John Sichel

John Sichel (21 September 1937 - 5 April 2005) was a French-English theatre director. Early in his career, Sichel was sought by Sir Laurence Olivier to direct the National Theatre Company in the award-winning film adaptation of Chekhov's Three Sisters (1970) with Olivier, Joan Plowright, and Alan Bates. He then went on to direct Olivier in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice (1976) and Alec Guinness and Ralph Richardson in Twelfth Night (1970). His experience as a commissioner and director of drama and drama-documentaries enabled him to work with some of the world's finest actors including Derek Jacobi, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, Sean Connery and Michael Caine. He has also worked as a director and trainer at several of the UK's leading theatres and institutions including the Young Vic, Guildhall School of Drama, RADA, Shaw Theatre, Italia Conti, London Film School, Edinburgh Festival. For the latter part of his career, he established ARTTS Skillcentre, a training facility supporting artists in employment with the film and television industry.

Works

Three Sisters

Nearly a thousand miles away from their beloved Moscow, Chekhov's Three Sisters live in virtual exile. Olga , a schoolmistress, attempts to support her siblings and the home that is the sole legacy of their late father.

Release Date1970-04-01

DepartmentDirecting

JobCo-Director

Vote Count10

Thriller

Thriller is a British television series, originally broadcast in the UK from 1973 to 1976. It is an anthology series: each episode has a self-contained story and its own cast. As the title suggests, each story is a thriller of some variety, from tales of the supernatural to down-to-earth whodunits.

Release Date1973-04-14

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count5

Vote Count11

Someone at the Top of the Stairs

A young woman and her friend rent a room in a boarding house. Soon they become aware of the fact that the other "renters" are a very strange lot, and that there are some very odd goings-on in the house that seem to be centered in the attic... Part of the ITV 'Thriller' anthology series.

Release Date1973-02-12

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count3

Kiss Me and Die

When his brother vanishes without a trace, American Robert Stone goes to his last known location: a remote English village. Robert's investigation leads him to the mansion of Jonathon Lanceford, a man obsessed with the Gothic works of Edgar Allen Poe, and his beautiful and enigmatic niece Dominie...

Release Date1974-02-09

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count3

Twelfth Night

Sir Alec Guinness, Sir Ralph Richardson and Joan Plowright star in this merry on-stage mix-up of identity, gender and love in Tony Award-winner John Dexter’s production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Originally broadcast on Britain’s ITV, this classic performance captures all the slapstick, puns and double entendres that have amazed and amused audiences for over four hundred years.

Release Date1970-07-12

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count4

Sign It Death

A young woman schemes to marry a wealthy businessman by becoming his secretary.

Release Date1974-03-09

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count1

The Next Scream You Hear

The police receive an anonymous tip that Bernard Peel has murdered his wife, Jennifer. Peel declares his innocence, but there is a substantial amount of evidence contradicting his story. Is someone trying to frame Mr. Peel? Peel asks private detective Matthew Earp to investigate.

Release Date1974-07-06

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count1

Possession

With the exception of the poor central heating system, Ray and Penny Burns' newly-purchased country house seems ideal. While repairing the pipes, a handyman digs up the cellar and uncovers the body of the home's previous owner who was murdered twenty years earlier. A séance held in the home reveals something very disturbing.

Release Date1973-04-12

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count1

The Colour of Blood

A young girl on a train finds out that her companion is a serial killer.

Release Date1973-05-12

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Spell of Evil

A businessman hires a marriage bureau when his wife dies from a sudden illness and is delighted to find himself paired up with the beautiful Clara. Despite seeming like the perfect wife, Clara is in fact a witch and has nothing but evil intentions for her new husband.

Release Date1973-06-16

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count1

An Echo of Theresa

American businessman Brad Hunter and his wife Suzy are visiting England for the first time. Meeting a business contact, Brad introduces his wife as "Theresa." But it seems to be more than an innocent slip of the tongue. Brad begins behaving strangely and knows more about specific locations in London than he would as a first time visitor. Suzy hires private detective Matthew Earp to look into the reasons behind her husbands sudden change in personality. This aired on British TV as part of the "Thriller" series (under the title "An Echo of Theresa") but was issued as a featured on home video in the U.S. as "Anatomy of Terror."

Release Date1973-01-15

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

The Eyes Have It

A group of terrorists posing as plumbers set up base at a school for the blind. The students remain blissfully unaware while the terrorists plan the assassination of a politician who will soon be passing the school on a parade route. Only one student, Sally, suspects that the men upstairs may be dangerous...

Release Date1973-06-09

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count5

H.M.S. Pinafore

Captain's daughter Josephine and common sailor Ralph Rackstraw are in love. However, their relationship is complicated by her arranged marriage to the high-ranking Sir Joseph Porter. A secret about the characters' true identities revealed by Little Buttercup, which leads to a farcical resolution. Performed by the D'Oyly Carte Company for Opera Australia.

