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Richard Martin (born 3 January 1935) is a retired British television director and former actor. After starting his career as an actor, he worked regularly as a director throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, which included directing several early serials of ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...
'' starring
William Hartnell William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the First Doctor, first incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' from 1963 to 1966. In film, ...
, and series such as ''
Compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a type of colonial rule utilized in British ...
'', ''
Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all Indictable offence, indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals lied to it by the Magistrates' court, magistrates' court ...
'' and '' All Creatures Great and Small''. He is married to actress
Suzanne Neve Suzanne may refer to: People * Suzanne (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name) * S. U. Zanne, pen name of August Vandekerkhove (1838–1923), Belgian writer and inventor * Suzanne, pen name of Renée Méndez ...
.


''Doctor Who''

After having acted in the 1958 television series ''Ivanhoe'' and the 1960 series ''
Maigret Jules Maigret (), or simply Maigret, is a fictional French police detective, a '' commissaire'' ("commissioner") of the Paris ''Brigade Criminelle'' ('' Direction Régionale de la Police Judiciaire de Paris:36, Quai des Orfèvres''), created b ...
'', Martin was asked to join the production team working on yet to be broadcast series ''Doctor Who'' by caretaker producer Rex Tucker. He worked on ''Doctor Who'' during its first two seasons, from 1963 to 1965. Martin directed part of the second story of the inaugural season of ''Doctor Who'', ''
The Daleks ''The Daleks'' (also known as ''The Mutants'' and ''The Dead Planet'') is the second serial in the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on BBC TV in seven weekly parts from 21 December 1963 to ...
'', in which the titular villains were first introduced. During the making of ''The Daleks'', Martin persuaded producer
Verity Lambert Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer. Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of ...
to approach the story in a less conservative manner. Martin also directed two additional stories featuring the Daleks for the second season of ''Doctor Who'', ''
The Dalek Invasion of Earth ''The Dalek Invasion of Earth'' is the second Serial (radio and television), serial of the Doctor Who (season 2), second season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Terry Nation and directed by Richard Ma ...
'' and '' The Chase''. Martin directed two other ''Doctor Who'' stories. He directed the first episode of ''
The Edge of Destruction ''The Edge of Destruction'' (also referred to as ''Inside the Spaceship'') is the third serial of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. It was written by David Whitaker, and first broadcast on BBC TV in two weekly part ...
'', which immediately followed ''The Daleks'' in season 1, and the entire season 2 story ''
The Web Planet ''The Web Planet'' is the fifth serial of the second season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Bill Strutton and directed by Richard Martin, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in six weekly parts from 1 ...
''. For the latter story, Martin wanted to film through a special camera lens to make the planet appear more "alien," but due to budget constraints he had to resort to covering the lens with
vaseline Vaseline ()Also pronounced with the main stress on the last syllable . is an American brand of petroleum jelly-based products owned by transnational company Unilever. Products include plain petroleum jelly and a selection of skin creams, soa ...
to achieve the effect, which many viewers found distracting. In 2013, the
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praised Martin's direction of ''The Edge of Destruction'' for how it "wrings every available ounce of suspense, horror and mystery" from a script that features only the show's four regular characters. They also praised his direction of certain scenes from ''The Dalek Invasion of Earth''. Authors Tat Wood and Lawrence Miles credit Martin for "the most impressive effect" in ''The Daleks'', that of "the wall blistering under the Daleks' weapons." Authors
Paul Cornell Paul Douglas Cornell (born 18 July 1967) is a British writer best known for his work in television drama as well as ''Doctor Who'' fiction, and as the creator of one of the Doctor's spin-off companions, Bernice Summerfield. As well as ''Docto ...
, Martin Day and
Keith Topping Keith Andrew Topping (born 26 October 1963 in Walker, Tyneside) is an author, journalist and broadcaster. He is most well known for his work relating to the BBC Television series ''Doctor Who'' and for writing numerous official and unofficial g ...
regard ''The Daleks'' as being "brilliantly directed." However, Wood and Miles criticize Martin for permitting outside noises such as studio doors opening and closing to be heard during stories he directs, and describe the direction of ''The Dalek Invasion of Earth'' as "mistimed," while acknowledging that the "grit and darkness" of some scenes are "enough to hold the attention for a while." Wood and Miles also consider Martin responsible for ''The Web Planet'' not working, for example by not objecting to the "creaky" sets. Author Mark Campbell also criticizes this story as being "badly directed." Critic
John Kenneth Muir John Kenneth Muir (born December 3, 1969) is an American literary critic. As of 2022, he has written thirty reference books in the fields of film and television, with a particular focus on the horror and science fiction genres. Biography Born ...
concurs that ''The Web Planet'' is "badly filmed," but praises the story for being an experiment in showing a truly alien world, which according to Wood and Miles was the type of story Martin had been wanting ''Doctor Who'' to do. Wood and Miles consider Martin to have been "hopelessly out of his depth" in directing ''The Chase'', suggesting that the previous story, ''
The Space Museum ''The Space Museum'' is the seventh serial of the second season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Glyn Jones and directed by Mervyn Pinfield, it was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly parts from 24 Ap ...
'', would have played to his strengths as a director instead. Journalist Peter Haining had a different opinion of Martin's direction of ''The Chase'', claiming that Martin's use of techniques such as fast intercuts,
overlay Overlay may refer to: Computers *Overlay network, a computer network which is built on top of another network *Hardware overlay, one type of video overlay that uses memory dedicated to the application *Another term for exec, replacing one process ...
s and
animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
made the final battle of the story "one of the finest battle scenes ever filmed for ''Doctor Who''." Martin himself attributes the flaws with ''The Web Planet'' and ''The Chase'' to inadequate budgets, and in the case of ''The Chase'' restrictions on his use of moving camera techniques.


