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Douglas Camfield (died 27 January 1984) was an accomplished director for television from the 1960s to the 1980s. In addition to Doctor Who, his programme credits include Z Cars, Paul Temple, Van der Valk, The Sweeney, Shoestring, The Professionals, and the BBC dramatisation of Beau Geste.
He was production assistant on Doctor Who 's earliest serials, The Pilot Episode, An Unearthly Child and Marco Polo. Camfield went on to direct many other stories in the series' first thirteen years:
- Planet of Giants;
- The Crusade (possibly the most well realised historical tale of the era)
- The Time Meddler (notable for its imaginative use of effects to overcome studio confines);
- The Myth Makers;
- The Daleks' Master Plan (a mammoth twelve episodes in length, mostly written by two writers alternating episodes);
- The Web of Fear;
- The Invasion (which became the most expensive Doctor Who serial up to that time);
- Inferno (he became ill during the recording of the Doctor Who serial Inferno, 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; and
- The Seeds of Doom (which ranks as one of the most atmospheric tales ever directed for the programme.)
It is reputed that he declined the offer to become producer of Doctor Who in 1969, after the departure of Derrick Sherwin. The job instead went to Barry Letts. He also 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 quite alive in The Hand of Fear.
Douglas Camfield served as an officer in the British Army during his younger years.
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 Inferno as Dr. Petra Williams.