Douglas Camfield

Directing

Douglas Camfield

Born 1931-05-08 · England, UK

Douglas Gaston Sydney Camfield (8 May 1931 – 27 January 1984) was a British television director, active from the 1960s to the 1980s. His directing credits included Doctor Who, Z-Cars, Paul Temple, Public Eye, The Lotus Eaters, Van der Valk, The Sweeney, The Onedin Line, Blake's 7, Shoestring, The Professionals, Out of the Unknown, The Nightmare Man, the BBC dramatisation of Beau Geste, and Ivanhoe, the 1982 television movie. Camfield studied at the York School of Art and aimed to work for The Walt Disney Company. He was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps in 1951 during his national service. Later that year, he transferred to the West Yorkshire Regiment (Territorial Army). He was promoted to lieutenant in 1952 and was training to be in the Special Air Service, but due to an injury, he pulled out of the application process. It has often been noted by those who worked with him that Camfield always retained an affection for the army and brought military standards of organisation to the programmes he subsequently directed.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Doctor Who: The Seeds of Doom poster
8.8

When scientists in the Antarctic uncover a mysterious seed pod, the Doctor is called in to investigate. He soon realises it is extraterrestrial and extremely dangerous. At the same time, however, ruthless millionaire plant-lover Harrison Chase has learned of the find and decides he must have the pod for his collection of rare and beautiful flora. Meanwhile the pod itself harbours intelligent life with sinister plans of its own...

Doctor Who: The Seeds of Doom

1976

Ivanhoe poster
6.4

Ivanhoe, a worthy and noble knight, the champion of justice returns to England after the holy wars, and finds England under the reign of Prince John and his henchmen and finds himself being involved in the power-struggle for the throne of England.

Ivanhoe

1982

Doctor Who: The Chase poster
6.5

The Doctor and his companions are pursued through time and space by the Daleks on the desert planet Aridius and beyond.

Doctor Who: The Chase

1965

Blake's 7: Duel poster
NR

Supreme Commander Servalan assigns the task to the deadly Travis-his orders simply to seek, locate and destroy Blake's 7! Travis and his Mutoid crew clash with Blake in a crucial struggle over the Federation's secret cypher machine and again in desperate hand-to-hand combat on a mysterious dead planet. Finally, they confront each other on a barren ice world as Blake attempts to rescue the resistance leader, Avalon. This time, however, Travis is expecting him, and a terrible trap awaits. . .

Blake's 7: Duel

1986

Doctor Who: Inferno poster
8.6

UNIT is providing security cover at an experimental drilling project at Eastchester, designed to penetrate the Earth's crust and release a previously untapped source of energy. Soon, however, the drill head starts to leak an oily green liquid that transforms those who touch it into vicious primeval creatures with a craving for heat. The Doctor is accidentally transported "sideways in time" by the partially repaired TARDIS control console into a parallel universe where the drilling project is at a more advanced stage. Thwarted by his friends' ruthless alter egos, he works to save both universes.

Doctor Who: Inferno

1970

Doctor Who: Terror of the Zygons poster
8.1

When the Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry arrive in Scotland, having received an urgent request for assistance from the Brigadier, they discover that the mysterious force which has destroyed three oil rigs has left giant teeth marks on the wreckage. The mystery deepens, leading them to the shores of Loch Ness where they find that the legendary monster really does exist – and is the murderous tool of the Zygons, aliens intent on overpowering the planet. The Doctor, his companions and UNIT must find a way to defeat the deadly Loch Ness Monster and its controllers, but the Zygons have the terrifying power to change shape. The Doctor's life has never been in more danger, as the line between allies and enemies is tested to the very limit...

Doctor Who: Terror of the Zygons

1975

Doctor Who: The Crusade poster
6.1

In 12th century Palestine, the Doctor and his friends are drawn into the holy war between the forces of King Richard the Lionheart and the Saracen ruler Saladin.

Doctor Who: The Crusade

1965

Number on End poster
10.0

A documentary filmmaker’s latest work attracts the attentions of African secret agents - but what is it they want from the film?

Number on End

1980

Doctor Who: Planet of Giants poster
7.1

When the TARDIS malfunctions, it and its travellers land on Earth at the size of insects. They uncover a murderous plot involving a new insecticide, but how can they stop the crime in their miniaturised condition?

Doctor Who: Planet of Giants

1964

Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan poster
7.9

In the year 4000, the Daleks conspire to conquer the Solar System. Their scheme involves treachery at the highest levels and a weapon capable of destroying the very fabric of time. Only the Doctor and his friends can prevent catastrophe — and there is no guarantee they will escape with their lives...

Doctor Who: The Daleks' Master Plan

1965

Doctor Who: The Time Meddler poster
7.3

In England, 1066, the Doctor confronts a mysterious Monk who is attempting to change history.

Doctor Who: The Time Meddler

1965

The Nightmare Man poster
6.7

A heavy fog cuts the small isolated Scottish island off from the mainland, and dentist Michael Gaffikin has just discovered a dismembered corpse on the golf links. Michael and his artist girlfriend, Fiona Patterson, assist the local law enforcements in searching for the murderer. However, as the body count rises and the surrounding circumstances turn increasingly bizarre and gruesome, everyone begins to wonder if the killer is a human or an unimaginable creature...

The Nightmare Man

1981

Doctor Who: The Invasion poster
8.8

The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe return to Earth and become embroiled in the schemes of Tobias Vaughn. They meet up with an old friend, Colonel (now Brigadier) Lethbridge-Stewart, and some old enemies, the Cybermen.

Doctor Who: The Invasion

1968

Doctor Who: The Web of Fear poster
7.7

The TARDIS narrowly avoids becoming engulfed in a cobwebby substance in space. It arrives in the London Underground railway system, the tunnels of which are being overrun by the web and by the Great Intelligence's robot Yeti. The time travellers learn this crisis was precipitated when Professor Travers, whom they first met in the Himalayas some thirty years earlier, accidentally caused one of the Yeti to be reactivated, opening the way for the Intelligence to invade again.

Doctor Who: The Web of Fear

1968

No artwork available
NR

A free-spirited lodger profoundly disrupts the lives of the suburban family she moves in with.

The Golden Road

1973

The Last Lonely Man poster
8.0

What if it became possible for the personality to pass at the moment of death into the mind of someone still alive? Then the big new problem would be, into whom?

The Last Lonely Man

1969