Roger Murray-Leach (born 25 June 1943) is a British

Production Designer In film and television, the production designer is the individual responsible for the overall aesthetic of the story. The production design gives the viewers a sense of the time period, the plot location, and character actions and feelings. Wo ...

possibly best known for his work on British television series' ''

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 ...

'' and

Blake's 7 ''Blake's 7'' (sometimes styled ''Blakes7'') is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Four 13-episode series were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also wrote the first ...

in the 1970s, although he then went on to work on major feature films. Initially training to be an architect, he joined the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

design department in 1966, quickly gaining a reputation for great imagination and flair. He began working on

when

Philip Hinchcliffe Philip Michael Hinchcliffe (born October 1944) is a retired English television producer, screenwriter and script editor. After graduating from Cambridge University, he began his career as a writer and script editor at Associated Television befo ...

took over as producer in late 1974. Hinchcliffe's vision for the series included giving a high priority to set design and he quickly realised that Murray-Leach was one of the most, if not the most, imaginative and resourceful designers on the BBC staff. Murray-Leach designed several Doctor Who serials under Hinchcliffe's reign, many of which remain amongst the most popular serials in the show's history. For the serial

Planet of Evil ''Planet of Evil'' is the second serial of the 13th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 27 September to 18 October 1975. The serial is set on and ab ...

, Murray-Leach designed an alien jungle at Ealing studios that so impressed Hinchcliffe that he wrote to the Head of the BBC design department, suggesting that Murray-Leach should be nominated for a BAFTA or a Royal Television Society Award.

David Maloney David John Lee Maloney (14 December 1933 – 18 July 2006) was a British television director and producer, best known for his work on the BBC science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', ''Blake's 7'' and ''The Day of the Triffids''. ''The Guardi ...

, a director who had worked on a number of the Doctor Who serials designed by Murray-Leach, went on to produce

for the BBC and immediately secured the services of Murray-Leach as lead designer, which included both the exterior and interior of the Liberator spacecraft. In 1980, following his work on Langrishe Go Down, starring Judi Dench and Jeremy Irons, and Speed King starring Robert Hardy as Sir Malcom Campbell, Murray-Leach left the BBC to work on the 1981 series Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years for which he was nominated for a BAFTA award. His talent was finally being recognised and he broke into feature films, working as production designer on Local Hero. Following this his credits include A Christmas Carol with George C Scott as Scrooge,

Defence of the Realm ''Defence of the Realm'' is a 1986 British political thriller film directed by David Drury, starring Gabriel Byrne, Greta Scacchi, and Denholm Elliott, with Robbie Coltrane in a supporting role. The film takes its title from the Defence of the ...

Clockwise Two-dimensional rotation can occur in two possible directions. Clockwise motion (abbreviated CW) proceeds in the same direction as a clock's hands: from the top to the right, then down and then to the left, and back up to the top. The opposite ...

A Fish Called Wanda ''A Fish Called Wanda'' is a 1988 heist comedy film directed by Charles Crichton and written by Crichton and John Cleese. It stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. The film follows a gang of diamond thieves who double- ...

, and Goldeneye. His movie career extended into the 1990s with, among others, Mrs Harris Goes To Paris, The Mighty Quinn, Twenty-One and

Fierce Creatures ''Fierce Creatures'' is a 1997 British-American farcical comedy film. While not literally a sequel, ''Fierce Creatures'' is a spiritual successor to the 1988 film '' A Fish Called Wanda''. Both films star John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kli ...

. In 1983 he was also employed as Art Director on The Killing Fields. In recent years he has designed several small films for director Norman Stone - Beyond Narnia, Florence Nightingale, KJV, Whistler and The Most Reluctant Convert - as well as working on the development of further projects. He has appeared in a number of television and DVD documentaries discussing his work on

, including ''A Darker Side'', a retrospective feature included in the 2, entertain/BBC DVD release of

, in which he and Hinchcliffe returned to Ealing studios to discuss the story's design and production. In the early 2000s, he co-founded the Fishworks restaurant chain alongside Mitch Tonks. He lives in

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

, England.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murray-Leach, Roger Living people British film designers 1943 births Place of birth missing (living people)