Antony Root (born 16 April 1954) was an assistant floor manager for five episodes of series C.
Career[]
After a brief career in theatre management, Root joined the BBC television drama Series and Serials Department as an assistant floor manager. In this role, as well as Blake's 7, he worked on Doctor Who serials Destiny of the Daleks (uncredited) in1979 and Private Schultz in 1981.
Following this, Root was subsequently promoted to become a script editor, working on season 19 of Doctor Who (credited on the serials Four to Doomsday, The Visitation and Earthshock, broadcast in 1982), and on the spin-off, K-9 and Company. Other shows as script editor included The Chinese Detective, Strangers and Brothers, Capital City
In 1989 he joined Working Title Television as head of production, where he produced Lorna Doone for ITV, Derek Jarman's Edward II for BBC and Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City for Channel 4.
In 1994, Antony became head of drama at Thames Television, executive producing John Schlesinger's Cold Comfort Farm (BBC) and setting up Five's first drama series, A Wing and a Prayer, before leaving to join Granada Television as Head of Drama in 1997. In this role his credits as executive producer included The Grand (and Far from the Madding Crowd.
In 1998 he became the first Granada executive tasked with developing and producing drama for broadcasters outside the United Kingdom. As head of international drama, he oversaw three movies for A&E in the United States – Murder in a Small Town, The Lady in Question, and Dash and Lilly. He also developed and executive produced the BAFTA-winning miniseries Longitude for Granada Film.
From 1999 to the early 2000s, Root transferred to Los Angeles and assumed the additional role of senior vice president, movies and miniseries at Granada Entertainment USA, where his credits as executive producer included The Great Gatsby (A&E) and Princess of Thieves (ABC). In 2000 he was appointed president of the company overseeing all its output including the television movies My Beautiful Son and Second Nature, the second season of the series Beggars and Choosers, and drama and comedy television pilots for the U.S. networks.
Returning to the UK in 2005, Antony took up the position of senior vice-president, European production, for Sony Pictures Television. In this role, which he held until December 2009, he was responsible for all development and production in the European region including the management of its wholly owned and joint venture entities in six countries.
From January 2010 to October 2011 he worked as an international consultant and executive producer. His assignments included serving as director of Industry Week at the RomaFictionFest in 2010 and 2011.
In October 2011 he took up the position of executive vice-president, original programming and production, at HBO Europe. In this role he headed HBO Europe's original programming division with direct reports in London, Copenhagen and Madrid and operating departments in Warsaw, Prague, Budapest and Bucharest. He was responsible for the creative, production and financial supervision of all HBO Europe original programming and for the selection of fiction and documentary programmes to be developed and produced. He was a member of HBO Europe's senior management team and reported to the CEO.
In 2020 Root was appointed Head of Original Production for WarnerMedia EMEA. In this expanded role he continued to oversee the original programming output of HBO Europe with added responsibilities for the original productions commissioned by the Turner channels in Spain, Germany and France and by HBO Max across EMEA. He retired from this position in March 2023.