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	==External links==		==External links==
	* {{IMDb name\|id=0811185\|name=Harold Snoad}}		* {{IMDb name\|id=0811185\|name=Harold Snoad}}

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	{{DEFAULTSORT:Snoad, Harold}}		{{DEFAULTSORT:Snoad, Harold}}

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{{Short description|British television producer, writer and director}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Harold Snoad
| image = Harold Snoad.jpg
| imagesize =
| caption = Snoad at an event in Norfolk, May 2011
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1935|8|28|df=y}}
| birth_place = United Kingdom
| birth_name = Harold Edward Snoad
| other_names = Alan Sherwood
| occupation = Television director, producer and writer
| years_active = 1957-1995
| employer = BBC
| notable_works = ''[[Dad's Army]]'' (1968–1977), ''[[Keeping Up Appearances]]'' (1990–1995), ''[[Don't Wait Up (TV series)|Don't Wait Up]]'' (1983–1990), ''[[Ever Decreasing Circles]]'' (1984–1988)
| spouse = Jean Green
| children = 2
| awards =
| website =
}}
'''Harold Edward Snoad''' (born 28 August 1935) is a British television producer, writer and director.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sanderson|first1=Heather|title=Director/Producer Harold Snoad|url=http://afternoontea.mpt.org/tea-time-tidbits/061515/|access-date=16 September 2015|publisher=[[Maryland Public Television]]|date=15 June 2015}}</ref> He is best known for the [[television]] [[sitcom]] ''[[Keeping Up Appearances]]'', starring [[Patricia Routledge]] and [[Clive Swift]]. He is also well known for having directed and produced ''[[Ever Decreasing Circles]]'' starring [[Richard Briers]] and [[Peter Egan]], as well as ''[[Don't Wait Up (TV series)|Don't Wait Up]]'' starring [[Tony Britton]] and [[Nigel Havers]].

He has also had a successful writing career with his writing partner [[Michael Knowles (actor)|Michael Knowles]], writing the radio spinoff of ''[[Dad's Army]]'', ''[[It Sticks Out Half a Mile]]'' which evolved into the short-lived television series for [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] called ''[[High & Dry (1987 TV series)|High & Dry]]''.

==Directing and Producing Career ==
Harold Snoad joined the [[BBC]] in 1957, after working in the theatre, and had numerous roles, including as a ‘call boy’ for an episode of ''[[Hancock's Half Hour]]'' in 1960. Snoad soon gained promotion, becoming a producer and director in 1969. At the time, he was one of the youngest directors work in television. His first directing role came with ''[[Dad's Army]]'' starring [[Arthur Lowe]], [[John Le Mesurier]] and [[Clive Dunn]]. Snoad had already served as Production Assistant in series one and two and was responsible for choosing the town of [[Thetford]] in [[Norfolk]] as the site for the location filming. The first episode which was directed by Snoad was ''[[The Lion Has Phones]]'' which was first broadcast on 25 September 1969 and attracted 11.3 million viewers.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Carpenter|first=Paul|title=Dad's Army a companion|publisher=DAAS|year=2018|isbn=978-0-9547702-3-5|pages=58}}</ref> in 1973, Snoad directed the sitcom ''[[Casanova '73]]'' starring [[Leslie Phillips]], but the series was not a success and received criticism from the likes of [[Mary Whitehouse]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Philips|first=Leslie|title=Hello: The Autobiography|publisher=Orion Publishing Group}}</ref> Snoad later went on to say of the series that he felt that if it had been aired five years later then it would probably have been better received. In 1974, he went on to work on series two of ''[[Are You Being Served?]]''. Later that year, Snoad began to work on ''[[The Dick Emery Show]]'', the show was already in its twelfth series by then and he would continue to direct and produce the show until its end in 1981. In 1976, Snoad directed with [[Ray Cooney]] his first feature film ''[[Not Now, Comrade]]'' which starred [[Leslie Phillips]], [[Windsor Davies]], [[Don Estelle]] and [[Ian Lavender]].

