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)_ (qv)) and shorts. His best known feature film was _Born Free (1966)_ (qv), the story of the lioness Elsa, based on the work by 'Joy Adamson' (qv). He also directed episodes of _The Saint (1962)_ (qv), _The Avengers (1961)_ (qv) and _The New Avengers (1976)_ (qv). He later produced and directed the popular cult children's series _Worzel Gummidge (1979)_ (qv), which starred 'Jon Pertwee' (qv) as a scarecrow, and subsequently directed _Worzel Gummidge Down Under (1987)_ (qv). He was also attached in the 1970s to a proposed _Doctor Who (1963)_ (qv) movie written by 'Tom Baker' (qv) and 'Ian Marter' (qv) called "Doctor Who Meets Scratchman", which was ultimately scuppered by copyright issues and never made.::Anonymous