London-born Makalla McPherson started directing music videos around 2010, while also working in commercials. She made a short film called Tight Rope in 2011, followed the next year by Tiny Steps. Eager to become involved with television drama, McPherson won the opportunity to direct several episodes of Doctors starting in 2013. She also enrolled at the London Film School, where she shifted her focus from filmmaking to screenwriting before she graduated in 2016. McPherson was then a principal director on the second and third seasons of the children's show Apple Tree House, and she gained notice in 2018 for the script for her debut stage play, When The Lights Go Out. During the Twenties, she directed episodes of programmes such as EastEnders, Waterloo Road and Queenie, while also serving as a second unit director on the Bridgerton spin-off Queen Charlotte. McPherson has made an episode of Doctor Who which will air in 2025, starring Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor. She has two children.