Monday 31 March 2014

Derek Martinus

As you'll probably be aware veteran Doctor Who director Derek Martinus died this week following a long illness (BBC Obituary and Toby Hadoke's Obituary in The Guardian). His death comes less than two months after fellow 60s veteran Chriostopher Barry (Guardian Obituary).

I thought I'd dig out some of Derek Martinus' work to watch and watched Galaxy 4 episode 3: Airlock, some of Tenth Planet 1 & 2, Evil of the Daleks 2 and Spearhead from Space. While doing this a few things struck me:

Derek Martinus seems to have been handed some of the more historically important directing jobs in Doctor: he handles the first appearance of the Cybermen, Ice Warriors, Autons and Third Doctor. He handles the famous Doctor & Companion free episode Dalek Masterplan, the prelude to the grand Dalek Masterplan. And he's on hand for the departure of William Hartnell and the intenmded final appearance of the Daleks. In all he directs 26 episodes which puts him fifth on the all time list of Who episodes directed. The four directors above him on the list are all recognisable names to Doctor Who fans.

  DIRECTOR EPISODES EXISTS MISSING EXISTS % MISSING %
1 Douglas Camfield 52 38 14 73.08 26.93
2 David Maloney 45 45 0 100 0
3 Christopher Barry 43 33 10 76.75 23.26
4 Michael Briant 30 30 0 100 0
5 Derek Martinus 26 13 13 50 50
6 Barry Letts 24 24 0 100 0
7 Pennant Roberts 24 24 0 100 0
8 Richard Martin 22 22 0 100 0
9 Michael Ferguson 21 21 0 100 0
10 Peter Moffatt 20 20 0 100 0
Ron Jones 20 20 0 100 0

If we limit the episodes to the end of 1970's Season 7, the point where Martinus stopped working for Doctor Who, he'd directed the second most episodes behind, inevitably, the great Douglas Camfield:

  DIRECTOR EPISODES EXISTS MISSING EXISTSG% MISSING%
1 Douglas Camfield 42 28 14 67 34
2 Derek Martinus 26 13 13 50 50
3 Richard Martin 22 22 0 100 0
4 Christopher Barry 20 10 10 50 50
5 David Maloney 19 19 0 100 0
6 Michael Ferguson 17 17 0 100 0
7 Morris Barry 13 11 2 85 16
8 Hugh David 10 0 10 0 100
9 Mervyn Pinfield 10 10 0 100 0
10 Waris Hussein 10 4 6 40 60

Of note in that list is relative newcomer David Maloney's 19 episodes, all in Troughton's last season.

But as you'll also see from that list over half of Martinus' 26 episodes are missing.

In terms of numbers of episodes missing he stands second behind Douglas Camfield who directed significantly more episodes during the period that episodes are missing from - 42 of Camfield's 52 episodes fall before the end of Season 7.

DIRECTOR EPISODES EXISTS MISSING EXISTS % MISSING % Stories Missing
Douglas Camfield 52 38 14 73.07 26.92 Crusade
Dalek Masterplan
Web of Fear
Derek Martinus 26 13 13 50 50 Galaxy 4
Misison to the Unknown
10th Planet
Evil of the Daleks
Ice Warriors
Christopher Barry 43 33 10 76.74 23.25 Savages
Power of the Daleks
Hugh David 10 0 10 0 100 Highlanders
Fury from the Deep
Waris Hussein 10 4 6 40 60 Marco Polo
Julia Smith 8 2 6 25 75 Smugglers
Underwater Menace
Gerald Blake 12 7 5 58.33 41.66 Abominable Snowmen
Michael Hart 6 1 5 16.66 83.33 Space Pirates
Paddy Russell 18 14 4 77.77 22.22 The Massacre
Gerry Mill 6 2 4 33.33 66.66 Faceless Ones
Tristan de Vere Cole 6 2 4 33.33 66.66 Wheel in Space
John Davies 4 0 4 0 100 The Macra Terror
Michael Leeston-Smith 4 0 4 0 100 The Myth Makers
Bill Sellars 4 1 3 25 75 The Celestial Toymaker
Morris Barry 13 11 2 84.61 15.38 The Moonbase
Henric Hirsch 6 4 2 66.66 33.33 Reign of Terror
John Crockett 5 4 1 80 20 Marco Polo

Reordering the list by percentage reveals some surprises! 3 directors Hugh David, Michael Leeston-Smith and John Davies have their entire Doctor Who directing career wiped out by the episode junkings, but Hugh David is the only one of these to work on more than one story.

DIRECTOR EPISODES EXISTS MISSING EXISTS % MISSING % Stories Missing
Hugh David 10 0 10 0 100 Highlanders
Fury from the Deep
John Davies 4 0 4 0 100 The Macra Terror
Michael Leeston-Smith 4 0 4 0 100 The Myth Makers
Michael Hart 6 1 5 16.66 83.33 Space Pirates
Julia Smith 8 2 6 25 75 Smugglers
Underwater Menace
Bill Sellars 4 1 3 25 75 The Celestial Toymaker
Gerry Mill 6 2 4 33.33 66.66 Faceless Ones
Tristan de Vere Cole 6 2 4 33.33 66.66 Wheel in Space
Waris Hussein 10 4 6 40 60 Marco Polo
Derek Martinus 26 13 13 50 50 Galaxy 4
Misison to the Unknown
10th Planet
Evil of the Daleks
Ice Warriors
Gerald Blake 12 7 5 58.33 41.66 Abominable Snowmen
Henric Hirsch 6 4 2 66.66 33.33 Reign of Terror
Douglas Camfield 52 38 14 73.07 26.92 Crusade
Dalek Masterplan
Web of Fear
Christopher Barry 43 33 10 76.74 23.25 Savages
Power of the Daleks
Paddy Russell 18 14 4 77.77 22.22 The Massacre
John Crockett 5 4 1 80 20 Marco Polo
Morris Barry 13 11 2 84.61 15.38 The Moonbase

Derek Martinus is the only Director with episodes missing from FIVE stories:

STORY EPISODES EXISTS MISSING EXISTS MISSING
Galaxy Four 4 1 3 3 1, 2 & 4
Mission to the Unknown 1 0 1 - 1
Tenth Planet 4 3 1 1, 2 & 3 4
The Evil of the Daleks 7 1 6 2 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7
The Ice Warriors 6 4 2 1, 4, 5 & 6 2 & 3
Spearhead from Space 4 4 0 1, 2, 3 & 4 -
  26 13 13    

In fact of the six stories he worked on only the last, Spearhead from Space is complete.

Thursday 13 March 2014

Doctor Who's Second Centenarian - Happy 100th Birthday to Olaf Pooley

Happy 100th Birthday to Olaf Pooley who today becomes Doctor Who's SECOND centenarian after Zohra Sehgal!

He's had a long career on both sides of the Atlantic but to Doctor Who fans he's best known for playing Professor Stahlman in Inferno during 1970. Inferno is one of my favourite Doctor Who stories and I covered it in August 2011 during the original run of the blog:

272 Inferno Episode 1
273 Inferno Episode 2
274 Inferno Episode 3
275 Inferno Episode 4
276 Inferno Episode 5
277 Inferno Episode 6
278 Inferno Episode 7