Chris Terrill

Biography

Born in Brighton, Sussex, in 1952, Terrill attended Brighton College 1965–1970, and then went to Durham University, where he gained a joint-honours degree in Geography and Anthropology. Between 1976 and 1977 he lived with the remote Acholi Tribe of Southern Sudan where he carried out doctoral research on the impact of civil war on the tribal society before taking up the post of head of geography at Rendcomb College in Gloucestershire. In 1983, he left teaching to become a full-time professional anthropologist working for the International Disaster Institute and the UN in Geneva and throughout the famine-gripped and war-ravaged areas of Africa. Later he moved into broadcasting, after being offered a job immediately following a feature interview to the BBC African Service. He changed careers and became a producer for the BBC World Service specialising in African affairs. After five years in radio, in which he engaged in current affairs, documentaries and drama, Terrill joined BBC television as a documentary producer, making investigative documentaries and observational films and series about communities all over the world.

As a programme maker, Terrill has always favoured anthropological methodology, particularly participant observation,Participant observation—a type of research strategy. It is a widely used methodology in many disciplines, particularly, cultural anthropology, but also sociology, communication studies, and social psychology. Its aim is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals (such as a religious, occupational, or sub cultural group, or a particular community) and their practices through an intensive involvement with people in their natural environment, usually over an extended period of time. rather than more conventional documentary making techniques. As a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute and the Royal Geographical Society, Terrill is regarded as a practising anthropologist/geographer who uses film as his primary research tool and recording medium in the field.

He won an Emmy for outstanding investigative journalism for a film called Ape Trade. This Inside Story Special (BBC1) exposed the major gangs smuggling endangered orangutans to illegal markets in Taiwan, the US and Russia.To achieve this Terrill went undercover as a wildlife smuggler in Jakarta, Singapore and Miami. In a later film called Women Trade, that exposed criminal gangs trading in women from the developing world for the sex market in Europe, Terrill posed as a woman trader in the Dominican Republic as well as in Denmark and Belgium. Other notable films/series he made for the BBC were Subway, Yellow Line, Race Game, Miami Wild, HMS Brilliant, Alison's Last Mountain, Beloved Country, Soho Stories (see below), The Cruise, Jailbirds, Tito's Story, Through the Eyes of the Old and The Ship. After 20 years at the BBC, and with over 100 prime time films and numerous awards to his name, he left the corporation in 2003 after being headhunted by Elisabeth Murdoch for her newly set up Shine company. For Shine Terrill made several prime time music and arts films and a major series about the Royal Navy (Shipmates BBC1). Two years later Terrill set up his own company, Uppercut Films, and began to specialise in military and high adventure documentariesUppercut also has a small but vibrant arts department which specialises in theatre based films due to Terrill's passion for live theatre: "When you have your own film company you can choose what films you want to make—it is like having a massive toybox full of all your favourite toys. And you can keep getting new ones." (Terrill, Sept 2008 when asked why he chose to make Theatreland at the same time as working with the Royal Marines.)—though always concentrating on communities/groups and their internal dynamics. In 2007, he documented and participated in the rigorous eight months training with the Royal Marine Commandos after which he followed the newly qualified recruits to the front line in Afghanistan for their first taste of real war. Terrill is the only civilian (and, at 55, the oldest person) to complete and pass all four commando tests for which he was awarded the iconic green beret on merit and made an honorary Royal Marines Commando. .The DJ Jimmy Savile was a recipient of an honorary green beret although he did not attempt all four commando tests. After his death, following allegations of sexual misconduct, he was posthumously stripped of his honorary green beret. Gethin Jones attempted the last of the tests, the 30-mile run across Dartmoor but finished in a time of 8 hours 20 minutes – 20 minutes over the pass time of 8 hours

Terrill produces his own camerawork and sound recording without a film crew. This "lone wolf" technique is a hallmark of his work. Using the new digital technology, he was the first mainstream filmmaker to experiment as a self-shooting/self-recording director in the mid 1990s when he made Soho Stories for the BBC; a seminal series that won him the Royal Television Society Award for Innovation. This series which explored London's famous and flamboyant Soho district, was one of the first to be dubbed docu-soap in its style of filmmaking. Terrill then went on to refine his techniques on prime time series such as The Cruise (BBC1), Jailbirds (BBC1),For this series Terrill spent eight months in prison. Through the Eyes of the Old (BBC1), The Ship (BBC2), Shipmates (BBC 1) and two feature documentary specials on Charlotte Church—Spreading Her Wings (BBC1) and Confessions of a Teen-angel (ITV1). Commando: On the Front Line (ITV1)—an account of Royal Marine Commandos fighting in Afghanistan was followed by Nature's Fury (ITV1) a trilogy on the world's greatest storms and their impact on communities.Terrill has established a reputation as the thinking man's adventurer. His quests invariably lead him to the world's hotspots and his focus is usually on the victims of war, poverty or natural hazards, His approach is analytical and searching and his films are not typical "made for TV" adventure. The Radio Times published one article about Terrill's work which was titled rather provocatively: Meet the Explorer who Makes Bear Grylls Look Like Barbie

In 2009 Terrill made a series on the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London, called Theatreland for Sky Arts. This was an intimate portrait of theatre people at work and featured Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Simon Callow, Ronald Pickup and Anna Friel. In the same year he made a two-part film series about Royal Marines, badly injured in Afghanistan, attempting to climb in the high Himalayas (Wartorn Warriors—Sky1).This series was shortlisted for the 2010 Mind Mental Health Media Awards and one of the films' main contributors, Marine Danny Claricoates, received 'The Speaking Out Award' for his courage in talking so openly about his own Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after seeing his two best friends blown up and killed in front of him. In 2010 he spent six months on in the Caribbean filming counter narcotics operations as well as humanitarian disaster relief during the hurricane season (Royal Navy: Caribbean Patrol for Channel Five and National Geographic). In 2011 Terrill returned to working with the Royal Marines when he joined 42 Commando in the dangerous Nad e Ali (north) district of Helmand Province. This was for a 6-part series commissioned by Channel Five entitled "Royal Marines: Mission Afghanistan" transmitted in January/February 2012.

