Ed Bazalgette

Episodes Broadcast: 2015-2016

Biography

Edward Bazalgette grew up during the Seventies, and watched Doctor Who during Jon Pertwee's time as the Third Doctor. By the end of the decade, he had become the lead guitarist for the Vapors, a new wave band that enjoyed notable success with their 1980 single Turning Japanese. While making music videos with the Vapors, Bazalgette found himself intrigued by the work of the directors. When the band dissolved in 1982, he decided to study filmmaking, and he soon began working on commercials. By the early Nineties, Bazalgette was working as a dubbing editor on shows like Lovejoy. He was then given an opportunity to direct factual programmes, such as 1998's Home Front In The Garden. Over the next decade, Bazalgette both produced and directed a number of documentaries, but he became keen to move into drama. In 2007, he began working on shows including EastEnders, Doctors and Holby City.

Bazalgette moved away from the soap genre during the early 2010s, with the likes of Endeavour, The Guilty and DCI Banks amongst his credits. It was his work on Poldark that drew the notice of the Doctor Who team; for his part, Bazalgette was eager to work with Peter Capaldi, who had recently debuted as the Twelfth Doctor. As such, he recorded the closely-linked The Girl Who Died and The Woman Who Lived for Doctor Who's 2015 season, in the process introducing Maisie Williams as the immortal Ashildr. Bazalgette also handled The Doctor's Meditation, a special prequel to the season premiere, The Magician's Apprentice / The Witch's Familiar. He then directed the first three episodes of the short-lived spin-off series Class before returning to Doctor Who for the 2016 Christmas special, The Return Of Doctor Mysterio.

Bazalgette moved on to programmes like The Last Kingdom, for which he also served as a co-executive producer. During the Twenties, he directed episodes of The Witcher and Fate: The Winx Saga.

Credits
Director
The Girl Who Died
The Woman Who Lived
For Tonight We Might Die
The Coach With The Dragon Tattoo
Nightvisiting
The Return Of Doctor Mysterio

Updated 28th January 2023