Richard Martin (television director)
| Richard Martin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1930 |
| Occupation | TV actor and director |
| Years active | 1958–90 |
| Spouse(s) | Suzanne Neve |
Richard Martin (born 1930) is a British television director. He directed several episodes of Doctor Who, and acted in the TV series Ivanhoe. He is married to actress Suzanne Neve.
After having acted in the 1958 television series Ivanhoe and the 1960 series Maigret, Martin was asked to join the production team working on yet to be released 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, in which the titular villains were first introduced. During the making of The Daleks Martin pushed producer Verity Lambert 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 and The Chase.
Martin directed two other Doctor Who stories. He directed the first episode of The Edge of Destruction, which immediately followed The Daleks in season 1, and the entire season 2 story The Web Planet. 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 to achieve the effect, which many viewers found distracting.
In 2013, the BBC praised Martin's direction of 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 iconic 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, Martin Day and Keith Topping regard The Daleks as being "brilliantly directed."
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