Drama director Avril Evans has secured the first place on a scheme offering placements to women of colour on Doctor Who.
Evans, who has also worked on Hollyoaks and has shadowed directors on Sky's Fortitude and CBBC's Wolfblood, is working with director Alex Pillai on the second series of the sci-fi show to be produced by Bad Wolf.
Picked from a shortlist of 25 Directors UK members for the BBC and Sony Pictures Television-funded Placement Directors scheme, Pillai has been doing pre-shooting prep and will also film second-unit material and spend two weeks in pre-production.
Bad Wolf co-founder Jane Tranter said: “Lack of representation amongst directors is an issue we all need to urgently address. This scheme has been a hugely fruitful process and I am keen that this is just the beginning of an increased focus for Bad Wolf and for the industry as a whole”.
The series, set to air in 2025, also includes Makalla McPherson (Queenie, Waterloo Road, Queen Charlotte), who was previously selected for the Creative Diversity Network scheme, where she was mentored by executive producer Sarah Brown.
The directors on Bad Wolf’s first Doctor Who series, which airs on 11 May, are Julie Anne Robinson, Ben Chessell, Dylan Holmes Williams and Jamie Donoughue.
