Tristram Powell
Also recorded as Tristram Roger Dymoke Powell
Tristram Powell
- Born
- 1940 · Oxford.
- Died
- 2024
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- television director · film director · screenwriter · film producer · television producer
- Fields
- television direction · film direction · television production · film production
- Education
- Eton College · Trinity College
- Languages
- English
In this article
Key facts
• Birth Name — Tristram Roger Dymoke Powell
• Born — 1940 04 25
• Birthplace — Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
• Died — 2024 03 01
• Occupation — Director, writer, producer
• Years Active — 1964–2024
• Spouse — Virginia Lucas
• Children — Georgia Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort
• Parents — Anthony Powell
Lady Violet Pakenham
Tristram Roger Dymoke Powell (25 April 1940 – 1 March 2024) was an English television and film director, producer and screenwriter. His credits included American Friends, episodes of series five and six of Foyle's War, and adaptations of the novels The Ghost Writer and Falling.
Life and career
Tristram Powell was born in Oxford, the elder son of the novelist Anthony Powell and Lady Violet Powell (née Pakenham). His godfather was Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer, the last squire of Felbrigg Hall and a noted biographer. He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Oxford.
Powell's father died in 2000, and he has recounted the story of his conversing with the doctor in attendance, who was also surnamed Powell, about his ancestry. His mother, Lady Violet, died in 2002.
Powell objected to the National Trust's 2017 short film about his godfather, Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer of Felbrigg Hall in Norfolk, in which the latter's private life as a homosexual was revealed. Powell said that the Trust had made the revelation for "commercial reasons" in a way he considered "exaggerated and mean-spirited".
Powell's daughter Georgia married Henry Somerset, 12th Duke of Beaufort, in 2018.
Tristram Powell died of leukaemia on 1 March 2024, at the age of 83.
Director
• Year — Film — Notes
• 1968 — Contrasts — Episode: "A Writer and his Sword – A film about Japan's best-selling novelist, Yukio Mishima"
• 1978 — The Lively Arts — Episode: "A Haunted Man"
• 1981 — No Country for Old Men — (BBC Film) A Portrait of Jonathan Swift
• 1984 — The Ghost Writer — (TV)
• 1985 — Arena — Episode: "From an Immigrant's Notebook"
• 1987–1993 — Screen Two — 5 episodes
• 1988 — Number 27 — BBC Film Written by Michael Palin
• Talking Heads — Episode: "Soldiering On"
• 1991 — American Friends
• 1992 — The Old Devils — Episodes: "Love, Lust and Litre Bottles", "Rhiannon's Boys", "Clapped-Out Casanovas"
• 1993 — Selected Exits — (TV)
• 1995 — Tears Before Bedtime — 4 episodes
• 1997 — Drovers' Gold — TV mini-series
• 1997–1999 — Kavanagh QC — Episodes: "Ancient History", "Previous Convictions", "End Game"
• 1998 — Talking Heads 2 — Episode: "Nights in the Gardens of Spain"
• 2000 — Telling Tales
• Without Motive — 3 episodes
• 2001 — Anybody's Nightmare — (TV)
• 2003 — Sparkling Cyanide — (TV)
• 2005 — Falling — (TV)
• 2005–2006 — Judge John Deed — Episodes: "In Defence of Others", "My Daughter, Right or Wrong"
• 2005–2008 — Trial & Retribution — Episodes: "The Lovers: Part 1", "Curriculum Vitae: Part 1", "Tracks: Part 1"
• 2006 — The Commander — Episode: "Blacklight"
• 2007–2008 — Foyle's War — Episodes: "Casualties of War", "Plan of Attack", "All Clear"
• 2009 — Law & Order: UK — Episode: "Paradise"
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Stockwell Park Crescent
Residences
Oxford.
Birth place
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Tristram Powell, revision 1357317029 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record.
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.'Powell of The Chantry' pedigree, Burke's Peerage website
- 2.Playhouse Off To Promising Start . Record-Journal. 16 January 1984.
- 3.Jay, Mike. Who Were the Dedicatees of Powell's Works?. Anthony Powell Society Newsletter. 50. 10. Spring 2013.
- 4.Ferdinand Mount. The passing of Powell. Prospect magazine. June 2000.
- 5.Lady Violet Powell. The Telegraph. 15 January 2002.
- 6.Duffy, Nick. National Trust and Stephen Fry under fire for 'outing' historical figure. Pink News. 26 July 2017.
- 7.Janet Hughes. Gloucestershire's most eligible bachelor has been taken off the market. GloucestershireLive. 10 May 2018.
- 8.The Telegraph. Tristram Powell, brilliant director who flourished in the golden age of BBC arts coverage – obituary. 8 March 2024.
- 9.Tristram Powell obituary: TV director who excelled at drama and arts documentaries. The Times. 16 May 2024.
Citations
References
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reference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 20 August 2026.
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