Doctor Who director Paddy Russell

Paddy Russell, one of BBC Television’s first female directors, has died at the age of 89.

Russell directed several programmes between 1962 and 1981, including several episodes of Doctor Who.

Her work includes Out of the Unknown (1965), Late Night Horror (1968) and Little Women (1970).

She became the first woman to direct episodes of Doctor Who, starting in 1966 with the William Hartnell story The Massacre Of St Bartholomew’s Eve.

She returned to the popular programme eight years later for Jon Pertwee’s Invasion Of The Dinosaurs and Tom Baker’s Pyramids Of Mars and Horror Of Fang Rock.

In an interview in 2009, she said she had not known much about Doctor Who when she was first asked to direct it.

She said: “It hadn’t been going long but I liked the scripts because I thought they were well written, which I may say didn’t always happen on Doctor Who.”

Russell declared William Hartnell the best ever Doctor, despite the fact he could be difficult to work with.

“He had an edge that I don’t think any of the others have had since,” she said.

“He could be very frightening, mind you.”

Russell retired in the 1980s, at which point she moved to a cottage in the Yorkshire Moors where she lived in relative seclusion.

She became actively involved in charitable work in the area with a particular emphasis on cats.

Paddy Russell was one of BBC TV’s first female directors.