In late 2011 Terrill embarked on a project that brought together the military and the theatre. The Theatre Royal, Haymarket (where Terrill had filmed Theatreland in 2009) put on a play using injured soldiers and marines as the actors, singers, and dancers. The play, written by the poet Owen Sheers and based on the experiences of the soldiers mostly in Afghanistan, was called The Two Worlds of Charlie F and was performed on 22 January 2012. Terrill's feature-length film entitled Theatre of War, documenting the preparation of the play, was shown on BBC1's Imagine strand and was nominated for a prestigious Grierson Award in the best arts documentary category.

In 2014 Terrill's current affairs film for the BBC: Marine A: Criminal or Casualty of War? won the Evcom Clarion Award for ethics in journalism.

In 2015 Terrill became a Fellow of the Maritime Foundation and was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Throughout 2016 and 2017 Terrill was embedded in the ship's company of to make a major series for the BBC about the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy, "Britain's Biggest Warship". He returned to HMS Queen Elizabeth in 2018 and spent four months at sea to make a second series, "Britain's Biggest Warship: Goes to Sea". This focuses on the marrying of the ship with the F35 Lightning Stealth Fighter off the eastern seaboard of the US.

In January 2018 Terrill was conferred Doctor of Science at the Winter Congregation of Durham University "for pioneering work in anthropology and filmmaking"

In 2019 Terrill finished filming on a project that had take him 25 years to complete. Called The Last Mountain, this feature documentary for cinematic release told the story of Tom and Kate Ballard, the son and daughter of Alison Hargreaves, a experienced female mountaineer. Shot in high altitude mountain locations in the Himalayas, the Karakoram as well as the French and Italian Alps, The Last Mountain was released in 2020. So far, the film has garnered eight international awards and a further three nominations including two for the Griersons - the British Documentary Awards.

For seven months in 2021 Terrill was back on HMS Queen Elizabeth for her first operational deployment to the South China Sea. This was to film for a six part series for the BBC called “The Warship: Tour of Duty” shown on prime time BBC2 for the first time in January and February 2023.

Terrill lectures widely on film making techniques – especially on working solo in the field. He holds regular workshops for young filmmakers.

Sport

A keen athlete Terrill has represented his county (Sussex) in athletics and rugby (he played his last competitive game of rugby for the Old Brightonians at the age of 70). He is also an enthusiastic boxer, squash player and cricketer. In 2024, without realising it, he broke the world record for completing a marathon on crutches after suffering a serious sports injury leading to a full hip replacement. Just a few months after surgery, and running on crutches to raise money for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity, he completed the 2024 Brighton Marathon in 6hrs 11mins & 11 seconds beating the previous world record by 13 minutes. The record was eventually ratified by Guinness in Feb 2025. He is now running marathons again on two legs.

Personal life

In 1999 Terrill was engaged for a brief period to former glamour model Heather Mills. He proposed to her on a fishing boat whilst sailing up the Mekong River in Cambodia, where they were making a film about landmines.

In 2009 Terrill married the BAFTA award-winning filmmaker Christine Hall.

On 9 February 2013 Terrill received a full apology in open court from News UK for repeatedly hacking his phone in 2005/06. They also paid undisclosed but substantial damages plus costs.

SECULAR HUMANISM

Terrill is a lifelong Humanist. Describing himself as an agnostic atheist and ant-theist he is an active member of Humanists UK for which he is a secular pastoral carer and school speaker. Despite his personal non religious philosophy he is keen to build bridges between secular and religious communities by stressing all that they have in common rather than what divides them.

A committed vegan, he is also an advocate and activist for animal rights

Books published

Filmography

Honours, awards and nominations

Honours

Awards

Nominations

Public Service Interests

Notes

References

References

1. ''The Creation of the Acholi Minority, Their Dispersal as Refugees and Their Repatriation (1956–1972)'', Durham University Geography Department: 1978.
2. "The Second International Conference on Assistance to Refugees in Africa". ''Disasters''. Vol 8, issue 4, December 1984.
3. "Rural Refugees in Africa: Past Experience, Future Pointers". R Chambers. ''Disasters''. Vol 6, issue 1, March 1982.
4. Anthropologist About Town (Royal Anthropological Institute): ''Going Commando''. 20 September 2007
5. ''Commando''. Chris Terrill, Random House, 2007.
6. International Primate Protection League, Vol. 18, No. 2, Aug 1991: ''BBC Exposes Ape Trade''
7. The National Archives, Defence. News, 14 December 2007: ''The Hardest Embed: Going Native with the Royal Marines''
8. ''Manchester Evening News'', Ian Wylie, 17 September 2007, ''Chris—Right in the Line of Fire''
9. ''New Documentary: A Critical Introduction''. [[Stella Bruzzi]]. Pgs, 79,122,123,129,132.
10. ''New Challenges for Documentary''. Alan Rosenthal, John Corner.
11. ''Understanding Reality'Television'' Su Holmes, Deborah Jermyn. Pge 295.
12. ''Frames and Fictions on Television: The Politics of Identity Within''. Bruce Carson, Margaret Llewellyn Jones.
13. Independent. ''A Docusoap Worthy of the Hard Cell''. Brian Viner, 21 March 1999
14. ''How I Captured the Perfect Storm''. Broadcast. 5 June 2009
15. "Surviving the Arctic and the desert: Meet the explorer who makes Bear Grylls look like Barbie".