Dewi Humphreys

Dewi Humphreys (born 4 February 1947) is a Welsh born television director specialising in situation comedy. He is best known for directing a number of iconic comedy series for the BBC, including The Vicar of Dibley, 2point4 Children, My Family, Absolutely Fabulous, The Green, Green, Grass and Still Open All Hours.

Early life Humphreys was born in Ysbyty Dewi Sant, Bangor, the eldest child of novelist and poet Emyr Humphreys and Elinor Myfanwy (née Jones). His younger brother Siôn Humphreys is also a television director and producer. Humphreys was taught at St. Cyres, Penarth, his Welsh language teacher was the actor Noel Williams, whom he would later cast in his directorial debut Revival (1990) as part of the Wales Playhouse series for BBC Wales. Humphreys excelled in Welsh at school, subsequently gaining a GCE in the subject. Humphreys later studied Law at Sheffield University, he dropped out after a year and moved to Soho, London in the late 1960s to work in the film industry.

Career Humphreys progressed through the film industry via the camera department, operating initially as a clapper loader, focus puller and camera assistant on films like Pulp (1972), The 14 (1973), Gold (1974) and The Boys From Brazil (1978). He later became a camera operator employed on films including Quadrophenia (1979), Chariots of Fire (1981), Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982), The Missionary (1982), Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983), The Dresser (1983) and The Razor's Edge (1984). He subsequently moved into directing, where he directed a number of commercials.

In 1990 he moved into television directing, his early projects included the Screen One films Sticky Wickets (1990) and Tender Loving Care (1993). In 1993, he directed Telltale, a three-part drama series for HTV. The following year he moved into comedy, working on the anthology series Murder Most Horrid which starred Dawn French in various different roles. Later that year, he collaborated again with French on the sitcom The Vicar of Dibley.

Humphreys has worked on a number of comedy series including Chef!, A Pefect State, Bloomin' Marvelous, 2point4 Children, Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show, My Family, High Stakes, Absolutely Fabulous, According to Bex, Nighty Night, The Green, Green, Grass, Teenage Kicks, The Old Guys, Little Crackers, Mount Pleasant, The Wright Way, Still Open All Hours and Mountain Goats.

As part of the BBC's Millennium coverage in 2000, Humphreys directed alongside Matt Lipsey and Paul Jackson, The Nearly Complete and Utter History of Everything, a two part sketch show featuring comedy sketches based on well-known historical events, featuring stars of British comedy including Angus Deayton, Caroline Quentin, Harry Enfield, Jack Dee, Jennifer Saunders, Peter Davison, Ronnie Barker, Spike Milligan and Victoria Wood.

He directed taped performances of the Bottom stage shows Bottom 2001: An Arse Oddity (2001) and Bottom Live 2003: Weapons Grade Y-Fronts Tour (2003) respectively. Both shows were originally released directly to home video, but were later broadcast on Dave in 2008.

Humphreys directed all three episodes of Rock & Chips, a prequel series to Only Fools & Horses.

In 2016, Humphreys directed a one-off revival of Are You Being Served?, as part of the BBC's season of Landmark Sitcoms, a series of one-off specials featuring revived versions of classic BBC sitcoms, marking the 60th anniversary since the debut of the BBC's first TV sitcom Hancock's Half Hour.

Selected filmography

Camera Department

Director