---
name: "Bob Spiers"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/bob-spiers"
fi1m_id: "bob-spiers"
imdb_id: "nm0818639"
tmdb_id: 47974
wikidata_id: "Q2907839"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "27 September 1945"
died: "8 December 2008"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "director"
average_over: 5
updated: "2026-09-18T09:30:49.560117+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Bob Spiers

## Identity

Bob Spiers

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/bob-spiers
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** bob-spiers
- **IMDb ID:** nm0818639
- **TMDB ID:** 47974
- **Wikidata ID:** Q2907839
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Spiers, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2907839, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0818639/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/47974

Director. Born 27 September 1945 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. Died 8 December 2008.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 27 September 1945, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
- **Died:** 8 December 2008
- **Active:** 1968–1997
- **Also known as:** Robert Alexander Spiers, Robert Alexander "Bob" Spiers
- **Frequently works with:** [David Croft](https://film.one/person/david-croft.md), [Dawn French](https://film.one/person/dawn-french.md), [Harold Snoad](https://film.one/person/harold-snoad.md), [Jennifer Saunders](https://film.one/person/jennifer-saunders.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as director, over 5 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 86 (1), 1970s 81 (2), 1990s 72 (2)
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 5, Adventure 1, Drama 1, Fantasy 1, Music 1, War & Politics 1
- **Screen time:** 2 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $100m across 1 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Spiers, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2907839, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0818639/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/47974

## Streaming the US now

- **BritBox:** [*Fawlty Towers*](https://film.one/tv/fawlty-towers.md) (90), [*Absolutely Fabulous*](https://film.one/tv/absolutely-fabulous.md) (81)
- **Apple TV:** [*Are You Being Served?*](https://film.one/tv/are-you-being-served.md) (72)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Bob Spiers

> Bob Spiers understood that a comedy director must keep more than the loudest performer in view. We rate his clear staging and patient timing highly; his television work makes the stronger case for him.

In *Fawlty Towers* (1975), the performers around Basil have time to look embarrassed or annoyed. Bob Spiers, who directed the second series in 1979, keeps those reactions available while John Cleese holds our attention. We laughed at those small waits, because the other performers make Basil look worse without trying to compete with Cleese. The situations stay clear enough for us to dread his next intervention. This is comedy direction worth noticing, even when the leading performance seems to be doing all the work.

Cleese and Connie Booth write with precision, and the direction gives the supporting cast time to match it. Across the programme, director John Howard Davies and editors Susan Imrie, Bob Rymer and Bill Harris share the credit for that clarity and timing. The editors preserve pauses rather than rushing towards the punchline. Our reservation is the treatment of Andrew Sachs’s Manuel, where the joke sometimes continues after we have had enough.

His work with David Croft on *Dad's Army*, including directing episodes of its final series in 1977, supplied a grounding in traditional sitcom. The early films of *The Comic Strip Presents...* (1982) took that experience into alternative comedy. On *Press Gang* (1989), made with Steven Moffat, he used tracking shots to establish a style that later directors were asked to follow. He could plan complicated camera sequences, but the purpose remained practical: give tightly written action the pace and continuity it needed.

His care for performers continued in *Absolutely Fabulous* (1992), directing every episode from 1992 to 2001. His feature work included *Spice World* and *That Darn Cat* (both 1997), followed by *Chilly Dogs* (2001). The critical response to the features was mixed or muted, though the direction itself often drew praise. We would begin with the television rather than assume the move into films was a promotion. Try his second series of *Fawlty Towers*, and keep an eye on the people around Cleese.

## Biography

Bob Spiers (27 September 1945 – 8 December 2008) was a Scottish television director and producer. Born in Glasgow, he began his career at the BBC in the early 1970s as an assistant floor manager and production assistant on series including *Dad's Army* (1968). He later directed episodes of several David Croft sitcoms, including the final series of *Dad's Army*.

Spiers directed the second series of *Fawlty Towers* (1975) in 1979, for which he won a BAFTA Television Award. He went freelance in the early 1980s and directed many episodes of *Absolutely Fabulous* (1992) from its first series onwards, winning a second BAFTA. Other credits include *Are You Being Served?* (1972), *French and Saunders* (1987), *Press Gang*, *Bottom* (1991) and *A Bit of Fry & Laurie* (1989). He also directed the films *Spice World* (1997) and *That Darn Cat* (1997).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, theguardian.com, independent.co.uk, screenonline.org.uk.*

## On Fi1m (5)

- *Spice World* (1997), Fi1m 62, Director, Producer — [page](https://film.one/film/spice-world.md)
- *Absolutely Fabulous* (1992), Fi1m 81, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/absolutely-fabulous.md)
- *Fawlty Towers* (1975), Fi1m 90, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/fawlty-towers.md)
- *Are You Being Served?* (1972), Fi1m 72, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/are-you-being-served.md)
- *Dad's Army* (1968), Fi1m 86, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/dads-army.md)

## Complete filmography (39)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Best of French & Saunders* (2002), Director
- *Chilly Dogs* (2001), Director
- *Days Like These* (1999), series, Director
- *The Fast Show Live* (1998), Director
- *Absolutely Fabulous: A Life* (1998), Director
- *Spice World* (1997), Producer, Director — Fi1m 62, [page](https://film.one/film/spice-world.md)
- *That Darn Cat* (1997), Director
- *The Adventures of Lano and Woodley* (1997), series, Director
- *Absolutely Fabulous: The Last Shout* (1996), Director
- *Agony Again* (1995), series, Director
- *How to Be Absolutely Fabulous* (1995), Director
- *French and Saunders' Christmas Carol* (1994), Director
- *Queen of the Wild Frontier* (1993), as Vicar
- *Joking Apart* (1993), series, Director
- *Absolutely Fabulous* (1992), series, Director — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/absolutely-fabulous.md)
- *Murder Most Horrid* (1991), series, Director
- *Bottom* (1991), series, Director
- *Lazarus and Dingwall* (1991), series, Director
- *Press Gang* (1989), series, Director
- *A Bit of Fry & Laurie* (1989), series, Director
- *French And Saunders - Christmas Special '88* (1988), Director
- *Didn't You Kill My Brother?* (1988), Director
- *Familie Oudenrijn* (1987), series, Director
- *French & Saunders* (1987), series, Director
- *Up Line* (1987), Director
- *Little Armadillos* (1984), series, Director
- *Gino: Full Story and Pics* (1984), Director
- *A Fistful of Travellers' Cheques* (1984), Director
- *Susie* (1984), Director
- *Five Go Mad on Mescalin* (1983), Director
- *The Beat Generation* (1983), Director
- *War* (1983), Director
- *The Comic Strip Presents...* (1982), series, Director
- *Five Go Mad in Dorset* (1982), Director
- *A Cut Above* (1982), series, Director, Producer
- *Fawlty Towers* (1975), series, Director — Fi1m 90, [page](https://film.one/tv/fawlty-towers.md)
- *Are You Being Served?* (1972), series, Director — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/tv/are-you-being-served.md)
- *The Goodies* (1970), series, Director
- *Dad's Army* (1968), series, Director — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/dads-army.md)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/bob-spiers