Release Date1973-11-23

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Coppers End

Coppers End is a police station where the policemen work very hard to avoid work. A crime would involve them filling in forms, making out reports and, heaven forbid, giving evidence in court.

Release Date1971-02-19

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count13

The Merchant of Venice

An Edwardian take on the Shakespeare play starring Laurence Olivier.

Release Date1973-10-07

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count1

Lady Killer

A shy, lonely American girl marries a charming man she meets while on vacation in England, unaware that he has sinister plans for her.

Release Date1973-01-18

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count3

In the Steps of a Dead Man

When a young soldier suddenly dies, his parents and his girlfriend are naturally shocked and upset by the news. Several months later a young man turns up at the parent's house claiming to be their dead son's best friend. They welcome him and invite him to stay for a while. They also introduce him to their son's girlfriend and she is similarly impressed by him. It is later discovered, however, that he is not what he appears to be and may have had a hand in their son's death.

Release Date1974-05-27

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count2

One Deadly Owner

A fashion model buys a Rolls-Royce. What she doesn't know is that it's haunted.

Release Date1974-02-16

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count1

Tycoon

Tycoon is a British television drama created by John Sichel, broadcast from 18 September to 11 December 1978. Instead of taking on her late husband Sydney's job, Diana Clark loyally turns her talents to writing his biography, dredging up plenty of twists and turns along the way.

Release Date1978-09-18

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count2

A Bunch of Fives

A Bunch of Fives is an English children’s television show broadcast in the 1970s on ITV. A precursor of Grange Hill, it starred Lesley Manville and Jamie Foreman as Fifth formers who start a school newspaper. The show spawned one paperback tie-in.

Release Date1977-05-18

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count14

Vote Count2

Fraud Squad

Crime drama series detailing the cases of Detective Inspector Gamble and Detective Sergeant Vicky Hicks working for the Fraud Squad in the Midlands. Gamble is very much his own man, all too often doing things his own way, much to the frustration of his boss Superintendent Proud. Gamble’s sidekick Vicky is often little more than a glorified secretary for too much of the time but as the series goes on she does more of a chance to shine.

Release Date1969-05-20

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Episode Count4

Vote Count1

Death to Sister Mary

The cast of a British soap opera are attacked by a mad fan who confuses them with their TV roles.

Release Date1974-05-21

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Once the Killing Starts

Married college professor Michael Lane falls in love with one of his students and hatches an elaborate scheme to dispose of his wife, Elizabeth. His murder plot goes as planned. However, he soon receives an anonymous note: "I know what you did, murderer!" Prof. Lane frantically tries to discover who knows his secret...

Release Date1974-01-07

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count1

Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are

Two American girls go on a vacation to England and mysterious things begin happening when one of them falls to her death from atop a monument.

Release Date1974-09-10

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count1

Ring Once for Death

Recently widowed Laura Vallance returns home to England after many years living abroad. She knows few people in England, but she desires rest and seclusion in her time of grief. However, she is more alone than she bargained for when she hires Roger Masters as her butler. With small doses of poison, the ruthless butler plans to keeps his wealthy employer incapacitated... permanently.

Release Date1973-12-06

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count2

K Is for Killing

A husband and wife team are hired to protect an eccentric millionaire from an assassin but a series of murders follows.

Release Date1974-03-02

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

A Place to Die

Doctor Bruce Nelson takes over the medical practice of a village general-practitioner. Upon arriving in their new home, the doctor and his wife, Tessa, receive a very warm welcome from all the villagers. Tessa is at first flattered by the villagers' constant fawning and gifts, but soon becomes wary of their strange ways, and begins to suspect there is something evil in the village.

Release Date1973-05-26

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count2

I'm the Girl He Wants to Kill

Returning home to her flat, Ann Rogers passes a stranger leaving the building. A few moments later she discovers her neighbor lying dead in the hallway, the latest victim of a serial killer. Ann could be able to identify the killer, but the killer also knows her face and knows he needs to silence the witness... TV episode from the series, "Thriller" was also released as feature film on home video starting in the 1980s.

Release Date1974-03-18

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count6

A Coffin for the Bride

Mark Walker is in the lucrative business of marrying wealthy older women and murdering them after the honeymoon. That all changes when he falls for cool blonde Stella McKenzie. He considers giving up his life of crime and finally marrying for love. The only obstacles in his way are a lawyer who suspects the truth, and temptation in the form of the perfect target for one more kill...

Release Date1974-05-31

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Vote Count3

Only a Scream Away

Newlyweds Samantha and Robert Miller emerge from the church to the sound of cheers. However, the happy scene is disturbed by a cruel practical joke, someone throws a paint-bomb at the bride. Later, upon returning from their honeymoon the couple discover the smashed remnants of their wedding cake and a mysterious gift -- one soiled glove. Could it be a warning? Does someone hold a grudge against the couple?

Release Date1974-01-26

DepartmentProduction

JobProducer

Vote Count2