He began his directing career in the late 1970s, initially working in comedy, directing episodes of a number of sketch shows such as
Cannon and Ball and
End of Part One. He made the move into directing drama in the early 1980s, working on episodes of BBC dramas such as
Bergerac and
Lovejoy. Later in the decade he worked on
ITV programmes such as
Spitting Image and
The New Statesman. In the early 1990s he worked for a time in America, directing
television films and
miniseries for various networks there. His most noted production during this time was the
BBC /
Universal Studios /
Fox Network TV movie version of the
science-fiction series
Doctor Who, screened in 1996 and starring
Paul McGann as the
Doctor. In 1998 Sax returned to the UK. He directed
Lynda La Plante's adaptation of her own novel
Killer Net that year, and later gained credits on
Paul Abbott's acclaimed
Clocking Off, a
Red Production Company series for
BBC One. In 2001 he directed a
modern-day adaptation of the story of
Othello, produced by
London Weekend Television for the
ITV network and starring
Eamonn Walker,
Christopher Eccleston and
Keeley Hawes. The adaptation was written by
Andrew Davies, who Sax worked with again the following year when he directed
Davies' adaptation of
Sarah Waters' novel
Tipping the Velvet for
Sally Head Productions and
BBC Two. This was not the only connection between the two productions: Keeley Hawes also co-starred in
Tipping the Velvet with
Rachael Stirling, who had a smaller role in
Othello. Sax's first theatrically released feature film,
White Noise, was released in January 2005, entering the US Box Office top ten at No. 2. His second feature,
Stormbreaker — based on
Anthony Horowitz's
Alex Rider novel of the same name — was released in the summer of 2006. He also directed the film
Frankie & Alice in 2010. In 2011, Sax directed a television film entitled
Christopher and His Kind. He directed the
Sky1 television film
television film adaptation of the
M. C. Beaton novel
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death. ==Filmography==