Education
Burnley was educated at Oxford University, where he gained a first-class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Burnley was educated at Oxford University, where he gained a first-class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
He joined Ealing Studios as an assistant on The Ladykillers in 1955, but left after six months to edit television commercials and documentories. In 1965 he joined the British Broadcasting Corporation as director-producer. He directed eight of the Whicker"s World series before joining the arts programme Omnibus.
His debut for Omnibus was The Dream Divided, on F. Scott Fitzgerald, which was followed by a film biography of Amedeo Modigliani.
In 1972 he directed the film Neither the Sea Nor the Sand. Burnley died of lung complications from exposure to bat guano while filming the dramatised documentary Alexander von Humboldt - 1799 for David Attenborough"s 1975 series The Explorers.