall in Eve (1968)

Eve

4.7

Director

1968

Man in a Suitcase (1967)

Man in a Suitcase

7.6

TV Series

Director

1968

1 episode

House of 1,000 Dolls (1967)

House of 1,000 Dolls

5.0

Director

1967

The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967)

The Vengeance of Fu Manchu

5.1

Director

1967

Christopher Lee, Brian Donlevy, Dan Duryea, and George Raft in Five Golden Dragons (1967)

Five Golden Dragons

4.9

Director

1967

Steve Forrest in The Baron (1966)

The Baron

7.1

TV Series

Director

1966

3 episodes

Roger Moore in The Saint (1962)

The Saint

7.5

TV Series

Director

1962–1966

12 episodes

Gideon C.I.D. (1964)

Gideon C.I.D.

8.0

TV Series

Director

1966

2 episodes

Patrick McGoohan in Secret Agent (1964)

Secret Agent

8.2

TV Series

Director

1966

1 episode

The Ghost of Monk's Island (1966)

The Ghost of Monk's Island

6.1

Director (directed by)

1966

Bradford Dillman and Peter Graves in Court Martial (1965)

Court Martial

7.2

TV Series

Director

1965

1 episode

Dateline Diamonds (1965)

Dateline Diamonds

5.2

Director

1965

San Ferry Ann (1965)

San Ferry Ann

5.4

Director

1965

Les Chadwick, Leslie Maguire, Freddie Marsden, Gerry Marsden, and Julie Samuel in Ferry Cross the Mersey (1964)

Ferry Cross the Mersey

6.7

Director

1964

Crooks in Cloisters (1964)

Crooks in Cloisters

5.4

Director

1964

Craig Stevens in Man of the World (1962)

Man of the World

7.3

TV Series

Director

1962–1963

3 episodes

The Punch and Judy Man (1963)

The Punch and Judy Man

6.2

Director

1963

International Detective (1959)

International Detective

6.8

TV Series

Director

1960–1961

16 episodes

Depth Charge (1960)

Depth Charge

4.2

Director

1960

Interpol Calling (1959)

Interpol Calling

7.3

TV Series

Director

1960

1 episode

Second Unit or Assistant Director

Petticoat Pirates (1961)

Petticoat Pirates

5.1

second unit director

1961

International Detective (1959)

International Detective

6.8

TV Series

associate director

1960

1 episode

Dial 999 (1958)

Dial 999

7.1

TV Series

assistant director

1959

2 episodes

The Flying Doctor (1959)

The Flying Doctor

7.7

TV Series

assistant director (uncredited)

1959

1 episode

Alive and Kicking (1958)

Alive and Kicking

6.6

assistant director

1958

Girls at Sea (1958)

Girls at Sea

6.2

assistant director

1958

The Moonraker (1958)

The Moonraker

5.9

assistant director

1958

Overseas Press Club - Exclusive! (1957)

Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!

7.2

TV Series

assistant director

1957

12 episodes

Ted Ray and Ronald Shiner in My Wife's Family (1956)

My Wife's Family

second assistant director (uncredited)

1956

Port Afrique (1956)

Port Afrique

5.2

second assistant director (uncredited)

1956

It's Never Too Late (1956)

It's Never Too Late

6.0

second assistant director (uncredited)

1956

The Dam Busters (1955)

The Dam Busters

7.4

second assistant director (uncredited)

1955

Dana Andrews and Jeanne Crain in Duel in the Jungle (1954)

Duel in the Jungle

5.8