15 Facts About Bob Spiers

Robert Alexander Spiers was a Scottish television director and producer.

Bob Spiers directed the films That Darn Cat, Spice World, and Kevin of the North.

Bob Spiers was already an accomplished tennis player, having achieved a very high national standard during the time he lived in Scotland.

Bob Spiers joined the staff of the BBC in 1970, working as an assistant floor manager and later a production assistant, before eventually working his way up to become a director and producer.

Bob Spiers subsequently provided a commentary for all the episodes he directed of Fawlty Towers when the series was released on DVD.

Shortly after he directed the series and the unbroadcast pilot of Not the Nine O'Clock News, Bob Spiers left the staff of the BBC to work as a freelance director.

Bob Spiers began his association with writer Steven Moffat in 1989, directing over half of the episodes of the teen comedy drama series Press Gang for the ITV network.

Bob Spiers particularly used tracking shots, sometimes requiring more dialogue to be written to accommodate the length of the shot.

Bob Spiers then directed all twelve episodes of Moffat's sitcom Joking Apart.

Bob Spiers helmed Saunders' Absolutely Fabulous throughout the decade, the show having originated in a sketch from an episode of French and Saunders which had been directed by Spiers.

Bob Spiers directed the pop group the Spice Girls in their film Spiceworld.

Bob Spiers had been working in America on the Disney film That Darn Cat at the peak of the Spice Girls' popularity, and was unaware of the group when first offered the job of directing Spiceworld until friend Jennifer Saunders advised that he take it.

Bob Spiers arrived at a meeting with them in a New York hotel unaware of what they looked like.

Bob Spiers directed two episodes of the Australian ABC series The Adventures of Lano and Woodley.

Bob Spiers died of cancer in December 2008 in Widecombe, Devon at a family home after a long illness.