https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Waris_HusseinWaris Hussein - Revision history2026-09-07T13:46:56ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Waris_Hussein&diff=121431&oldid=prev>Newystats: removed expert needed and citations needed templates - they were added in 2015 and those issues have been dealt with2021-04-29T23:42:42Z<p>removed expert needed and citations needed templates - they were added in 2015 and those issues have been dealt with</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}<br />
{{Infobox person<br />
| name = Waris Hussein<br />
| image = <!-- just the name, without the File: or Image: prefix or enclosing [[brackets]] --><br />
| image_size = <br />
| alt = <br />
| caption = <br />
| birth_name = Waris Habibullah<br />
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1938|12|9|df=y}}<br />
| birth_place = [[Lucknow]], [[United Provinces (1937–50)|United Provinces]], [[British India]]<br />
| residence = <br />
| nationality = <br />
| ethnicity = <br />
| citizenship = <br />
| education = [[Clifton College]]<br />
| alma_mater = [[Queens' College, Cambridge]]<br />
| occupation = [[Television director|Television]] and [[film director]]<br />
| years_active = 1960–present<br />
| mother = [[Attia Hosain]]<br />
}}<br />
'''Waris Hussein''' (born '''Waris Habibullah''', 9 December 1938),<ref name="Mulkern"/> is a British-Indian television and film director. At the beginning of his career he was employed by the BBC as its youngest drama director.<ref name="bhuchar">{{cite web |url= http://asianculturevulture.com/portfolios/waris-hussein-breaking-through-bfi-season-emmy-and-bafta-winning-director-talks-about-dr-who-richard-burton-and-a-passage-to-india-and-edward-mrs-simpson/ |title=Waris Hussein breaking through BFI Season – Emmy and BAFTA winning director talks about 'Doctor Who', Richard Burton and 'A Passage to India' and 'Edward & Mrs Simpson' |first=Suman |last=Bhuchar |work=Asian Culture Vulture |date=12 February 2018 |access-date=17 April 2021}}</ref> He directed early episodes of ''[[Doctor Who]]'', including the first serial, ''[[An Unearthly Child]]'' (1963),<ref name="sweney">{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2013/oct/16/doctor-who-director-william-hartnell-time-lord |title=Doctor Who director exposes William Hartnell as reluctant first Time Lord |first=Mark |last=Sweney |work=The Guardian |date=16 October 2013 |access-date=13 November 2013}}</ref> and later directed the multiple-award-winning [[Thames Television]] serial ''[[Edward & Mrs. Simpson]]'' (1978).<br />
<br />
==Early life==<br />
Waris Habibullah was born in [[Lucknow]], [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|British India]], into a family of the aristocratic [[Taluqdar]] class,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://members.iinet.net.au/~royalty/ips/s/saidanpur.html | title=Saidanpur (Taluq) | work=World of Royalty | access-date=2014-04-13}}</ref> and spent his early years mainly in [[Bombay]]. He came to the UK with his family in 1946, when his father, Ali Bahadur Habibullah, was appointed to the [[India House, London|Indian High Commission]]. After the [[Partition of India|independence]] of [[Pakistan]] in 1947, his father returned to India, but his mother, [[Attia Hosain]], chose to stay in England with her children,<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-attia-hosain-1142971.html |title=Obituary: Attia Hosain |first=Naseem |last=Khan |work=[[The Independent]] |date=5 February 1998 |publisher=[[Independent News & Media|INM]] |location=[[London, UK|London]] |issn=0951-9467 |oclc=185201487 |access-date=13 November 2013}}</ref> and worked as a writer and as broadcaster on the Indian Section of the [[BBC]]'s [[BBC World Service|Eastern Service]] from 1949.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/attia-hosain |title=Attia Hosain |work=The Open University |year=2013 |access-date=2013-11-13}}</ref><br />
<br />
