Pennant Roberts understood the value of putting the right actor into an unlikely situation. We value his casting judgement and practical humour, though his Doctor Who serials are not where we would look for brisk direction.
Fi1m perspective
The giant credit cards in The Sun Makers (1977) look like Barclaycards because Pennant Roberts thought that would be amusing. It is a useful detail: a familiar nuisance carried into science fiction, rather than another object whose purpose needs explaining. The joke needs no speech to make it intelligible. We rate Roberts as a capable television director with a good eye for casting, though getting a story moving was not always his strength.
He recommended Louise Jameson for Leela, introduced in The Face of Evil (1977), and later cast her again in Tenko. Roberts also gave more roles to women than was usual in science fiction, and opportunities to young actors. We were frightened by Doctor Who (1963) because its actors made absurd situations matter. Casting someone who can persuade us to take those situations seriously is a substantial part of the job, even when it attracts less notice than a camera move.
The Pirate Planet (1978) and the uncompleted Shada (1979) brought him together with scripts by Douglas Adams. The later run included Warriors of the Deep (1984) and ended with Timelash (1985). The latter is a fair warning against overstating his strengths: this was not an especially dynamic director. Our affection for Doctor Who leaves room for impatience with its pacing, and good casting cannot keep every stretch of a serial moving.
His work on Survivors and Tenko gives us a reason to look beyond the science-fiction credits. Ensemble drama and the creation of credible environments were strengths, both useful when several characters need to hold our attention rather than wait for the lead to return. He later directed and produced Welsh-language television and children's drama, continuing a career that was never confined to Doctor Who. Start with The Face of Evil for Jameson's arrival; leave Timelash until the interest in Roberts is already established.
Biography
Pennant Roberts (born John Pennant Roberts) was a British television director and producer. Born on 15 December 1940 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, to Welsh parents, he studied physics at the University of Bristol. He began his career in 1962 at a Welsh television company and later worked as a floor manager for BBC Wales before moving to the BBC Drama Department in London.
He directed episodes of numerous BBC series, including Doctor Who (five serials between 1977 and 1985, plus the uncompleted Shada), Blake's 7, Survivors, Tenko and Howards' Way. A fluent Welsh speaker, he was active in Welsh-language television after moving to Cardiff in 1994. He served as chair of the Directors' and Producers' Rights Society for many years and received a BAFTA nomination for his work on the 1988 miniseries The Snow Spider, which he produced and directed. He was married to actress Betsan Jones from 1970 until his death from cancer on 22 June 2010 in Cardiff.
