Fiona Cumming | |
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| Born | 9 October 1937 |
| Died | 1 January 2015 (aged 77) |
| Occupation(s) | Television director, actress |
| Known for | Doctor Who |
Fiona Cumming (9 October 1937 – 1 January 2015) was aScottishtelevision director, noted for her work on theBBCtelevision series,Doctor Who, during the show'sFifth Doctor era.[1][2]
Her credits included the 1982 serial,Castrovalva, theSeason 19 premiere which marked the debut ofPeter Davison as the show's fifthDoctor.[1] Her other work with the show includedSnakedance in January 1983 andEnlightenment in March 1983 forseason 20.[1] Cumming shot much of the 1984 serial,Planet of Fire, on location inLanzarote,Canary Islands.[2]
Cumming was raised inGlasgow andEdinburgh,Scotland.[2] She began her career as anactress at theRoyal Scottish Academy.[3] She appeared in both film and television.[1] Her early roles included an episode of the BBC television series,Dr. Finlay's Casebook, in 1963.[1] She also worked as an announcer onBorder Television (present-dayITV Border).[1]
She transitioned fromacting totelevision production in 1964. She had initially applied to the BBC and taught school in Scotland before breaking into production. She recalled her entry into the industry in a 2014 interview, telling Scotland Now, "I had applied to the BBC in 1964 when they were getting ready forBBC2, and I had been accepted - but they lost my file and because I had a teaching degree, I came back up to Glasgow and started teaching atBellahouston Academy. I can remember in 1963 when the kids came in, talking about this brilliant TV show they had seen the Saturday night before, and I said, 'What do you mean, it's set in a police box?'...Then in 1964 I went to the BBC as a relief assistant floor manager, where you were slotted into various programmes. I was doing the twice-weekly soaps Compact and Swizzlewick, and the first time I was moved on to something different it wasDoctor Who."[2]
In 1965, she was hired as an assistantfloor manager on the set ofThe Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve.[2] "I was put onto The Massacre in 1965 - so it's now 48 years since I first worked onDoctor Who.Peter Purves was William Hartnell's assistant at that time and the director wasPaddy Russell, who had such a great reputation," she recalled in 2014.[2] Cumming later worked as aproduction assistant for several episodes ofDoctor Who during the 1960s and 1970s, includingThe Highlanders,The Seeds of Death, andThe Mutants.[1]
In 1974, Cumming was hired as a staff television director for the BBC.[1] She directed episodes for some of the BBC leading dramatic series during the 1970s, includingAngels,Play for Today,Z-Cars,[4] andThe Omega Factor, a short-lived series which aired in 1979.[1] In 1980, Cumming directed two episodes ofBlake's 7 during the show's third season,Sarcophagus andRumours of Death.[1] She also contributed in that year to directing the three-film children's TV seriesGod's Wonderful Railway.[5]
Cumming was booked to directThe Ultimate Evil duringDoctor Who's23rd season in 1986, but the production was cancelled when the show was put onhiatus.[1] While she did not direct additional episodes onDoctor Who, she maintained a working relationship with the show 's producer,John Nathan-Turner, and collaborated with him atTeynham Productions.[1]
In 1988, Cumming made a cameo appearance as a tourist at Windsor Castle inSilver Nemesis for Doctor Who's25th season.[3] She also oversaw the re-edit of her 1983 serial,Enlightenment, for its re-release as part of the Black Guardian Trilogy DVD box set in 2009 as well as the re-edit of her 1984 serial,Planet of Fire for its re-release as part of the Kamelion Tales DVD box set in 2010.[1]
Fiona Cumming, who resided inDumfries and Galloway, died on 1 January 2015, at the age of 77.[1]
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