麻豆社

With an astonishing 50 years of television experience, Moira Armstrong is one of the UK鈥檚 most prolific TV directors. But her impressive career very nearly didn鈥檛 happen. Armstrong鈥檚 first acceptance letter from the 麻豆社 got lost in the post and it was Armstrong鈥檚 mother who took matters in hand. 鈥淪he was so incensed that I hadn鈥檛 heard from the 麻豆社, that she went to Portland Place to the appointments department and complained,鈥� Armstrong recalls, 鈥渢hey said that they had actually sent me a letter saying would I come for an appointment.鈥�

Armstrong鈥檚 first position at the 麻豆社 was in radio and she even trained as a continuity announcer before deciding to move into television. Armstrong moved to Thames Television as a directorial assistant and later returned to the 麻豆社 for a directing course, which set her on a career path for life.

Armstrong was one of the first female TV directors and her work reads like a history of popular British television, from Dr Finlay鈥檚 Casebook (1962) and Z Cars (1962), to Dunroaming Rising (1988) and most recently Lark Rise to Candleford (2008). One of Armstrong鈥檚 most fondly remembered series is Sunset Song (1971), which provided the Scottish director with the chance to return to her North Eastern homelands. For Armstrong it stands out as one of her favourites, 鈥渋t鈥檚 got a very good narrative through it with the central character of Chris being the narrator, it鈥檚 in the part of Scotland which is not terribly well known outside of Scotland and it鈥檚 where I grew up, so it鈥檚 like going back to my roots.鈥� Sunset Song was the first colour series to be made in Scotland.