In the 1980s, he worked on all six series of ''[[Don't Wait Up (TV series)|Don't Wait Up]]'', starring [[Tony Britton]], [[Nigel Havers]] and [[Dinah Sheridan]] which ran from 1983 to 1990. In 2009, Snoad recalled a joke that the cast played on him while he was having dinner with [[Patricia Routledge]], he said: "[[Tony Britton]] - who, by his own admission, did not always arrive at rehearsals dead on time - stopped and knelt down in front of me and asked whether I would be kind enough to allow him another forty-eight hours to complete the five hundred lines I had given him for being late the previous morning! Tony moved on and was replaced by [[Nigel Havers]] and [[Dinah Sheridan]] who begged forgiveness for chatting during rehearsals. [[Simon Williams (actor)|Simon Williams]] apologised for mucking up one of his lines that morning. One by one the whole cast generally ‘bowed and scraped’. As the last member moved on Patricia turned to me and said, ‘They obviously adore you!'"<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Snoad|first=Harold|title=It's Bouquet - Not Buket|publisher=Bookguild|year=2009}}</ref>’ Snoad then went on to direct and produce the final two series of ''[[Ever Decreasing Circles]]'' after the show previous director, [[Sydney Lotterby]] was replaced due to not giving enough direction to the leading actors. The series starred [[Richard Briers]], [[Penelope Wilton]] and [[Peter Egan]]. The series attracted 12 million views, It is series four of ''[[Ever Decreasing Circles]]'' which Snoad uses as a case study for his 1988 book ''Directing Situation Comedy''. While working on the show, [[Peter Egan]] observed that Snoad had a very different technique to Lotterby saying that while Lotterby was an introvert, Snoad was an extrovert. In 1988, Snoad directed and produced the television film ''Wife begins at 40'', for this Snoad again worked with [[Ray Cooney]]'','' who he had worked with in ''[[Not Now, Comrade]]''. In 1990 he began work on the series that he is perhaps best known, ''[[Keeping Up Appearances]].'' The programme ran for five series with 44 episodes, it was ranked 12th in the 2004 poll in [[Britain's Best Sitcom]]. By February 2016, the show had been sold almost 1,000 times to overseas broadcaster making it the [[BBC|BBC's]] most exported television program.

After 38 years of working with the [[BBC]], Snoad returned to the Theatre and in 2009 directed the stage play ''Say Who You Are''. Later that year, he published his second book ''It's Bouquet - Not Bucket!'' In which he tells the behind the scenes story of the series. In the book he stats that "My intention in writing this book is ... to provide the millions of fans of ''Keeping Up Appearance'' with a 'companion' to the series".<ref name=":0" /> On the fiftieth anniversary of the first airing of ''[[Dad's Army]]'', Snoad gave an interview for the [[BBC]], in which they said "The director of many of the earliest episodes of ''[[Dad's Army]]'', which is 50 years old, has said he doubts many of today's shows will last as long." He went on to say that "Nowadays comedies are not so much family-viewing."<ref>{{cite news|date=31 July 2018|title=Dads Army's 50 years of popularity|work=BBC Norfolk}}</ref> He has given a number of talks on cruise liners, mainly on the [[Queen Elizabeth 2]] on the subject of television comedy.<ref name=":0" />

In 2016 Snoad returned to directing television for the [[Animation|Animated short]], ''Dads Army: A Stripe for Frazer'' which was a recreation of the original episode ''[[A Stripe for Frazer]]'' from 1969, of which all recording have since been wiped. Only the audio tape and the radio episode have serviced from the original episode.

