Filmography
Cate’s career in film and television spanned 40 years. As one of the very few woman producer–directors in television at the time, she made numerous award-winning independent films and series, particularly historical documentary films, which were commissioned and shown by the major television networks in UK and US.
These include:
2001: Hitler’s Brides (Flashback TV for Channel 4)
This film, part of the C4 series Nazi Women, traces the way Hitler and the Nazi propaganda machine seduced Germany’s women into supporting the regime by glorifying their roles as wives and mother in the racial state, and then delivered the destruction of their homes, families and hopes. Read more
1996-98: Cold War (Jeremy Isaacs Productions for BBC TV, CNN)
The award-winning 24-part documentary series traces the origins and development of the Cold War from its inception in 1945 to its end in 1991 through stunning archive film and interviews with first hand witnesses on both sides of the divide. These include past Presidents of United States, the Soviet Union and leaders of all the countries involved, as well as decision makers and the ordinary people who paid the price of the conflict worldwide.
Cate directed the following episodes:
6: Reds How fear was mobilised on both sides by the threat of the Enemy Within, and the witch hunt mounted against the traitors who were allegedly working for the other side: McCarthyism in 1950s America, and Stalin’s more ruthless repression in the Soviet Union. Watch on YouTube
9: The Wall 1958-1963 The crisis in Berlin where the West faced the East, the events which led to the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961, its resonance for the Cold War and its tragic impact on Berliners. Watch on YouTube
14: Red Spring Behind the Iron Curtain in 1950s and 1960s when the first ‘thaw’ appeared in the Soviet bloc, American culture was put on show in Moscow, and writers and poets pushed the boundaries of freedom. Khruschev was ousted from power, and the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia was crushed by the Soviet invasion of Soviet tanks in 1968. Watch on YouTube
19: Freeze Traces through interviews with the key participants the shift from the temporary Detente in 1977 to renewed build-up of tension in the ‘Second Cold War’ in 1981 under the US Carter administration. Watch on YouTube
23: The Wall Comes Down The events in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe which led up to the dramatic fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, including interviews with President George Bush, President Mikhail Gorbachev and the key players throughout Europe. Watch on YouTube
Cate also produced and directed:
2005: Married to the Prime Minister (Flashback TV for Channel 4)
The historical role of British Prime Minister’s spouses since the 1950s, presented by Cherie Blair. Featuring interviews with Mary Wilson, Denis Thatcher and Norma Major.
1995: The Churchills, Episode 2. A Winning Hand (Brook Associates for ITV Network/ WGBH Boston, 1995)
The series of three documentaries on the Churchill dynasty covers Winston Churchill’s background and his political career. Episode 2 focuses on his family life, his political isolation during the Wilderness years of the 1930s and his return to triumph in World War Two.
1992: Secret History: Death of a Democrat (Brook Associates for Channel 4/Arts and Entertainment US)
Re-opens the case, based on newly emergent evidence, of the mysterious death of Czech Foreign Minister in 1948 at the dawn of communism in Eastern Europe.
1990: Drink: Under the Influence (Brooke Associates for Channel 4)
Looks at problem drinking and its tragic effects on families, individuals, children and communities.
1986: The Writing of the Wall (Brooke Associates for Channel 4)
Six documentaries on British political history in the 1970’s, featuring the key players: politicians, civil servants, extra parliamentary activists and other figures at the hub of events.
1985: Just Sex (51% Productions for Channel 4)
Series of six documentaries on sex and sexual mores in Britain.
1984: End of Empire (Granada TV)
Award-winning 12-part series which examines through archive and interviews with key participants and decision makers worldwide the political and diplomatic background to the events which brought about Britain’s post-war withdrawal from Empire.
Cate also worked on earlier major series and one-off documentaries:
Secret War (BBC TV)
The impact of the scientific inventions developed during the Second World War on the conduct of war, then and in the future.
Man Alive (BBC TV)
Human interest documentaries on controversial contemporary topics.
The Day Before Yesterday (Thames TV)
Documentary series on the political history of Britain 1945 to 1963, featuring interviews with the key political players of the immediate post-war world, 1945-1963.
The First Casualty (Thames TV)
Single documentary on the power and impact of British propaganda to the home front during the First World War, when truth became the first casualty of war.