Later work

Martin worked on a number of television series and documentaries after ''Doctor Who''. Perhaps the best knownmost famous of these were the four episodes of '' All Creatures Great and Small'' in 1990, during which he worked with actor
Peter Davison Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor with many credits in television dramas and sitcoms. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan ...
, who had portrayed the
Fifth Doctor The Fifth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Peter Davison. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from t ...
on ''Doctor Who'' from 1981 through 1984. Other directing credits include ''
The Mallens ''The Mallens'' was a popular Granada Television adaptation of Catherine Cookson novels that ran for 13 episodes from 10 June 1979 to 3 July 1980. The series is based on ''The Mallen Streak'', ''The Mallen Girls'', and ''The Mallen Secret'' an ...
'' in 1979 and 1980, and the 1976 documentary ''Legend of Loch Ness''.


Legacy

In the 2013
docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...
''
An Adventure in Space and Time ''An Adventure in Space and Time'' is a 2013 British biographical television film, starring David Bradley, Brian Cox, Jessica Raine and Sacha Dhawan. Directed by Terry McDonough, and written by regular ''Doctor Who'' writer Mark Gatiss, it p ...
'', Martin was portrayed by writer
Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with ...
's husband, actor
Ian Hallard Ian Christopher Hallard (born 9 November 1974) is an English actor and writer. His work includes acting roles in the West End, including the lead role of Michael in a revival of Mart Crowley's '' The Boys in the Band''; at the National Theatre ...
. He was also interviewed for
Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...
's 50th anniversary ''Doctor Who'' special of ''
The Culture Show ''The Culture Show'' is a British magazine programme about books, art, film, architecture, music, visual fashion and the performing arts. The show was broadcast weekly on BBC Two between 2004 and 2015. Early history Launched in November 2004, th ...
'', entitled "Me, You and Doctor Who".
Peter Purves Peter John Purves (; born 10 February 1939) is an English television presenter and actor. He played Steven Taylor in ''Doctor Who'' under the First Doctor, a role he continued to play in audio dramas for Big Finish Productions. He later became a ...
, who portrayed Steven Taylor in ''Doctor Who'' and later became a presenter for ''
Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...
'', credits Martin for being "responsible for iscareer ever taking off."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Richard 1935 births Living people British television directors British male television actors