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DR WHO I worked on the show as an ASM on my very first day at the BBC and later as a PA . About 4 or 5 years later I directed some shows with Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker
The fans impressed me enormously with their knowledge and understanding of Dr Who generally and particularly the 'older Classic Stories' in 2015 so it is lovely to be going back again in 2016 to LA for the American convention.... Many years ago I arrived to do some work in LA and checked into the Chateau Marmont Hotel and whilst I was unpacking I switched on the TV and up came a Dr Who episode that I had directed some time before - strange coincidence - 'fickle finger of fate' - It has been pointed out to me, that Robots of Death is the only one of my Dr Who productions that does not have me doing the voice over commentary. There is an interview on the DVD, but I was not invited to do the commentary, which saddened me greatly, as a lot of what is said, over the playing of the show, is somewhat inaccurate.
Encounters with the Doctor before I directed him. Dr Who has been influential in my life although I find it strange that a series I worked on 30 to 40 years ago still interests so many people. Must have had something. In 1964 I joined the BBC on a
short term contract as a trainee Assistant Floor Manager and on my first day I was sent to the London Transport facility in Wood Lane to help out for a few
days on the Dr Who show which had just started. William Hartnel was the
leading actor and I worked for some weeks on the production. The episodes were
recorded at the BBC's Hammersmith studios. In Drama Serials department, working on Dr Who, was inevitable, challenging and enjoyable - I was either ASM or PA on the Crusade - directed by Duggie Campfield - big problems with killer ants from the London zoo which were supposed to eat someone - I put honey on the person they were supposed to eat and the ants died in the honey - too few, too small - ants..
There is an excellent song 'The Last Chance Saloon' in the production which appears in a Dr Who BBC event that I am not allowed to talk about ---- yet..(September 2023....) Had a trip to Woking Studios with Toby Hadoke who has a far better singing voice than I do!
I was involved as PA in Pat Troughton's start as the new Doctor - very important decision and Sydney Newman - Head of Drama was very involved and because of that Shaun Sutton head of Serials was very involved - the produce Innes Lloyd was of course very involved and willing to be guided by the people who had been around at the very beginning of the series. Sydney said the new Doctor should be a 'space hobo'. This caused some consternation amongst director/producer/costume supervisor/makeup/head of serials et al as nobody had ever met or even seen a space hobo in their lives. Nothing daunted Pat was provided with a top hat with a loose lid, some sort of dinner jacket in need of repair and oversized clown shoes........ Mr Newman was not impressed and expressed his disappointment loudly and clearly, then departed wishing us to do better. Innes and I departed for the club and a couple of large whiskeys. In the end Pat's costume was modified and the recorder, which Pat played for fun, became part of the character.
On series 5 I was the PA on Fury From the Deep. I remember it vividly as it was full of oil rigs and helicopters as well as foam flooding up tubes. It was my job to find locations and none of the oil rig companies wanted us anywhere near their valuable rigs. The director Hugh David was a delight to work for but had ambitious ideas and part of my job was to see the production came in on budget. The foam effect was to be provided by a company that put out aircraft fires - vast quantities of foam could be generated with lots of water but was safe for passengers to be enveloped by. Perfect for us.
I heard that the old Radio London
base, on the ww2 structure out in the Thames estuary, looked something like an oil
rig so that problem went away. The problem of foam all over the rig also
went away as the helicopter would fly the foam machine out to the rig
On Location Hugh decided that he would like Mike Smith to fly the helicopter between the legs of the rig to make the chase sequence more exciting - sure Mike said - easy! The 2nd helicopter pilot said he had never seen anything so dangerous in his life! Mike only had 3 feet clearance on either side of blades as he flew between the legs. It was the last day of filming and we all got back to the hotel for a celebratory drink - Mike ordered champagne and brandy for everyone and proceeded to enjoy himself - I was busy trying to be a responsible Production Assistant as he pulled me over in my chair. 'Have you never wanted to swing from a chandelier like Douglas Fairbanks?' 'Not recently' I said eyeing the large chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
Fraser, Me & Mike revisiting the forts for BBC film 'Well I have' declaimed Mike and he sprang onto the table and leaped into the air grasping the magnificent centre piece to the room. There was an instant when it might have worked but only an instant... The entire ceiling collapsed showering everyone in plaster and Mike was on the floor embracing the chandelier. I loved him dearly for that but its hard to explain to brave and talented helicopter pilots that real life is different from movies.
