Bafta-winning director and Coronation Street actor Paul Seed has died aged 78.
Seed was best known for directing dramas like the BBC’s House of Cards, Lark Rise to Candleford and Doc Martin, but he started out his career as an actor – playing the role of Father Harris in Coronation Street from 1979 until 1981.
The actor died on 7 March after being diagnosed with cancer and is survived by his wife, Elizabeth Cassidy, and their two sons, Jack and Sean.
His friend and colleague Sir Tom Courtenay paid tribute to Seed in an obituary published in The Guardian, having worked with him on 1998’s A Rather English Marriage. Courtenay starred alongside Albert Finney and Joanna Lumley in the film, which later won a Bafta.
“His career was defined by intelligence, emotional precision and a rare instinct for performance,” Courtenay wrote.
“He loved what he did, and this love communicated itself to his actors. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought the world of him.”
Seed began acting in 1972, taking on a role in the historical adventure series Pretenders. He later appeared in Z Cars, Crown Court and four episodes of Doctor Who before moving into directing.
He worked with a young Liam Neeson on drama Across the Water in 1983, before casting Charlotte Coleman – who later starred in Four Weddings and a Funeral – in 1987’s Inappropriate Behaviour.
Arguably, his most notable directing credit is House of Cards, the BBC political thriller adapted from Michael Dobbs’ 1989 novel of the same name. Ian Richardson plays the Conservative Party’s fictional Chief Whip, Francis Urquhart, as he schemes his way into becoming the leader of the Tories.
Contributing to Seed’s obituary, Miles Anderson – who played Roger O’Neill in the series – said: “On the first day of filming, I remember Paul saying to Ian, ‘Why don’t you try looking directly into camera for your asides?’
“A stroke of genius, breaking the fourth wall in a British TV drama that led to the familiar phrase ‘You might think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment’ being used everywhere, especially in the halls of Westminster.”
Later on in his career, Seed directed New Tricks, Lark Rise to Candleford and the BBC’s adaptation of Just William, which won a Bafta in 2010.
He later settled with his wife in north Devon, “where he pursued photography and enjoyed a quieter pace of life”, according to Courtenay.
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