Vivienne Cozens is a highly respected director of theatre, TV drama and documentaries and corporate productions. Her credits include Brookside, Fair City, Grange Hill, Emmerdale, Fraggle Rock and Eastenders. She also directed the popular episodes Games and Sand from the final season of Blake’s 7. This is Vivienne’s first interview with a fan publication.
How did you come to work for the BBC?
VC: I trained originally at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and from there got a job at the Royal Shakespeare Company in London on the stage management team. It was at a very exciting time when Sir Peter Hall was expanding the company. There were plenty of jobs there until too much money had been spent and the cut backs started to happen. It was at the point that BBC 2 was looking for people to staff the channel and I got a job in the drama department as an Assistant Floor Manager. I worked with a lot of well known directors and on some popular dramas like Z Cars which was then transmitted live! From there I went on to become a First Assistant Producer/ Director before being selected for the Film and Television Director’s Course.
What was your first directing job?
VC: It was called Some of My Best Friends. The film was part of a series of films on BBC2 for new directors. I was the first woman to be given an opportunity to direct. As such they were given a high profile and had a screening at BAFTA with lots of press and publicity. The film was given good reviews. I was extremely fortunate to be given a first class camera crew and budget which in those days was quite large as it came under the Plays Department. The cast included Margaret Tyzak, who had played many roles in films and television as well as the theatre, Elizabeth Bell who had little television experience but who had played important roles for Alan Ayckbourn in Scarborough and Sylvia Coleridge who was a well known character actress in her day.
The only male role was played by Ian Cullen who had starred in Z Cars for several years. The production was shot all on film and locations were in the East End of London in Brick Lane Market and on a farm near Banbury. It was a prime example of making sure that your vision for a film remains intact. Firstly, I had wanted Rita Tushingham, who had appeared in many films during the sixties, to play the main part. She had a naive quality that I liked and would have been good for the lead role. The Producer decided that she would have been too well known for the part and was nervous it would attract too much publicity. That of course changed the whole feel of the film as I saw it. In the end I was pleased with the way Elizabeth Bell portrayed the role.
Unfortunately cuts were also made in the editing stage to get the film down to time which included drastically changing the ending – removing some children who were part of the plot but who did not have much to say. Since that time everybody who saw it asked me why there were no children in it! I had not stuck to my guns and tried to argue the case on the casting and editing fronts, partly because I was nervous of upsetting the Producer. However, the film was well received and it gave me a chance to get something on my show reel for other work.
How did you come to work on Blake’s 7?
VC: I had worked with Vere Lorrimer on Dixon of Dock Green and when he was made Producer of Blake’s 7 he remembered me and asked me to direct the episodes Sand and Games. I was very familiar with the programme as it was in the fourth series. I would not say that I had watched it avidly as I was usually quite busy in those days being away on location.
Were you daunted by the special effects?
VC: The special effects all took a long time to devise and were in the forefront of effects being done electronically by a man called Mitch Mitchell who went on to do many feature films and commercials. The visual effects which were filmed on location using dry ice, special sand and stunts were very time consuming and an added time constraint to the schedule. All very worrying when you are a new director!
SA: What are your recollections of filming at Winspit Quarry for Games?
VC: I can remember getting sunstroke! I was so involved in the filming which was right beside the sea and I did not wear a hat. The weather seemed quite cool as there was a sea breeze and I had no idea how strong the sun was. It was part of National Trust land and there were long beautiful walks overlooking cliffs and the sea. The caves were very flat inside so we could light it and go into it easily with a lot of people. A large sliding door was erected over the entrance to the caves so that Servalan could walk through into Belkov’s area. We spent an enormous amount of time and effort getting the quarry area to look as if it was really a working area for Servalan’s men who were dressed like monks. A large amount of extras and effects were used to create an underground factory feel, another world inside the caves. Part of the quarry had original railway tracks and trucks which we lit with red lights, smoke and plenty of dry ice. This was probably the biggest design effort I have worked with when Servalan arrived to see Belkov’s world; a sort of Bin Laden of his time.
There were a lot of explosions and fight scenes in that episode – was this something you enjoyed?
VC: I particularly enjoyed setting up large explosions in the caves and a stunt man had to run in to the fire. As it happens his heat resistant suit caught fire and the stunt man came rushing out again as he was literally on fire – that was all by accident rather than design and created a brilliantly dramatic effect. Fortunately, he was not burned just very hot!
What was Stratford Johns (Belkov in Games) like to work with?
VC: I had worked with him many times before on Z Cars and Softly Softly when we had become good friends. I can remember some very funny instances working with him on Z Cars when the cast would always play tricks during the filming on other cast members and production teams. I can remember one instance when he and Frank Windsor weighted down a tea pot when I was trying to set up a false table top during the filming of one ‘live’ episode of Z Cars. It was impossible to lift it up and we only just managed to get it on set before the scene came on air.
At the time we shot the episode Games, Alan, as everybody called him, had begun to work on other dramas but was finding it difficult to find roles that interested him having been so associated with the police series for such a long period. He was very keen to create a role with impact – which I think he did in the case of Belkov. He was always very easy to work with and was tremendously helpful in coming up with ideas of how to enhance the part. I had a tremendous amount of respect for him and he is very much missed on our screens today. He was an obvious choice for the role although not my first choice. I would not like to mention the first choice but actually Vere thought that Stratford Johns was more of a household name. He was a very experienced actor with a brilliant sense of humour. At the time we filmed this episode he had not been working very much though and was probably very glad of the work. He had been the luckiest of actors to get so much work continuously – although I think it was something that the BBC had probably worked out with him.
