Paul Wilmshurst

Born: 15th December 1961 (as Paul Dominic Wilmshurst)
Episodes Broadcast: 2014

Biography

London-born Paul Wilmshurst became an avid viewer of Doctor Who during his childhood in the mid-Sixties. He completed a degree in English at Cambridge University and a post-graduate diploma in journalism at City University, London. This led Wilmshurst to employment on news and factual programmes, initially as a researcher and later as a director. He was able to transition to documentaries during the early Nineties, often working as both a producer and a director on shows like Without Walls, White Tribe and The Gambler. Early in the twenty-first century, Wilmshurst began to make drama documentaries like Secrets & Lines and Hiroshima, both of which he also wrote. His success led to a move away from fact-based work onto dramas such as Trial & Retribution. Wilmshurst was both a producer and a director on the children's series Runaway and Combat Kids, having scripted the former.

Meanwhile, Wilmshurst had become a fan of Doctor Who all over again via its twenty-first-century revival, which he watched with his children. In 2010, he met with its producer, Marcus Wilson, to discuss the possibility of working on the show. However, scheduling conflicts meant that it would be almost half a decade before Wilmshurst was able to accept a Doctor Who assignment. He wound up making three stories for Peter Capaldi's initial year as the Twelfth Doctor: the controversial Kill The Moon, the atmospheric Mummy On The Orient Express, and the 2014 Yuletide special, Last Christmas. Wilmshurst's other credits during the decade included Strike Back, Da Vinci's Demons, Indian Summers and Jamestown. During the Twenties, his projects included several episodes of The Last Kingdom.

Credits
Director
Kill The Moon
Mummy On The Orient Express
Last Christmas

Updated 22nd December 2022