As a filmmaker, a director of eight Doctor Who episodes and a research geek, I calculated that figure using IMDB\u2019s 1-10 rating system. 21 episodes of Modern Doctor Who are rated 9.0 or higher \u2014 and five of those (24 per cent) are directed by women.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Given that only 15 per cent of all Modern Who episodes are helmed by women, that\u2019s punching above its weight, or more technically, highly statistically significant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This leads the maths geek in me to proclaim sensationally: \u201cProof! Women directors make better Doctor Who episodes than men!\u201d Or, perhaps: \u201cWomen are better directors!\u201d Or even: \u201cWomen are better than men \u2013 full stop.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Wow, that was fun; that was cathartic, just writing those words. But the empiricist Talalay knows that things are more complicated.<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s take a closer look at three of these fan-favourites: Blink<\/a>, Midnight<\/a> and Heaven Sent<\/a>. Blink (9.8\/10) and Heaven Sent (9.6\/10) are actually the two top-rated episodes of Doctor Who on IMDB. Midnight holds its own with an excellent 9.0\/10.<\/span><\/p>\n I chose these three because they have something unexpected in common: each was conceived by the producers as a way to save money. And yet, their results were clearly not constrained by this. Much of that success can be credited to the directors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Blink is a standalone story where the Doctor (David Tennant<\/a>) and Companion (Martha\/Freema Agyeman<\/a>) only appear in a very small percentage of the story. Fortunately, Carey Mulligan is the guest cast lead and, as Sally Sparrow, she absolutely owns the episode. But without the Doctor\/Companion, the episode could have been a throwaway, missing its core. Not a chance. Not this script. Not with director Hettie MacDonald.<\/span><\/p>\n Blink has its financial limitations. It introduces new monsters, the terrifying and beloved Weeping Angels<\/a>. But instead of animatronic makeup FX or CGI monsters, they are inanimate stone sculptures, simply statues (\u2026until they are not). Most of the shots are actors in stone-coloured make-up standing still with some freeze frame effects to stabilise them. Their movements are created by editing. From an economics standpoint, it doesn\u2019t get much more affordable.<\/span><\/p>\n Hettie MacDonald was the first woman to helm a Modern Who. I sometimes wonder how I would have responded if that had been me. Would I have felt pangs of disappointment that I was given a Doctor Who script with barely a Doctor? And to be handed a new monster that was simply a statue \u2014 really? You don\u2019t think I can handle the CGI or Makeup\/puppetry? How\u2019s that going to work?<\/span><\/p>\n That makes me feel even greater admiration for Hettie\u2019s accomplishments. The shock cut editing and the beautiful lensing and score add up to the perfect shiver. Rewatching Steven Moffat\u2019s<\/a> early episodes reminds me what a master he is at creating a chilling atmosphere. Hettie\u2019s direction relishes and enhances these moments \u2013 making them both terrifying and beautiful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Midnight is a \u2018companion-lite\u2019 episode and also a \u2018bottle\u2019 episode, which means it is set in a contained location\/set in order to save money. Producers often believe that these episodes can be shot in less time and squeeze the schedule as well. In Midnight, 90 per cent of the episode takes place on a space truck\/shuttle, which breaks down in the middle of nowhere and is attacked by a monster \u2013 which happens to be completely invisible. It\u2019s a bodysnatcher and we never see it at all.<\/span><\/p>\n Alice Troughton was given the immensely difficult task of creating rising tension in a small but open space with an invisible monster. There are no creepy corners to hide in. And no visible monster to wow the audience. No easy eye candy.<\/span><\/p>\n The direction had to find ways to keep upping the fear and the claustrophobia. Alice adjusts the lighting, creates chaos with sound and editing, and makes lensing choices that keep growing tighter and more intimate, but also more skewed, as the monster takes over a passenger and then, to our dismay, the Doctor himself.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Everything about this scenario is perfectly pitched in Russell T Davies\u2019s script.\u00a0 The Doctor, our expected saviour, is paralysed by the monster, leaving us without a hero. Our fear is enhanced by David Tennant\u2019s impeccable performance. Even in paralysis, he shows sheer terror. If the Doctor is afraid, the audience feels hope is lost.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As with the best science fiction, there\u2019s a message underneath. The monster brings out the worst in the humans on board \u2013 their distrust of aliens, their irrational thought, their pack mentality, their reactionary decisions and delusions.\u00a0 And yet, humanity saves the day. It\u2019s the perfect, and impeccably executed, locked room mystery. Saving money? Don\u2019t even worry about it.<\/span><\/p>\n My episode, Heaven Sent, was also originally conceived as a money-saver, the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) was alone in a haunted house with Weeping Angels. One character and some stone statues that already existed. <\/span>However, as Steven Moffat started writing, he re-worked the episode to take place in a clockwork, rotating castle, in the middle of a vast ocean of water, chased by a new monster, The Veil \u2013 a change which blew the budget out of the water.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Instead of the simplicity of the original concept, Steven created an ever-changing puzzle box of an episode, a complex meditation on grief and a testimony to how far The Doctor will go to fulfil his duty of care \u2014 with Peter Capaldi\u2019s<\/a> brilliant acting at its core.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The challenges were notable. Steven worried that this conceptual experiment might fall flat. He handed me the script and mumbled: \u201cI\u2019m not sure this can be made.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I knew I had a magical piece of writing, but could I bring it to life? Was it possible to make an hour of the Doctor alone compelling to watch? Would the audience go along with a deep, dark episode that lacked a traditional storyline, action, etc? It turned out the answer was yes. The episode is much-respected and continues to touch many viewers. It brings them to tears, then gives them the power to move forward with strength.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Rachel](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/03\/IMG0956-5cc1263.jpeg?quality=90&resize=620%2C465\" "\\"Rachel")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Rachel](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/03\/IMG1333-8a7469e.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C465\" "\\"Rachel")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Peter](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/03\/IMG0898-688b196.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C465\" "\\"Peter")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Clapperboard](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2024\/03\/iwd-slate-f6daab4-rotated.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C465\" "\\"Clapperboard")
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