A Life in TV: Paul Watson

30 June 08

Documentary filmmaker Paul Watson talks about his groundbreaking career in television.

Supported by The Farm Group.

Fresh from receiving the prestigious Special Award at the British Academy Television Awards in 2008, we welcomed Paul Watson to the Academy for a special evening celebrating his life in TV.

Interviewed by Peter Dale, the former head of More4, Watson spoke about his groundbreaking and often controversial career in documentary filmmaking.

Known as the ‘father of reality TV’ for his series The Family in 1974, Watson went on to produce some of the most memorable documentaries of the last thirty years. His films include Sylvania Waters, Rain in My Heart, Malcolm and Barbara and The Fishing Party, a film Watson proudly describes as "Margaret Thatcher’s least favourite film".

Speaking with customary candidness Watson talks about his aims and working methods as well as the current trends of reality television: "For me Big Brother has got to be the worst pieces of filmmaking because I know nothing about the people who take part."

More about Paul Watson

After nine previous BAFTA nominations without a mask film maker Paul Watson received the Academy's Special Award at the British Academy Television Awards supported by Sky+ on 20 April 2008. The Award, named in honour of the late Alan Clarke, is presented annually for "outstanding creative contribution to television".

A revered and often controversial figure, Watson has been working in television for more than 35 years, and there can be no doubting his unique contribution to British filmmaking.

Having studied at the Royal College of Art in the sixties Watson’s TV career began as a researcher on Whicker's World. Since then, he has worked on more than 200 films, from The Fishing Party and Sylvania Waters to White Lives and Rain In My Heart.

Watson’s first made his name for his groundbreaking working methods - what he calls "present-tense filmaking". His warts-and-all series, The Family (1974), which focused on the lives of a working class family, is widely credited as the first example of "fly-on-the wall" TV documentary.

Watson has applied this no-frills style to all his major works including the Malcolm And Barbara documentaries - two moving meditations on the nature of love, life and death created a decade apart. For his last eight films, there’s been no crew - just him and his camera.

Despite recent controversy surrounding the promotion of the Malcolm And Barbara Sequel, Love’s Farewell, reports of Watson’s imminent retirement from filmmaking have been exaggerated. He is currently taking on new projects and is busy reinventing himself by writing plays for Radio Four.

BAFTA: A Life in TV

The BAFTA: A Life in TV strand of events celebrates British Television, exploring a major and distinctive contribution by a BAFTA-winner or nominee.