Early years and education Watkins was born in
Norbiton, Surrey, on 29 October 1935. During the
Second World War, his family moved several times. Between 1946 and 1952, he attended
Christ College, Brecon, an independent all-boys school. There, he became invested with the school's dramatic society, taking on various roles. After finishing school, he undertook
National Service with the
East Surrey Regiment, followed by studying acting at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Watkins began his television and film career as an assistant producer of short TV films and commercials; and in the early 1960s was an assistant editor and director of documentaries at the
BBC.
Career All of his films were either documentary or drama presented with documentary techniques, sometimes portraying historical occurrences and sometimes possible near future events as if contemporary reporters and filmmakers were there to interview the participants. Watkins pioneered this technique in his first full-length television film,
Culloden, which portrayed the
Jacobite uprising of 1745 in a style similar to the
Vietnam War reporting of the time. In 1965, he won a
Jacob's Award for
Culloden at the annual presentation ceremony in
Dublin. The scope and formal innovation of
Culloden drew immediate critical acclaim for the previously unknown director, and the BBC commissioned him for another ambitious production, the nuclear-war docudrama
The War Game, for
The Wednesday Play series.
Personal life and death Watkins resided at various times in Canada, Sweden, Lithuania and France.. He had two sons from his first marriage, Patrick and Gérard. ==Works==