Douglas Camfield - Career

Career

He is particularly well known for his work on Doctor Who and was production assistant on its earliest serials, The Pilot Episode, An Unearthly Child and Marco Polo. Camfield went on to direct many other stories in its first thirteen years:

• Planet of Giants-episode 3 only
• The Crusade
• The Time Meddler (notable for its imaginative use of effects to overcome studio confines);
• The Daleks' Master Plan (mammoth twelve episodes in length co-written by Terry Nation and Dennis Spooner);
• The Web of Fear (the story that introduced the popular character of Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart, and saw the return of the Yeti). Camfield was responsible for the casting of Nicholas Courtney as Lethbridge-Stewart;
• The Invasion (which became the most expensive Doctor Who serial up to that time, featuring an unprecedented amount of location filming as well as introducing the organisation UNIT to the series). Camfield was responsible for the casting of future regular John Levene as Benton;
• Inferno (he became ill during the recording of episode 2 of this serial and the remaining studio scenes were directed by the series' producer, Barry Letts, but he was still credited for these scenes);
• Terror of the Zygons (the story that saw the departure of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart as a regular character);
• The Seeds of Doom (the story that saw the last involvement of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce until Battlefield in 1989)

He sought to get Philip Hinchcliffe to commission his script for the programme, which involved aliens, the French Foreign Legion and would have killed off the character of Sarah Jane Smith. However, this story was not produced, and Sarah left the programme in The Hand of Fear.

Camfield was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps in 1951 during his National Service. Later the same year he transferred to the West Yorkshire Regiment (Territorial Army). He was promoted Lieutenant in 1952. He left in 1956 for health reasons. It has often been noted by those who worked with him that Camfield always retained an affection for the British Army and brought military standards of organisation to the programmes he directed. He was also known for his strict professionalism but was well liked personally by many actors, producers and writers.

In later life he suffered from a heart ailment, and died of a heart attack. He was married to the actress Sheila Dunn, whom he cast in the Doctor Who stories The Daleks' Master Plan, The Invasion and Inferno.