He was educated at [[Clifton College]], and then studied [[English literature]] at [[Queens' College, Cambridge]], where he directed several plays.<ref name="bhuchar"/> His contemporaries included [[Derek Jacobi]], [[Margaret Drabble]], [[Trevor Nunn]], and [[Ian McKellen]],<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.mckellen.com/stage/00511.htm |title=Twelfth Night (Cambridge) |work=mckellen.com |year=2012 |access-date=13 November 2013}}</ref> whom he directed in several productions, including a [[Marlowe Society]]<ref>{{cite web |url= http://marlowe.soc.srcf.net/?page_id=134 |title=Past Productions |work=The Marlowe Society |year=2013 |access-date=13 November 2013}}</ref> revival of ''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (play)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mckellen.com/stage/00518.htm |title=Caesar and Cleopatra with Ian McKellen |work=mckellen.com |year=2012 |access-date=13 November 2013}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Career==<br />
After graduating in 1960, he joined the BBC to train as a director. He also changed his name from Habibullah to Hussein: <blockquote>"It sounded like the King of Jordan then, but [later] turned out to be more like Saddam – and that doesn't help in life".<ref name="Mulkern">{{cite news|last=Mulkern|first=Patrick|url= http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-10-16/doctor-whos-waris-hussein-on-william-hartnell-bette-davis--peter-cook-loathing-david-frost |title=Doctor Who's Waris Hussein on William Hartnell, Bette Davis, & Peter Cook loathing David Frost|work=[[Radio Times]] |date=16 October 2013 |access-date=13 November 2013}}</ref></blockquote><br />
<br />
Hussein directed the first ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial, ''[[An Unearthly Child]]'', in 1963, although he was unsure about the effect directing television science fiction would have on his career:<blockquote>"[I was] a graduate from [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] with [[Honours degree|honours]], and you're directing this piece about cavemen in skins [..] 'I thought, 'Where have I landed up in my life?'"<ref name="sweney"/></blockquote><br />
<br />
In 1964, Hussein returned to the series to direct most of the fourth serial, ''[[Marco Polo (Doctor Who)|Marco Polo]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/marcopolo/detail.shtml|title=Marco Polo|publisher=BBC|access-date=17 July 2017}}</ref> He went on to direct many other productions such as a [[BBC]] television version of ''[[A Passage to India (play)|A Passage to India]]'' (''[[Play of the Month]]'', 1965);<ref>{{cite web|last=Angelini|first=Sergio|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1052917/index.html|title=Passage to India, A (1965)|publisher=BFI Screenonline|date=2003–2014|access-date=18 July 2017}}</ref> the BBC serial ''[[Notorious Woman]]'' (1974); the [[suffragette|suffragette movement]] BBC drama ''[[Shoulder to Shoulder]]'' (1974); and the [[Thames Television]] serial ''[[Edward and Mrs Simpson]]'' (1978). During production of the latter two series, he worked once more with former ''Doctor Who'' producer [[Verity Lambert]]. He also directed for Thames the first story (a four-parter) in the ''[[Armchair Thriller]]'' series.<ref name="screenonline.org.uk">{{cite web |url= http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/1224489/ |title=BFI Screenonline: Hussein, Waris (1938- ) |first=Sergio |last=Angelini |work=screenonline.org.uk |year=2013 |access-date=2013-11-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/feb/14/doctor-who-classic-episode-an-unearthly-child |title=Doctor Who classic episode #1: An Unearthly Child |first=Dan |last=Martin |work=The Guardian |date=14 February 2013 |access-date=2013-11-13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rqgz3 |title=BBC Radio 4 - The Reunion, Doctor Who |work=BBC Radio 4 |date=12 April 2013 |access-date=2013-11-13}}</ref><br />
<br />
