Julia Smith

Julia Smith (26 May 1927-19 June 1997 ) directed the Doctor Who television stories The Smugglers and The Underwater Menace. She was the second woman to direct a Doctor Who story, following Paddy Russell's direction of The Massacre. According to Russell in 2011, Smith was the only other female director at the BBC during at least the mid-1960s. (DCOM: Invasion of the Dinosaurs)

She originally wanted to become an actress, but ventured into the production side of drama during repertory theatre when she stage-managed several plays.

Indeed, she was one of the most important women in the BBC from the 1960s to the 1990s. Her most recognisable contribution to British television was her co-creation, with Tony Holland, and early production of EastEnders. She had other significant impact, as well.

As a director, she may be best known for helming all but one episode of the 1968 version of, which is considered by the British Film Institute as one of the. She also directed a number of episodes of the popular 1960s show and was an occasional contributor to other productions like Z-Cars, Peter Ling's,  and early 1980s episodes of her own EastEnders. The sad variation of the EastEnders theme is named after her.

As a producer, her work beyond EastEnders includes the ill-fated soap opera, a collaboration with Verity Lambert's , and. For the three years that it ran, the popular District Nurse, a show which she had also created, was the only production made by BBC Wales for national consumption. It was the longest-running English language show made in Wales in the 1980s. Consequently, Smith had a significant impact upon the economy of South Wales, somewhat similar to that of Russell T Davies when he first brought Doctor Who to Wales.

Anneke Wills has claimed that Smith was disliked by Patrick Troughton. (DCOM: The Underwater Menace)