James Hawes

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James Hawes is a British television director, who has worked on a variety of the most popular series on British television since the early 1990s. Programmes he has directed for have included The Bill, Holby City, Sea of Souls and Doctor Who. In 2003 he both wrote and directed the drama-documentary Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World.

After completing directing duties on the first block of episodes of series two of Doctor Who, in early 2006 Hawes directed an Andrew Davies-scripted 90-minute television drama based around the Lady Chatterley's Lover obscenity trial of 1960, The Chatterley Affair. This one-off drama for digital television channel BBC Four features Doctor Who star David Tennant as Richard Hoggart.

Hawes was also announced in late 2005 as the producer and lead director of the forthcoming Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood — however, in early 2006 it was confirmed that he would not in fact be producing the series. According to Doctor Who and Torchwood executive producer Russell T. Davies in Doctor Who Magazine issue 366 (dated March 1, 2006), Hawes' direction of the Chatterley piece and his decision to back down from producing Torchwood were related. "James Hawes has been having such a good time... that he's decided directing is his greatest passion, and as a result, he's stepped down."

Hawes' work on Doctor Who has been particularly well received. The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form,^[1] and Hawes was awarded the BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Drama Director for his work on The Christmas Invasion.^[2]

He should not be confused with the British novelist of the same name.