Chris Clough
Chris Clough (born 9 March 1951[1]) was the most prolific director of seasons 23 - 25 of Doctor Who, helming Terror of the Vervoids, The Ultimate Foe, Delta and the Bannermen, Dragonfire, The Happiness Patrol and Silver Nemesis.
Though often criticised by some fans for his casting of Ken Dodd in Delta and the Bannermen, he remained sternly defensive of his choice. (DWM 231)
Career[[edit] | [edit source]]
Before Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]
Clough was only about thirty-five when he began directing for Doctor Who and his career was in many ways just starting. He had directed a bit of Brookside in the early 1980s and then a number of EastEnders episodes around that programme's very first Christmas. He went directly from EastEnders into what would be Colin Baker's swansong as the Sixth Doctor.
After Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]
Following Silver Nemesis, Clough directed a substantial number of episodes of The Bill, episodes of Ballykissangel and a 2007 episode of Skins.
However, Clough was mainly a producer after Doctor Who and his post-Silver Nemesis directing was mostly on shows on which he was, or would become, a producer. He was producer of The Bill for two seasons (1995-1997). He became a producer on Ballykissangel for the two series (24 Episodes) which followed the departure of Dervla Kirwan, but left the hit Irish dramedy in 1999.
At the start of the new decade, he produced Black Cab, a series of short films with only the setting of a black taxi-cab in common. Each film had its own cast, but Clough worked with future Doctor Who guest stars Phil Davis, Marc Warren and Phil Cornwell amongst others. In 2003, Clough succeeded Phil Collinson as producer of Chris Chibnall's rural dramedy, Born and Bred, starring Clive Swift, Tracey Childs and Jenna Russell. Clough moved on in 2005 to the crime drama The Ghost Squad, partially directed by Charles Palmer.
In 2007, he became an originating producer of Skins, a work known to Doctor Who fans for its prominence in the discussion between Benjamin Cook and Russell T Davies captured in The Writer's Tale. In 2011, he produced the latest series of Skins and launched a new series, Sirens.
