Roger Tucker was born in
Bristol, England. He made his first film,
Karst, at the age of 18, and it was screened at the 1965
British Film Institute's Young Film-makers' Competition and awarded the Senior Trophy. The film was also screened at the
London Film Festival and at
Expo 67. Tucker was president of the
film society at
Sussex University, which he attended 1964–1967, and he received a BA in psychology and philosophy. On the strength of his film
Karst, after graduation he was hired at
Granada Television, and directed in current affairs, documentaries, arts features, and drama. While at Granada, he directed the young
Ian Charleson in his first starring screen role in
A Private Matter (TV movie, 1974), opposite
Rachel Kempson (Lady Redgrave). While living in Manchester, Tucker also did theatre work, directing actors such as
Richard Wilson and
Maureen Lipman, and plays such as
The Wages of Thin, the first stage play by
Trevor Griffiths. In 1976 he left Granada to be a freelance director. Work on many of the classic television
action series followed, including
Gangsters (3 episodes),
Shoestring,
The Professionals, and
Dempsey and Makepeace. He also directed the 1986 TV spy movie
Deadly Recruits, starring
Terence Stamp. Other TV series directed by Tucker include, among many others,
Chessgame (all),
The Bill (6 episodes),
Crown Court (7 episodes),
Lovejoy (2 episodes),
Sexton Blake and the Demon God (all),
Hollyoaks (4 episodes),
The Enigma Files (2 episodes),
Moody and Pegg,
Bulman,
Saracen,
The New Adventures of Robin Hood,
1990,
Soldier Soldier,
Strangers,
Angels, and ''
Sutherland's Law. In Scotland, he directed two miniseries: Bookie
, and Winners and Losers'', the latter of which he also wrote the script for. Working internationally, he has directed series in Dutch (
Villa Borghese, a 12-part 1991 series) and German (
Die Wache, 1994). He also directed a Bollywood co-production series (
Bombay Blue, 1997). Tucker's feature film
Waiting for Dublin (2007) won the Seahorse Award (Best Feature Film by male filmmakers) and the Audience Award at the
Moondance International Film Festival, and was also screened at the
Shanghai International Film Festival. His work has also been screened at the
San Francisco Film Festival (
And on the Eighth Day, 1968 documentary), and the
Banff World Television Festival (
Lovejoy, "The Axeman Cometh", 1986). Tucker has written several film screenplays and television scripts. He has also directed more than two dozen commercials and longer promotions for various international brands, including Panasonic, Vidal Sassoon, Fiat, and Nissan. His advertising work has been screened at the IVCA Awards, and in 1967 he won an Advertising Creative Circle Award ==Personal life==