Colin Cant

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Colin Cant is a British television director, producer and scenic designer, best known for his work for the children's department of BBC Television from the 1970s to the 1990s. After beginning his career as a designer, he moved to directing and worked on many BBC children's series. He was involved for several years as both a director and producer on the long-running school-based drama series Grange Hill. He remained active in television into the 21st century, directing for the ITV soap opera Coronation Street in 2005.

Colin lives in Ealing with his wife, Fiona, and are active members of West Middlesex Tennis Club. <ref name=bfi>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Career

Cant initially trained as an architect, but switched to working in television design after watching a documentary programme about it, and realising how much more quickly his work could be realised in that area as opposed to the longer construction time of architecture.<ref name="bulletin">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He began his career in television in the 1960s, earning his earliest credits as a scenic designer on programmes such as the BBC Scotland series This Man Craig.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was encouraged by one of his colleagues there, future film director Ridley Scott, to make the move into directing.<ref name="bulletin"/> His first directing work came on Coronation Street in 1971; he had written an on-spec letter to the soap opera's production team pitching for directing work, which happened to coincide with new directors being needed for the programme.<ref name="bulletin"/>

Cant was the first ever director on Grange Hill in 1978, and was responsible for much of the original casting for the programme.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Cant's work on Grange Hill saw him awarded - jointly with Anna Home - a British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) in 1979.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also received two further BAFTA nominations for his work on the series, in 1981<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and 1982.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Cant also directed several stand-alone children's drama serials and literary adaptations, including Moonfleet (1984), Moondial (1988), Dark Season (1991) and Century Falls (1993).<ref name="starburst">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The latter pair of serials were two of the earliest works from the writer Russell T Davies, who went on to have a distinguished career in British television drama.<ref name="starburst"/> Cant had specifically asked Davies for a new serial after having been impressed with his work on Dark Season, as he had been commissioned to direct a serial by another writer with whom he was not impressed, and asked if Davies could come up with something better instead.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In Dark Season, Cant had cast future Academy Award winner Kate Winslet in one of her first leading roles on screen.<ref name="starburst"/>

Cant also worked in adult television, including three stints as a director on Coronation Street; in 1971–72, 1995–96 and 2000–05.<ref name="bfi"/> He also directed episodes of the police drama Juliet Bravo,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> legal drama Crown Court and another ITV soap opera, Emmerdale.<ref name="bfi"/>

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0134456

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