Les Blair

Birth : 1941-10-23, Manchester, England

History

Born in 1941, Les Blair is a BAFTA winning television, film and theatre director famous for productions that have political or socially aware themes and are often improvised or naturalistic in flavour. He attended Salford Grammer School and, whilst there, acted in plays alongside fellow pupil Mike Leigh. After graduating at Liverpool University, Blair met up with RADA graduate Leigh again and the pair became flatmates and proponents of Improvisational drama in Birmingham. After joining the London Film School they collaborated together on Leigh's first feature film, Bleak Moments. Blair's own work includes the groundbreaking and controversial BBC miniseries Law and Order (1978) and the 1993 film Bad Behaviour.

Movies

H3
Director
'H3' is a universal story of endurance and courage set inside Europe's most secure prison, the Maze prison in Northern Ireland. Here, in H3 - the bleakest of all the H-blocks - a group of young republican prisoners hold out for what they believe in, refusing to be labeled as criminals or co-operate with prison authorities. However, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is determined that these Republican prisoners will be treated like all the other common criminals in British jails, ending a special regime which allowed the inmates political status to organise life inside the jail along POW lines. The republican prisoners immediately start a 'no-wash' protest, refusing to wear prison-issue clothes or perform work duties, a protest which results in their being locked in their cells for hours on end without exercise, recreation, reading materials and with only blankets to wear for heat...
Stand and Deliver
Director
Alun arrives in Glasgow to play a gig at The Edge, a comedy club run by would-be promoter Max T. Max T should be looking after Alun, but he already has his hands full trying to keep Sandy Cervi, his second cousin and business partner, from taking over the club. In a bid to sort out some 'poontang' for himself and Alun, Max invites Eva, a psychiatric nurse and her photographer friend Christina along to the gig.
Jump the Gun
Writer
Set in Johannesburg, JUMP THE GUN follows the tangled lives of six very different working class characters, formerly kept apart by apartheid and now all striving to succeed in the new "rainbow nation". United by their insecurities - both physical and financial - the film follows their struggle to discover their niche in this brave new world, where opportunity beckons, but violence is always lurking.
Jump the Gun
Director
Set in Johannesburg, JUMP THE GUN follows the tangled lives of six very different working class characters, formerly kept apart by apartheid and now all striving to succeed in the new "rainbow nation". United by their insecurities - both physical and financial - the film follows their struggle to discover their niche in this brave new world, where opportunity beckons, but violence is always lurking.
Bliss
Writer
Life for shy, romantic civil servant Leslie Bliss would be pure bliss if only he could get together with Julia, the new love of his life. Saffron and Gee appea rto be having a few problems on that score in the flat upstairs. Should all his hopes come to nothing, there's always his beloved Mastermind to fall back on.
Bliss
Director
Life for shy, romantic civil servant Leslie Bliss would be pure bliss if only he could get together with Julia, the new love of his life. Saffron and Gee appea rto be having a few problems on that score in the flat upstairs. Should all his hopes come to nothing, there's always his beloved Mastermind to fall back on.
The Merrihill Millionaires
Director
They were a top team - five miners who together had mined a million tons of coal but now they must face up to redundancy.
Bad Behaviour
Writer
The McAllister family house is the setting for Gerry and Ellie's grapples with work, children and how to get the bathroom fixed. Both have reached the stage where reason cannot be heard above the ticking clock of experience and ambition. When temptation comes, how will they react?
Bad Behaviour
Director
The McAllister family house is the setting for Gerry and Ellie's grapples with work, children and how to get the bathroom fixed. Both have reached the stage where reason cannot be heard above the ticking clock of experience and ambition. When temptation comes, how will they react?
Filipina Dreamgirls
Director
