Directing

Cora Bissett

Cora Bissett (born 1974) is a Scottish theatre director, playwright, actor and musician. As a director she has created Amada, Roadkill, Grit: The Martyn Bennett Story, Glasgow Girls and Room. As an actor she had regular appearances in the television programmes Rab C. Nesbitt and High Times. She is an associate director at the National Theatre of Scotland.

Known For

God Help the GirlGod Help the Girl · 2014
God Help the Girl
★ 6.52014
MovieComedyDrama
Eve is a catastrophe—low on self-esteem but high on fantasy, especially when it comes to music. Over the course of one Glasgow summer, she meets two similarly rootless souls: posh Cass and fastidious James, and together they form a band.
Not Another Happy EndingNot Another Happy Ending · 2013
Not Another Happy Ending
★ 5.82013
MovieRomanceComedy
When a struggling publisher discovers his only successful author is blocked, he knows he has to unblock her or he's finished. With her newfound success, she's become too happy and she can't write when she's happy. The only trouble is, the worse he makes her feel, the more he realizes he's in love with her.
Red RoadRed Road · 2006
Red Road
★ 6.52006
MovieDramaThriller
Jackie is a CCTV operator. One day, a man shows his face on her monitor, a man she hoped never to see again. Now she has no choice and is compelled to confront him.
Scotland: Contains Strong LanguageScotland: Contains Strong Language · 2020
Scotland: Contains Strong Language
★ 9.02020
MovieDocumentary
Schooled in Fife, coming of age in a rock ’n’ roll band, then finding her forte was directing temperamental actors, Cora Bissett is no stranger to theatrical Scottish swearing. So who better to present a celebration of Caledonian cursing? This documentary sees Cora sing, swear and scrutinise why Scotland swears so well. Cora begins with the first hurdle – how does one discuss swear words on the BBC? Aunty Beeb is the institution that has been historically priggish about language - always bleeping words and apologising for those that slipped through. So Cora runs a list past BBC Scotland’s head of editorial standards to see what she can get away with.
AdamAdam · 2021
Adam
★ 4.02021
MovieDrama
The true story of a trans man and his remarkable struggle across genders and borders. Based on the acclaimed National Theatre of Scotland play, with Adam himself in the lead role.
John Rebus: The Lockdown BluesJohn Rebus: The Lockdown Blues · 2020
John Rebus: The Lockdown Blues
2020
Movie
Imprisoned at home, his only distant link to the outside world coming through infrequent visits from his long-standing colleague Siobhan, an ageing Inspector Rebus reflects on his bizarre solitary confinement.
The SingerThe Singer · 2023
The Singer
★ 6.02023
MovieDrama
In the loud streets of Glasgow, deaf song-writer Joe meets busker Andy. The two learn to communicate over their love of music and realise together they can create something unique.
ShetlandShetland · 2013
Shetland
★ 7.52013
SeriesCrimeDrama
Created from the novels by award winning crime writer Ann Cleeves, Shetland follows DI Jimmy Perez and his team as they investigate crime within the close knit island community. In this isolated and sometimes inhospitable environment, the team have to rely on a uniquely resourceful style of policing.

Filmography

Sort
High TimesHigh Times · 2004
High Times
★ 5.82004
SeriesComedyDrama
High Times is a Scottish comedy drama on STV, based around the lives of two flatmates and their neighbours in a high-rise tower block in Glasgow, in the last weeks before its closure for renovation. There are six episodes of stories interlinking the lives of a number of families. The first series of High Times won a BAFTA Scotland award in 2004 for Best Scottish television drama and was shortlisted for the 2005 Rose d'Or and Prix Italia television awards. In the same year it also won the award for Best Drama Series at the Celtic Film and Television Festival. Series 2 was nominated for a Royal Television Society award. In June 2010 it was announced that High Times would be one of the STV archive programmes to be made available on YouTube on the STV Player channel.

Janet