James Hill

British writer, director and producer. A former documentary maker, he started with the GPO Film Unit in 1937 as an assistant, then served in the RAF Film Unit during World War II. Post-war, he made further documentaries as well as children's films, both feature-length (starting with The Stolen Plans (1952)) and shorts. His best known feature film was Born Free (1966), the story of the lioness Elsa, based on the work by Joy Adamson. He also directed episodes of The Saint (1962), The Avengers (1961) and The New Avengers (1976). He later produced and directed the popular cult children's series Worzel Gummidge (1979), which starred Jon Pertwee as a scarecrow, and subsequently directed Worzel Gummidge Down Under (1987). He was also attached in the 1970s to a proposed Doctor Who (1963) movie written by Tom Baker and Ian Marter called "Doctor Who Meets Scratchman", which was ultimately scuppered by copyright issues and never made.