Stephen Frears: Director for Hire

imagine… profiles acclaimed British director Stephen Frears. Despite decades of success across both cinema and television, Frears likes to fly under the radar, subscribing to Billy Wilder’s maxim, ‘The best director is the one you don’t see’. He has helmed an array of critically acclaimed films - My Beautiful Laundrette, The Grifters, Dangerous Liaisons, The Queen and Philomena, to name just a few. Some say he’s notoriously grumpy, others that he’s mischievous and misunderstood. Now for the first time, Frears opens up about his life and career. What drives this 81-year-old, who has over 70 productions to his name across cinema and television?

The programme follows Frears as he embarks on his latest project in Vienna – a new drama series for HBO starring Hugh Grant and Kate Winslet. Alan Yentob spends time with him in the city where The Third Man was filmed, following in the footsteps of Orson Welles’s character Harry Lime on the famous Ferris wheel and down the sewers.

With contributions from Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Glenn Close, Hugh Grant, John Malkovich, Jack Black, Steve Coogan, Hanif Kureishi, Christopher Hampton and film critic Ellen E Jones.