
Leslie Megahey
Directing
Biography
Leslie Megahey was a British television producer, director and writer. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the son of Thomas Megahey (a minister) and Beatrice (née Walton), Leslie Megahey was educated at King Edward VI School in Lichfield. Early works for the BBC included Canvas: 7: Sunflowers: Van Gogh (1971), and Omnibus File: Thrillers and Crime Fiction (1972). He was the editor of the BBC television documentary series Arena (1977–79; 1982–83); during his time on the series he divided it into Arena Theatre and Arena Art and Design, and Arena became less of a magazine-style programme and more a home for short, distinctive and stylish films about mainly British theatre and visual arts. During this period his programme Henry Moore Meets Leonardo (1978) was broadcast, in which the sculptor Henry Moore discussed Leonardo Da Vinci's anatomical drawings. His two-part Arena special The Orson Welles Story (1982) programmes won a 'Best Documentary' BAFTA in 1983. (Wikipedia)
Known For

Omnibus was an arts-based BBC television documentary series, broadcast mainly on BBC1 in the United Kingdom. The programme was the successor to the long-running arts-based series 'Monitor'. It ran from 1967 until 2003, usually being transmitted on Sunday evenings. During its 35-year history, the programme won 12 Bafta awards. Among the series' best remembered documentaries are Cracked Actor, a profile of David Bowie, and Rene Magritte, a graduate film by David Wheatley, 'Madonna: Behind the American dream', a film produced by Nadia Hagger, and a profile of the British film director Ridley Scott. For a season in 1982, the series was in a magazine format presented by Barry Norman. The series was replaced by 'Imagine' hosted by Alan Yentob.
Omnibus

Series of single made-for-television dramas.
Screen Two

Screenplay was a drama anthology television series, broadcast on BBC between 1986 and 1993. Numerous episodes were produced including one named "Boswell and Johnson's Tour of the Western Islands" starring Robbie Coltrane as English writer Samuel Johnson who in the autumn of 1773, visits the Hebrides off the north-west coast of Scotland. That episode was directed by John Byrne and co-starred John Sessions and Celia Imrie.
ScreenPlay

An epic story of adventure, starring some of the most magnificent and courageous creatures alive, awaits you in EARTH. Disneynature brings you a remarkable story of three animal families on a journey across our planet – polar bears, elephants and humpback whales.
Earth

In medieval France, young lawyer Richard Courtois leaves Paris for the simpler life in the country. However, he is soon drawn into amorous and political intrigues. At the same time, he is pushed to defend a pig, owned by the mysterious gypsy Samira. The pig has been arrested for the murder of a young boy.
The Hour of the Pig

Three drama-documentary films set in a Paris art studio during a century of scandal and revolution, exploring the lives of French artists Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste Ingres, and Théodore Géricault.
Artists and Models

When Cariani the painter falls in love with the beautiful girl who receives mysterious visitors in the rooms below, he is drawn into a web of danger and deceit.
Cariani and the Courtesans

Profile of Orson Welles, looking at his life and career in theatre, radio and particularly film.
The Orson Welles Story
A two-and-a-half hour documentary retrospective on the career of Orson Welles.
With Orson Welles: Stories from a Life in Film

Can Schalcken save his love, Rose, from the clutches of a ghastly suitor before it is too late?
Schalcken the Painter

Documentary looking at Orson Welles and the production of the film CITIZEN KANE fifty years ago, considering the furore that accompanied it and the real life press baron William Randolph Hearst upon whom Kane is based, and his efforts to halt the film, destroy the negative and persecution of people involved with its production and showing. It includes BBC interviews with Welles made in 1960 and 1982, and film historian Robert Carringer looks at the scenes that never made it to the screen. American film critic Pauline Kael also analyses the film's enduring appeal. Extracts from "The RKO Story" (producer: Rosemary Wilton) and "Yesterday's Whitness" (producers: Christopher Cook and Stephen Peet).
The Complete 'Citizen Kane'

John Izzard meets with J. R. R. Tolkien at his home, walking with him through the Oxford locations that he loves while hearing the author's own views about his wildly successful fantasy novels.
Tolkien in Oxford
Documentary profile of actor Anthony Quinn, following him on a journey he made from Italy to New york via London, in February 1980.
Quinn Running
Episodes from the life of British Author, J.R. Ackerley.
We Think the World of You

Nicholas Baum goes on a journey to Den Bosch, Hieronymus Bosch's town, and gives his explanation about what he thinks the painter's works originally meant.
The Mysteries of Hieronymus Bosch

Judith arrives at Bluebeard's dark castle hoping her love can convince him to reveal the secrets behind the locked interior doors.
Duke Bluebeard's Castle
Records the run up to Christmas 1980 in Dallas, Texas, from the point of view of the city's largest department store, Neiman-Marcus.