Hussein's feature film ''[[A Touch of Love (1969 film)|A Touch of Love]]'' (1969), with Ian McKellen among the cast, was entered into the [[19th Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="imdb">{{cite web |url= https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065085/awards |title=A Touch of Love - Awards |work=imdb.com |year=2013 |access-date=13 November 2013}}</ref> Other theatrically released films include ''[[Melody (1971 film)|Melody]] '' (1971), also known as S.W.A.L.K, with [[Jack Wild]] and [[Mark Lester]], and ''[[Henry VIII and his Six Wives]]'' (1972), starring [[Keith Michell]], [[Charlotte Rampling]], and [[Donald Pleasence]].<ref name="screenonline.org.uk"/><br />
<br />
In the 1980s and 1990s, Hussein directed several [[television movie]]s in the United States. One British project was ''[[Intimate Contact]]'' (1987), a four-part drama for [[Central Independent Television|Central TV]] with [[Claire Bloom]] and [[Daniel Massey (actor)|Daniel Massey]], portraying the experience of a couple where the husband has contracted and ultimately dies from [[AIDS]]. Although he did not reveal it to anyone on the production at the time, the subject was particularly close one for Hussein, who lost his own partner Ian to the disease.<ref name="Mulkern"/><br />
<br />
Hussein directed ''[[Sixth Happiness (1997 film)|Sixth Happiness]]'' (1997), a film whose screenplay was written by [[Firdaus Kanga]], the author of the semi-autobiographical novel ''[[Trying to Grow]]''. [[Meera Syal]], [[Nina Wadia]], and [[Firdaus Kanga]] starred in the film.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.bfi.org.uk/blu-rays-dvds/sixth-happiness |title=Sixth Happiness |work=British Film Institute |year=2013 |access-date=13 November 2013}}</ref><br />
<br />
In the BBC drama ''[[An Adventure in Space and Time]]'' (2013), about the creation of ''Doctor Who'', Hussein was portrayed by [[Sacha Dhawan]].<ref name="Mulkern"/><br />
<br />
==Awards==<br />
Hussein received a ''Best Drama Series or Serial'' [[British Academy Television Awards|BAFTA award]] in 1979 for ''Edward and Mrs. Simpson'' (shared with producer Andrew Brown),<ref>{{cite web| publisher= [[BAFTA]]| url= http://awards.bafta.org/award/1979/television/drama-series-or-serial| website= bafta.org| title=1979 Television Drama Series or Serial - BAFTA Awards| access-date= 24 February 2018}}</ref> and an ''Outstanding Directing in a Variety or Music Program'' [[Emmy Award]] in 1985 for ''[[Copacabana (musical)#"Copacabana" TV film (1985)|Copacabana]]''.<ref>{{cite web| publisher= [[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]]| url= http://www.emmys.com/shows/copacabana| website= emmys.com| title= Copacabana| access-date= 24 February 2018}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Personal life==<br />
Hussein has a partner,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-10-17/doctor-who-director-waris-hussein-on-burton-and-taylor-racism-and-an-adventure-in-space-and-time |first=Patrick |last=Mulkern |date=17 October 2013 |title=Doctor Who director Waris Hussein on Burton and Taylor, racism and An Adventure in Space and Time |website=[[Radio Times]] |access-date=30 July 2017}}</ref> and he came out to his partner's family by 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg5BWxatZEU |title=LGBTQ In The Worlds Of Doctor Who |author=Doctor Who: The Fan Show |date=28 July 2017 |access-date=30 July 2017|via=YouTube}}</ref><br />
<br />
==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
==External links==<br />
*{{IMDb name|0404014}}<br />
<br />
{{Waris Hussein}}<br />
{{EmmyAward VarietySeriesDirecting}}<br />
<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
<br />
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hussein, Waris}}<br />
[[Category:1938 births]]<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge]]<br />
[[Category:Artists from Lucknow]]<br />
[[Category:English film directors]]<br />
[[Category:English television directors]]<br />
[[Category:Indian emigrants to England]]<br />
[[Category:LGBT directors]]<br />
[[Category:LGBT people from England]]<br />
[[Category:People educated at Clifton College]]<br />
[[Category:People from Mumbai]]<br />
[[Category:Television people from London]]</div>>Newystats