David John Lee Maloney (14 December 1933 – 18 July 2006) was a Britishtelevision director andproducer, best known for his work on the BBCscience-fiction seriesDoctor Who,Blake's 7 andThe Day of the Triffids.The Guardian described him on his death as "one of that old school who could turn out 30-minute dramas in two days shooting time".[1]
Maloney was born inAlvechurch,Worcestershire, educated atKing Edward VI Five Ways and served in theRoyal Air Force[2] before becoming an actor in repertory theatre.[1]
Maloney joined theBBC as a television production assistant and trained to be a director at the corporation.[3] His directing credits included the police seriesZ-Cars,Softly, Softly: Taskforce andJuliet Bravo, and an adaptation of theWalter Scott novelIvanhoe (1970).
He first worked onDoctor Who as a production assistant toChristopher Barry on the serialThe Rescue (1965).[4] He directed eightDoctor Who serials between 1968 and 1977. He became, along withDouglas Camfield, one of producerPhilip Hinchcliffe's two favourite directors.[5] He then became the producer of the first three seasons ofBlake's 7 (1978–80), which included directing three episodes himself. He leftBlake's 7 to produce the last series ofWhen the Boat Comes In (1981). He also produced the BBC's adaptation ofJohn Wyndham's novelThe Day of the Triffids (1981).
After his work in television drama, Maloney moved to factual programme-making and travelled the world making various documentaries for theITV contractorCentral.[2] Towards the end of his life, he appeared in a number of TV and DVD documentaries about his work onDoctor Who. He also provided DVD commentaries for three of the serials he directed,The Mind Robber (1968),Genesis of the Daleks (1975) andThe Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977).
Maloney died on 18 July 2006.[1]
As well as producing the first three seasons ofBlake's 7, Maloney also directed the following three episodes:
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