David John Lee Maloney (14 December 1933 – 18 July 2006) was a British

television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in making a television program or section of a program. They are generally responsible for decisions about the editorial content and creative style of a program, and ensuring the prod ...

and producer, best known for his work on the BBC science-fiction series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', ''

Blake's 7 ''Blake's 7'' is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Four series of thirteen 50-minute episodes were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also wrote the first series, prod ...

'' and '' The Day of the Triffids''. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' described him on his death as "one of that old school who could turn out 30-minute dramas in two days shooting time".

Early life

Maloney was born in

Alvechurch Alvechurch ( ) is a large village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Bromsgrove (district), Bromsgrove district in northeastern Worcestershire, England, in the valley of the River Arrow, Worcestershire, River Arrow. The Lickey H ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, educated at King Edward VI Five Ways and served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

before becoming an actor in repertory theatre.

Career

Maloney joined the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

as a television production assistant and trained to be a director at the corporation. His directing credits included the police series ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...

'', '' Softly, Softly: Taskforce'' and ''

Juliet Bravo ''Juliet Bravo'' is a television in the United Kingdom, British television police procedural drama series, first broadcast on 30 August 1980, that ran for six series and a total of 88 episodes on BBC One, BBC1. The theme of the series concerned ...

'', and an adaptation of the

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

novel ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

'' (1970). He first worked on ''

'' as a production assistant to

Christopher Barry Christopher Chisholm Barry (20 September 1925 – 7 February 2014) was a British television director. He worked extensively in BBC television drama and became best known for his work on the science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. He also direct ...

on the serial '' The Rescue'' (1965). He directed eight ''Doctor Who'' serials between 1968 and 1977. He became, along with Douglas Camfield, one of producer Philip Hinchcliffe's two favourite directors.Voice-over commentary on the BBC DVD " The Seeds of Doom" (1976, 2010) He then became the producer of the first three seasons of ''

'' (1978–80), which included directing three episodes himself. He left ''Blake's 7'' to produce the last series of ''

When the Boat Comes In ''When the Boat Comes In'' is a British television period drama produced by the BBC between 8 January 1976 and 21 April 1981. Across the whole series, events are set in the time period from 1919 to 1937. The series stars James Bolam as Jack Fo ...

'' (1981). He also produced the BBC's adaptation of

John Wyndham John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his name ...

's novel '' The Day of the Triffids'' (1981).

Later work

After his work in television drama, Maloney moved to factual programme-making and travelled the world making various documentaries for the ITV contractor Central. Towards the end of his life, he appeared in a number of TV and DVD documentaries about his work on ''Doctor Who''. He also provided DVD commentaries for three of the serials he directed, '' The Mind Robber'' (1968), '' Genesis of the Daleks'' (1975) and '' The Talons of Weng-Chiang'' (1977).

Death

Maloney died on 18 July 2006.

''Doctor Who''

:(director only) *'' The Mind Robber'' (1968) *'' The Krotons'' (1968–69) *''

The War Games ''The War Games'' is the seventh and final serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in ten weekly parts from 19 April to 21 June 1969. In the serial, an unnamed alien r ...

'' (1969) *'' Planet of the Daleks'' (1973) (also the final scene of the preceding '' Frontier in Space'' (1973)) *'' Genesis of the Daleks'' (1975) *'' Planet of Evil'' (1975) *''

The Deadly Assassin ''The Deadly Assassin'' is the third serial of the Doctor Who (season 14), 14th season of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 30 October to 20 November 197 ...

'' (1976) *'' The Talons of Weng-Chiang'' (1977)

''Blake's 7''

As well as producing the first three seasons of ''Blake's 7'', Maloney also directed the following three episodes: *''Deliverance'' (with Michael E. Briant) (Episode 12 of Season 1) *''Star One'' (Episode 13 of Season 2) *''Powerplay'' (Episode 2 of Season 3)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maloney, David 1933 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel BBC television producers British television directors Deaths from cancer in England Military personnel from Worcestershire People educated at King Edward VI Five Ways People from Alvechurch