Moving on to Sand, was the planet set difficult to work on?
VC: I was thrilled when I knew that a whole planet was to be created for Virn at Ealing Film Studios. Huge rocks were built from polystyrene and the sand had to be specially created to cover the whole of one stage, which was huge. I thought the set was absolutely brilliant. It was designed by Ken Ledsham and consisted of rocky areas covered in green sawdust which had been specially mixed up for the Production. In fact I have only once or twice since had the chance to work on such a huge set – for The Snow Children which I filmed in Norway – and also another series called Fimbles which is a programme for children which I have been directing quite recently.
I can remember trying to do the stunt part of the fall of Reeve. I would like to think the fights were worked out to be well shot – but I can remember Vere desperately asking for more close-ups which is often a mistake new directors make – not taking enough close-ups. At the time I remember wondering why he thought they were needed but now I can see the reason clearly having stood well back from it!
You decided to switch the studio recording dates for Games and Sand. Was there a particular reason for this?
VC: I think it was partly to do with the visual effects timetable depending on how many had to be worked upon but it may also have been whether the script was considered ready and suitable for the slot. This was a decision made by Vere Lorrimer and naturally one did not question it! Although I happen to think the script by Tanith Lee was a favourite of mine.
Sand was another episode with a heavy special effects requirement – involving model spaceships, lasers etc – did this make things more difficult?
VC: We had to shoot a lot of model shots to depict the Planet Virn – which I think looked quite atmospheric and like nothing on Earth! I do not recall much else about the visual effects apart from the green sand and the laser guns. Actually one of the actors from that episode, Peter Craze, has recently given me some lecturing at the Drama Studio in Ealing where he is now the principal.
What are your memories of the cast of Blake’s 7?
VC: I was always very friendly with Paul Darrow whom I like tremendously. He helped me a great deal and was very supportive of anything I wanted to achieve. He did somehow put a lot of energy into the role which was entirely what it needed and somehow gained the reputation of being a little larger than life. I do hope I have the opportunity of working with him again. He became so well known for the part of Avon that it is difficult to associate him with other characters parts, although that is a very popular thing in America. Steven Pacey was a brilliant actor at the time and went on to play many west end roles afterwards although not so much in television. I will never understand why as he would have been a heart throb – he still is! Michael Keating and I were very good friends at the time and kept in touch for a long time after Blake’s 7 finished. Peter Tuddenham was a joy to work with and always was very kind to me. I think he would have liked to appear in the programme more often.
Jacqueline Pearce is a brilliant actress – and slightly prone to pranks on the set! I was particularly worried not to be able to control some of them! She appeared naked several times in front of the camera to surprise us all and has no clothes on under the aluminium foil blankets in Sand. This was revealed at the end of the take! Plus one hotel in Salcombe had a swimming pool in the foyer and Jackie decided to leap in it late one night with nothing on! However she was always a very good performer and totally professional. After the series was ended by the BBC she should have gone on to perform many more exciting characters afterwards. I believe she is now playing lots of new roles again as we have the same agent.
Which episode is your favourite and why?
VC: Well I didn’t watch a lot of the others – but all of those directed by David Sullivan-Proudfoot were excellent. To be honest I liked Games but I am aware that a lot of people liked Sand. I was pleased they both appeared on the same video and now DVD.
Would you have directed more episodes of Blake’s 7 if it had returned for another series?
VC: Most definitely – in fact Vere had already promised me that if he was producing I would be doing more. It was always one of my most favourite programmes from a directing and creative point of view.
Since working on Blake’s 7, you have worked on most of the major British soap operas. Do you have a particular favourite?
VC: Well I do like Emmerdale as it has such a variety of outside locations as well as some good writing. I was disappointed not to be directing more of the programme. I had directed many episodes and this meant working away from home at a time when my daughter was growing up and needed me to be at home. The schedule was quite busy and one would be away from home a lot during the week. So unfortunately I had to stop. I also liked directing Brookside and was very sad when it came to a close. My most favourite soap is Fair City which is Ireland’s number 1 programme for which I have directed over seventy two episodes over the past seven years for RTE in Dublin.
You’ve also worked on a lot of kids’ shows, is this something you enjoy?
VC: Well I do like working all the time and one cannot make a living purely out of drama as less of it is being made now – since Reality TV came to town! However, directing for Childrens TV has been an amazing thing – such talented people work in Children’s television which gives the opportunity to be more creative than with ordinary adult drama. There are a lot of politics involved though. I like directing for children’s drama and have enjoyed the many episodes of Grange Hill I directed. However, the one of which I am the most proud is Fraggle Rock of which I directed two series. When TVS lost their franchise the British episodes of Fraggle were not repeated and it contains some of my best work. The music and emotion in the scripts was quite brilliant and have definitely stood the test of time. I have heard a rumour it is likely to be shown again soon.
Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions?
VC: To keep working! I would like to direct a feature film and also to get some go ahead funding for the cartoon series my partner is working on – Beat Street.
This article originally appeared in Scorpio Attack fanzine by Jonathan Helm