Several men from Wales travel to the Philippines on an arranged tour to meet Filipina women for romance and possible marriage. None of the women are the ideal Asiatic beauties the men imagined, but by the end of the tour, most of the Englishmen return with a new bride.
Seduction
Director
Anthology of short plays on the topic of seduction
News Hounds
Director
Every cub reporter wants a front page 'splash' and the journalists from The Brit, a top-selling daily tabloid, are no exception. They're on the trail of a sensational story and their jobs depend on it.
The Accountant
Director
London middle class Jewish accountant Lionel is preparing for his son's bar mitzvah when he does a little favour for a friend, and ends up getting mixed up with the Mafia.
Leave to Remain
Director
Set during the political upheaval following Ayatollah Khomeini's rise to power in Iran, Les Blair's gripping work tells the story of Shahin Mohamedi, a young Iranian woman studying in London. When the cheques her father sends from home are intercepted by the Khomeini government, she is threatened with repatriation by vicious British immigration officers. To remain in England she must be granted 'Leave To Remain'. Enter Jimmy Johnstone, an English wide-boy strapped for cash and willing to perform the paper marriage that will ensure Shahin's freedom. Jimmy wants to build on the relationship, but Shahin's heart is a thousand miles away with her old fiance.
London's Burning: The Movie
Director
It's Josie Ingham's first day at Blackwall Firestation but things aren't going so well being the only female firefighter in an all-male team. Not only does she have to prove to them that she can do the job, problems at home complicate her life even further. Outside, in the heart of the city, tensions are rising to the extreme, Blue Watch have a long night ahead.
Honest Decent & True
Director
Trendy employees of a small London ad agency try to market beer for an old-fashioned client.
Number One
Director
A down on his luck Irishman in London decides to play snooker for money.
Four in a Million
Director
The offstage lives of four club performers who are staying in the same guest house and rubbing their illusions and disillusions together after-hours.
Beyond the Pale
Story
"The British Brothers leave Hackney at 4:30 today and will march with bands and banners through the Jewish quarters of Whitechapel and Bethnal Green." The story of Jewish immigrants in London's East End in the early 20th century.
Beyond the Pale
Director
"The British Brothers leave Hackney at 4:30 today and will march with bands and banners through the Jewish quarters of Whitechapel and Bethnal Green." The story of Jewish immigrants in London's East End in the early 20th century.
Law & Order
Director
Four-part drama serial about the British juicidal system, dealing with an investigation presented from the perspectives of the police force, the criminal, the solicitor and the prison system.
Bet Your Life
Writer
Like alcoholism, gambling is a disease. Ches, a compulsive gambler, is sent for medical help. A wonder drug perhaps? Or hypnosis maybe? Ches finds that his psychiatrist has other ideas.
Bet Your Life
Director
Like alcoholism, gambling is a disease. Ches, a compulsive gambler, is sent for medical help. A wonder drug perhaps? Or hypnosis maybe? Ches finds that his psychiatrist has other ideas.
Sunshine in Brixton
Director
Sixteen-year-old Otis loathes school. He wants to be a professional footballer, but is good at drawing, so his mother wants him to be a draughtsman. Then, a new sports teacher appears at his South London comprehensive school, and life starts to look a little more hopeful...
Early to Bed
Director
Alan Bleasdaleā€™s television debut, this beautifully observed drama stars Alison Steadman as a woman having a passionate tryst with the boy next door while her husband is at work.
Blooming Youth
Writer
An improvised character piece, overseen by Les Blair and Tony Garnett set in the everyday life of a group of polytechnic students.
Blooming Youth
Director
An improvised character piece, overseen by Les Blair and Tony Garnett set in the everyday life of a group of polytechnic students.
Bleak Moments
Editor
Moments from the uncompromisingly bleak existence of a secretary, her intellectually disabled sister, aloof and uneasy teacher boyfriend, bizarre neighbor and irritating workmate.
Bleak Moments
Producer
Moments from the uncompromisingly bleak existence of a secretary, her intellectually disabled sister, aloof and uneasy teacher boyfriend, bizarre neighbor and irritating workmate.