==Writing career ==
Snoad began writing with [[Michael Knowles (actor)|Michael Knowles]] in 1972 after they were introduced by their mutual friend, [[Jimmy Perry]]. When it was decided that there would be a ''Dad’s Army'' radio series, Perry and Croft were too busy writing series six so it was suggested that Harold Snoad should adapt it with [[Michael Knowles (actor)|Michael Knowles]]. In total 67 episodes of ''[[Dad's Army]]'' were adapted for radio. In 2017, nine of there radio scripts were adapted for the stage into a performance called ''The Dads Army Radio hour'' (later ''The Dads Army Radio Show'') by [[David Benson]] and Jack Lane for the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe]]. They toured the country with the show until March 2020 when it was cut short by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. In 1981, Snoad and Knowles created the ''Dad's Army'' [[Spin-off (media)|spinoff]] radio series ''[[It Sticks Out Half a Mile]]''. In 1985 ,they again worked together to create the television adaptation of ''It Sticks Out Half a Mile'' with the pilot "Walking The Plank", starring [[Bernard Cribbins]], [[Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)|Richard Wilson]] and [[Angus Barnett]]. The BBC did not order a series, but in 1987 [[Yorkshire Television]] ordered seven episodes under the name of ''[[High & Dry (1987 TV series)|High & Dry]]''. Despite the series’ success it was short-lived, many criticised it for its lack of location filming which was due to a technicality with union rules. For the series, Snoad uses the pseudonym Alan Sherwood due to his contract to the BBC at the time.

==Awards ==
Throughout Snoad's career, he has reserved a number of awards. In 1987 and in 1988 he was nominated for a [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]] for his work on ''[[Ever Decreasing Circles]]''. Then in 1989, for ''Don't Wait Up'' he reserved the [[Television and Radio Industries Club]] award for 'Sitcom of the Year'. For his work on ''[[Keeping Up Appearances]]'', he reserved two further [[British Academy of Film and Television Arts|BAFTA]] nominations and the prestigious Dutch award, the Silver Tulip.

== Credits: Directing/Producing ==

* 1969–1970: ''[[Dad's Army]]'' - 7 episodes
* 1969: ''[[Oh, Brother!]]'' - 3 episodes
* 1972: ''Idle At Work'' - 1 episode
* 1972: ''[[His Lordship Entertains]]'' - all 7 episodes
* 1972: ''Them'' - 5 episodes
* 1973: ''[[7 of 1]]'' - 3 episodes
* 1973: ''Elementary, My Dear Watson'' - 1 episode
* 1973: ''Home from Home'' - 1 episode
* 1973: ''Spanner's Eleven'' - 1 episode
* 1973: ''Another Fine Mess'' - 1 episode
* 1973: ''One Man's Meat'' - 1 episode
* 1973: ''[[Casanova '73]]'' - all 7 episodes
* 1974: ''[[Are You Being Served?]]'' - 5 episodes
* 1974: ''French Relish'' - 1 episode
* 1974–1981: ''[[The Dick Emery Show]]'' - 52 episodes
* 1975: ''[[The Rough with the Smooth]]'' - all 6 episodes
* 1976: ''[[Not Now, Comrade]]''
* 1977: ''No Appointment Necessary'' - 2 episodes
* 1978–1980: ''[[Rings on Their Fingers]]'' - all 20 episodes
* 1981: ''Partners'' - 6 episodes
* 1982: ''[[Emery Presents: Legacy of Murder]]'' - all 6 episodes
* 1982: ''[[The Further Adventures of Lucky Jim]]'' - all 7 episodes
* 1983: ''Tears Before Bedtime'' - 1 episode
* 1983–1990: ''[[Don't Wait Up (TV series)|Don't Wait Up]]'' - all 39 episodes
* 1984: ''Hilary'' - 6 episodes
* 1986–1989: ''[[Ever Decreasing Circles]]'' - 14 episodes
* 1987: ''Divided We Stand'' - all 6 episodes
* 1988: ''Wife Begins at 40''
* 1988–1989: ''[[Brush Strokes]]'' - series 4
* 1990–1995: ''[[Keeping Up Appearances]]'' - all 44 episodes
* 1992: [[Don't Tell Father (1992 TV series)|''Don't Tell Father'']] - all 6 episodes
* 1994: ''All Night Long'' - all 6 episodes
* 2016: ''Dad's Army: A Stripe For Frazer''

