| Birth Name: | Tristram Roger Dymoke Powell |
| Birth Date: | 1940 4, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Oxford, Oxfordshire, England |
| Occupation: | Director, writer, producer |
| Yearsactive: | 1964–2024 |
| Spouse: | Virginia Lucas |
| Children: | Georgia Somerset, Duchess of Beaufort |
| Parents: | Anthony Powell Lady Violet Pakenham |
Tristram Roger Dymoke Powell[1] (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[2] and Falling.
Tristram Powell was born in Oxford, the elder son of the novelist Anthony Powell and Lady Violet Powell (née Pakenham).[2] His godfather was Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer, the last squire of Felbrigg Hall and a noted biographer.[3] He was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Oxford.[1]
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.[4] His mother, Lady Violet, died in 2002.[5]
Powell objected to the National Trust's 2017 short film about his godfather, Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer of Felbrigg Hall, 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".[6]
Powell's daughter Georgia married Henry Somerset, 12th Duke of Beaufort, in 2018.[7]
Tristram Powell died of leukaemia on 1 March 2024, at the age of 83.[8] [9]
| 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 | (TV) | |
| 1984 | The Ghost Writer | (TV) | |
| 1985 | Arena | Episode: "From an Immigrant's Notebook" | |
| 1987–1993 | Screen Two | 5 episodes | |
| 1988 | Number 27 | ||
| 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 | Episode: "Paradise" |