My friend and colleague Oliver Horsbrugh, who has died of cancer aged 71, was a talented and versatile television director who initially trained at the BBC and went on to forge a career in television drama lasting over four decades.
His parents, Walter Horsbrugh and Sheila Beckett, were both actors, so perhaps it is natural that Oliver always had such an intuitive connection with cast and crew of the productions on which he worked. His charm and charisma invariably created an enjoyable atmosphere on set.
Oliver married Jo, a television PA, in 1962, and they went on to have a daughter, Rebecca, now a TV sports journalist, and a son, Edward, who died recently.
Oliver directed his first television play for Thirty-Minute Theatre in 1968. After that he tackled, among others, The Brothers; Strangers; A Kind of Loving; Juliet Bravo; Crown Court; Bergerac and Coronation Street, to name but a few. He had only recently won a Bafta for an episode of Emmerdale.
Oliver was a keen sportsman – particularly when it came to rugby and cricket – and as a member of the MCC he almost never missed a match. A huge film buff, he was an active member of Bafta. He was also a member of the Cinema Theatre Association due to his interest in the preservation and architecture of old cinemas and theatres.
He is survived by Jo and Rebecca.