==Credits: Writing (All with Michael Knowles) ==

* 1974–1976: ''Dads Army'' - Radio adaptation (all 66 episodes)
* 1983-1984: ''[[It Sticks Out Half a Mile]]'' - Radio spin-off of Dads Army
* 1985: ''Walking the Plank'' - Pilot episode, developed into [[High & Dry (1987 TV series)|''High & Dry'']]
* 1987: [[High & Dry (1987 TV series)|''High & Dry'']] - written under the pseudonym Alan Sherwood

==Guest appearances ==

* 1987: ''[[Did You See...?]]''
* 2004–2008: ''[[Comedy Connections]]''
* 2007: ''The World’s Greatest Comedy Characters''
* 2008: ''[[The Comedy Map of Britain]]''
* 2008–2011: ''The Dad’s Army Podcast''
* 2010: ''The Story of ‘Are You Being Served?’''
* 2011: ''Behind the Britcoms: From Script to Screen''
* 2012: ''The Unforgettable Dick Emery''
* 2014: ''The Many Faces of...''
* 2018: ''Saluting Dad’s Army''

==Additional appearances ==
Snoad has been interviewed for several television documentaries. In 1987, he appeared in ''[[Did You See...?]]'' in which he spoke about ''[[Ever Decreasing Circles]]''. Then in 2007, he was interviewed for The World's Greatest Comedy Character and then again in 2008 for [[Comedy Map of Britain]]. Snoad appeared in four episodes of ''[[Comedy Connections]]'' in which he spoke about ''[[Dad's Army]]'', ''[[Don't Wait Up (TV series)|Don't Wait Up]]'', ''Ever Decreasing Circles'' and ''[[Keeping Up Appearances]]''. In 2010, Snoad appeared in ''The Story of 'Are You Being Served{{'}}''. When the [[BBC]] moved from [[Television Centre, London]], Snoad was interviewed for the documentary ''Tales of Television Centre''. On the fiftieth anniversary of ''Dad's Army'', Snoad appeared in four episodes of the [[UK TV Gold]] series ''Salting Dads Army''.<ref>{{Cite document|title=Harold Snoad|website=IMDb}}</ref> In 2021, it was announced that Snoad had contributed to a new upcoming book about British sitcoms in the 1970s entitled ''Raising Laughter: How the Sitcom Kept Britain Smiling in the '70s''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Guide|first=British Comedy|date=2021-06-17|title=New book to shine a light on creation of 1970s sitcoms|url=https://www.comedy.co.uk/shop/news/6417/1970s-sitcoms-book/|access-date=2021-06-25|website=British Comedy Guide|language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Views on studio audience==
Snoad has always been a great supporter of the [[studio audience]], saying that "when you watch comedy in a theatre or a cinema you are with other people and laughter is infectious. However, at home there could well just be a couple of you watching or you may even be alone and the genuine reaction of a studio audience (not a [[Laugh track|laughter track]]!) can really enhance the viewers' enjoyment."<ref name=":0" />

==Personal life==
On 6 July 1963, Snoad married Jean Green; the couple have two children. He is a member of the [[Dad's Army Appreciation Society]] and in 2013, after the death of [[Bill Pertwee]], he became the society's vice president, with [[Frank Williams (actor)|Frank Williams]] as the President. Snoad frequently attends events with the society as a special guest and speaker.

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last1=Snoad|first1=Harold|title=Directing Situation Comedy|date=1988|publisher=BBC Television Training|location=England|isbn=978-0948694257}}
* {{cite book|last1=Snoad|first1=Harold|title=It's Bouquet – not Bucket|date=2009|publisher=Book Guild|location=Brighton, England|isbn=9781846243516}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|id=0811185|name=Harold Snoad}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snoad, Harold}}
[[Category:1935 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:BBC television producers]]
[[Category:British television directors]]

Harold Snoad - Revision history

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