Paddy Russell
- Known for
- Directing
- Born
- July 4, 1928
- Died
- November 2, 2017 (aged 89)
- Birthplace
- Highgate, London, England, UK
Biography
Patricia "Paddy" Russell (4 July 1928 – 2 November 2017) was a British television director. She was among the earliest female directors at the BBC. She was the first female floor manager to work for the BBC, her non-gendered credit being a means of avoiding problems with prospective technical crews. Although she appeared in the first two episodes of The Quatermass Experiment (1953), her main role was a production assistant for television director Rudolph Cartier. She worked on the later Quatermass science-fiction serials, as well as the 1954 adaptation of George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the Studio 4 series, she appeared on screen in the Cartier-directed Holocaust drama Doctor Korczak and the Children (1962), instructing the actors on the roles they were to perform. The production was made in the unadorned studio without sets or the actors in costume. She progressed to becoming a director herself, one of the first two women directors in BBC television, along with Julia Smith. She directed many television programmes from 1962. She became the first woman to direct episodes of Doctor Who when she directed The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve (1966). She directed three further Doctor Who serials: Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974), Pyramids of Mars (1975), and Horror of Fang Rock (1977). The last two Doctor Who serials featured Tom Baker in the title role. Her other work included Out of the Unknown (1965), Pere Goriot (1968), The Moonstone (1972) and The Omega Factor (1980).
Known For
Filmography
No Such Thing as a Vampire
Movie · Director
First Tuesday
TV · Director · 1 ep
The Squad
TV · Director · 4 eps
The Omega Factor
TV · Director · 1 ep
The Standard
TV · Director · 3 eps
3-2-1
TV · Director · 16 eps
Doctor Who: Horror of Fang Rock
Movie · Director
Doctor Who: Pyramids of Mars
Movie · Director
Doctor Who: Invasion of the Dinosaurs
Movie · Director
Within These Walls
TV · Director · 3 eps
My Old Man
TV · Director · 8 eps
The Moonstone
TV · Director · 5 eps
The Man Outside
TV · Director · 1 ep
Full House
TV · Director · 1 ep
Harriet's Back in Town
TV · Director · 1 ep
Crown Court
TV · Director · 3 eps
Emmerdale
TV · Director · 38 eps
Pere Goriot
TV · Director · 4 eps
Little Women
TV · Director · 9 eps
Imperial Palace
TV · Director · 4 eps
The Doctors
TV · Director · 1 ep
The Corpse Can't Play
Movie · Director
Late Night Horror
TV · Director · 2 eps
Angel Pavement
TV · Director · 4 eps
Doctor Who: The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve
Movie · Director
Softly, Softly
TV · Director · 2 eps
Quick Before They Catch Us
TV · Director · 5 eps
Come Buttercup, Come Daisy, Come......?
Movie · Director
Treasure Island
Movie · Director
The Late Arrival of the Incoming Aircraft
Movie · Director
Out of the Unknown
TV · Director · 1 ep
Thirty-Minute Theatre
TV · Director · 1 ep
Hit and Run
TV · Director · 4 eps
Reluctant Bandit
TV · Director · 5 eps
The Mind of the Enemy
TV · Director · 5 eps
Heiress of Garth
TV · Director · 6 eps
The Newcomers
TV · Director · 1 ep
Story Parade
TV · Director · 1 ep
The Massingham Affair
TV · Director · 6 eps
Doctor Who
TV · Director · 18 eps
First Night
TV · Director · 1 ep
Z-Cars
TV · Director · 33 eps
Compact
TV · Director · 2 eps