Lennie Mayne
Lennie Mayne (born Leonard Edward Mainprize in Sydney, Australia[1] on 8 November 1927, died 20 May 1977[2]) was an Australian BBC director who directed several Doctor Who television stories. He was an ex-dancer. (INFO: The Curse of Peladon)
Mayne provided the whistling soundtrack for Sarah Jane Smith's last scene in The Hand of Fear because Elisabeth Sladen could not whistle. (DOC: Changing Time)
Along with Christopher Barry and Douglas Camfield, he was one of only three people to direct Doctor Who stories featuring William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker.
Mayne was remembered as a very expressive man who made his feelings plain; for example, when first seeing the costume for Alpha Centauri for The Curse of Peladon, he apparently swore, "What the hell is that? A giant green dick?". (DCOM: The Peladon Saga) A cloak was added to try and hide the creature's phallic appearance, but it was known as "the dick in the cloak" by the production team. He also ordered voice artist Ysanne Churchman to voice the creature like a gay civil servant.
Personal life[[edit] | [edit source]]
He was married to Frances Pidgeon (who played Miss Jackson in The Hand of Fear and had an uncredited role in The Monster of Peladon).
Death[[edit] | [edit source]]
Mayne died tragically in a boating accident on 20 May 1977, when a dinghy he was using on the English Channel with two other yachtsmen — one of whom was Ian McCulloch — was capsized by a freak wave, and the search-and-rescue team were unable to find him.[3]
Legacy[[edit] | [edit source]]
Toby Hadoke investigated Lennie's life and career in the documentary Looking for Lennie, which was released on the Blu-ray release of The Three Doctors.