.'But he will use a sonic screwdriver' I declared - 'You just point it at screws and the sonic vibrations make the screw undo' So we decided to use a 'sonic screwdriver.... the first one got dropped into the pipe by accident so another small effects prop was used with a 'filmed' electric drill runng backward out of shotWhilst Hugh and I were looking at the set in Ealing Film Studios for the foam sequence Hugh realised that it would be impossible for the Doctor to escape from some tunnel or other because of the way the door was designed. The designer offered an expensive solution which horrified me as we were already over-spent. a cheap an effective solution that was still around when I directed the Sea Devils - eventually it was dropped as it made escape too easy and predictable. The recent 'new series' have re-introduced it..... The next time I encountered the good Doctor I was a Director I shall always be grateful to Barry Letts who gave me the opportunity to direct my first major production COLONY IN SPACE and then went on to allow me to direct SEA DEVILS, THE GREEN DEATH, DEATH TO THE DALEKS & ROBOTS OF DEATH.... Barry was a clever and talented producer with a nose for a good script and an idea. He let me get on with things, for the most part, without interference but did not hesitate to step in when he felt I had got it wrong. I think he was probably the best producer Doctor Who had after Verity created it. He certainly liked and understood the science fiction genre, understood acting and the theatrical effects. I shall always be grateful to him for opportunities he gave me early in my career. I am sad that I was probably very difficult to work with. Directors have to follow their own dream but sometimes I wish I had done it a bit more diplomatically and politely. You have a choice as a director - do what you believe to be right - that which pleases you or try to please other people - producers et al. The former does not always make you friends and the latter does not make good productions. There is a line between the ideas of the producer and what a director can bring to the story. The good producers find directors who are creative and imaginative. When you let slip the dogs of war there is no knowing who they will bite - the inferior producers select directors who will toe the line, be really respectful and obey orders. None the less like Doctor Who are very reliant on the 'taste/instincts' of the producer running them and Barry was creative and imaginative and a good leader. For me the great times of Dr Who were the days of Bill, Patrick, Jon and Tom. After that I feel it lost it's way a bit and certainly stopped developing or innovating. I thought it tended to rehash old ideas and rely too much on special effects. When Patrick took over as a 'space hobo' he was totally different from the 'mad professor'. When Jon arrived he turned the Doctor into an elegant, charming intellectual with aikido! Tom was determined to be different and despite scripts that were designed for Jon's interpretation of the role he became this apparently shambling, bumbling Marx brothers character WHO outwitted the villains of this world. If you are interested in my memories of the Doctor Who's I directed the following links will take you there: Colony Robots Daleks Cyberman Green Death Sea Devils
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The
lovely Jean Marsh who went onto create and star in Upstairs Downstairs
very generously agreed to perform in my final exercise and show reel at the end
of my directors course. John Abinari played the other character in 'The
Kiss'... Two kind and generous actors who were responsible for my
becoming a TV director.
Series 3 of Who began and I was
ASM to Rex Tucker directing the Gunfighter
which was mainly shot at Ealing Studios.
Really remember very little except thinking that British actors made unlikely
cowboys but I have not seen it since, so maybe I was wrong. Looking at the song
section it all seems pretty good.. Memory can certainly play tricks -
recollections may vary....
Series 4 - I PA'd a Daleks series
shot at Hammersmith riverside with Christopher Barry directing - we had a Dalek factory in the story... All the
baby Daleks coming off the production line and living brains being inserted by a
machine. There was meant to be an army of Daleks but in reality there were
on 3 moving ones and 1 which had no room for an operator... The budget was so
small it was impossible to build more. I just happened to be in Woolworths one
weekend and I saw there there were little plastic Daleks for sale.. I brought
one and showed it to Vis Fx who purchased dozens more so we were able to create
a mini factory with a bit of cardboard as a conveyor belt!
The Helicopter (a very small one
- Hughs-300) was to be flown by Mike Smith from Denham and for one day we would
have a 2nd helicopter - an Alouette - to film the first one and for a helicopter
chase sequence. 
The SONIC SCREWDRIVER was
partly my
invention - it was not scripted. It was going to take too long with a
'normal' screwdriver to undo the hatch on the pipeline on the beach
