Ron Jones
Born: 6th August 1945
Died: 9th July 1993 (aged 47 years)
Episodes Broadcast: 1982-1986
Bristol-born Ron Jones joined the BBC after graduating from university.
Following a brief stint in radio, he switched to television in 1968 as
an assistant floor manager. Jones then became a staffmember on Blue
Peter, where he was primarily a researcher, but also gained some
early directorial experience. After two years, Jones elected to return
to drama; having been promoted to production manager, he worked on
programmes such as Secret Army and Bergerac. He then
completed the BBC's internal directors' course, and his first directing
credit came on the 1982 Doctor Who murder-mystery Black Orchid.
Having impressed the Doctor Who production team, Jones soon
became a fixture during Peter Davison's time as the Fifth Doctor. They
made three more stories together, including a trip to the Netherlands to
film 1983's Arc Of Infinity in
Amsterdam. In the same serial, Jones hired Colin Baker to play Commander
Maxil; this was one of the factors which led to Baker being cast as the
Sixth Doctor a few months later. Jones directed him in 1985's Vengeance On Varos, and was lined
up for “Mission To
Magnus” the following year. When the 1986 season was
completely overhauled, however, his final Doctor Who serial
instead became the second segment of The
Trial Of A Time Lord.
Away from Doctor Who, Jones made two episodes of Juliet
Bravo. He directed for West German television in the late Eighties,
including Damals auf Burg Wutzenstein and more than thirty early
episodes of the long-running drama Lindenstraße. Jones died
on July 9th, 1993 following a lengthy illness.
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