A gaffer is the head of the electrical department. He or she establishes an electrical "hub" from which other departments can draw power, either on set or on location, but his or her main duties have to do with rigging the lighting necessary to film a scene. It is for this reason that American productions, like Torchwood: Miracle Day , use the wordier synonym, chief lighting technician.
In addition to managing the technical setup of the lights, he also manages the quality of the light through the application of gels. Gaffers are ultimately responsible for translating a lighting design into a practical reality.
The person creating that design has changed during the course of the production history of Doctor Who . During the 1963 version, especially in the earliest years, there was no distinction between a gaffer and a lighting director, at least insofar as the credits were concerned. The only lighting credit issued was one for studio lighting . In this case, the gaffer either was the lighting director, or the actual gaffers simply went uncredited. Even as late as the Sylvester McCoy era, no one was receiving a lighting credit for episodes filmed primarily on location, indicating a formal lighting director was not used by the Doctor Who production office.
With the advent of the BBC Wales version, however, Doctor Who has adopted a hierarchy more common to film production. In this scheme, the director of photography is in charge of creating the lighting design and the gaffer organises the team to make it happen. Underneath him is the best boy , his senior assistant; underneath the best boy are a team of largely uncredited riggers.
The modern gaffer is roughly of equivalent rank to the key grip , who also reports directly to the director of photography, and is in charge of the physical movement of the camera.
List of gaffers
Story
Gaffer
42
Mark Hutchings
Adam
Dave Fowler
Adrift
Dave Fowler
An Adventure in Space and Time
Ian Barwick
The Age of Steel
Mark Hutchings
Aliens of London
Mark Hutchings
The Almost People
Mark Hutchings
Amy's Choice
Mark Hutchings
The Angels Take Manhattan
Mark Hutchings
Arachnids in the UK
Mark Hutchings
Army of Ghosts
Mark Hutchings
Asylum of the Daleks
Mark Hutchings
Bad Wolf
Mark Hutchings
The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos
Mark Hutchings
The Beast Below
Mark Hutchings
Before the Flood
Mark Hutchings
The Bells of Saint John
Mark Hutchings
The Big Bang
Mark Hutchings
Blink
Peter Chester
Boom Town
Mark Hutchings
Brave-ish Heart
Andrew Taylor
Can You Hear Me?
Mark Hutchings
Captain Jack Harkness
Micky Reeves
The Caretaker
Mark Hutchings
Children of Earth: Day Five
Mark Hutchings
Children of Earth: Day Four
Mark Hutchings
Children of Earth: Day One
Mark Hutchings
Children of Earth: Day Three
Mark Hutchings
Children of Earth: Day Two
Mark Hutchings
A Christmas Carol
Mark Hutchings
The Christmas Invasion
Mark Hutchings
The Church on Ruby Road
Pete Chester
Closing Time
Micky Reeves
Co-Owner of a Lonely Heart
Andrew Taylor
The Coach with the Dragon Tattoo
Andrew Taylor
Cold Blood
Mark Hutchings
Cold War
Mark Hutchings
Combat
George Vince
Countrycide
George Vince
The Crimson Horror
Mark Hutchings
The Curse of Clyde Langer
Dave Fowler
The Curse of Fatal Death
Colin McCarthy
The Curse of the Black Spot
Mark Hutchings
Cyberwoman
Dave Fowler
Dalek
Mark Hutchings
Daleks in Manhattan
Mark Hutchings
Dark Water
Mark Hutchings
Day One
Dave Fowler
A Day in the Death
Dave Fowler
The Day of the Clown
Steve Slocombe
The Day of the Doctor
Scott Napier
Day of the Moon
Mark Hutchings
Dead Man Walking
Dave Fowler
Death in Heaven
Mark Hutchings
Death of the Doctor
Dave Fowler
Deep Breath
Mark Hutchings
Demons of the Punjab
Mark Hutchings
Detained
Andrew Taylor
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
Mark Hutchings
The Doctor Dances
Mark Hutchings
The Doctor Falls
Mark Hutchings , Andy Gardiner
Doctor Who
Drew Davidson
The Doctor's Daughter
Mark Hutchings
The Doctor's Wife
Mark Hutchings
The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
Mark Hutchings
Doomsday
Mark Hutchings
Earthshock (TotT
Jon Down
The Eaters of Light
Mark Hutchings
The Eleventh Hour
Mark Hutchings
Empress of Mars
Mark Hutchings
The Empty Child
Mark Hutchings
The Empty Planet
Dave Fowler
End of Days
Micky Reeves
The End of Time
Mark Hutchings
The End of the World
Mark Hutchings
Enemy of the Bane
Mark Hutchings
The Eternity Trap
Dave Fowler
Eve of the Daleks
Mark Hutchings
Everything Changes
Dave Fowler
Evolution of the Daleks
Mark Hutchings
Exit Wounds
Dave Fowler
Extras: The Special
Paul Barlow
Extremis
Mark Hutchings
Face the Raven
Mark Hutchings
The Family of Blood
Mark Hutchings
Father's Day
Mark Hutchings
Fear Her
Mark Hutchings
The Fires of Pompeii
Mark Hutchings
Flatline
Mark Keeling
Flesh and Stone
Mark Hutchings
For Tonight We Might Die
Andrew Taylor
Forest of the Dead
Mark Hutchings
Fragments
John Truckle
From Out of the Rain
John Truckle
Fugitive of the Judoon
Mark Hutchings
Ghost Machine
Dave Fowler
The Ghost Monument
Mark Hutchings , Nick Rankin
The Gift
Dave Fowler
The Giggle
Paul Jarvis
The Girl Who Died
Mark Hutchings
The Girl Who Waited
Mark Hutchings
The Girl in the Fireplace
Mark Hutchings
The God Complex
Mark Hutchings
A Good Man Goes to War
Mark Hutchings
Goodbye, Sarah Jane Smith
Dave Fowler
Greeks Bearing Gifts
Dave Fowler
Gridlock
Mark Hutchings
The Halloween Apocalypse
Mark Hutchings
Heaven Sent
Mark Hutchings
Hell Bent
Mark Hutchings
Hide
Mark Hutchings
Human Nature
Mark Hutchings
The Hungry Earth
Mark Hutchings
The Husbands of River Song
Mark Hutchings
The Idiot's Lantern
Mark Hutchings
The Impossible Astronaut
Mark Hutchings
The Impossible Planet
Mark Hutchings
In the Forest of the Night
Mark Hutchings
Into the Dalek
Mark Hutchings
Invasion of the Bane
Brandon Evans
It Takes You Away
Mark Hutchings
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS
Mark Hutchings
Journey's End
Mark Hutchings
Kerblam!
Mark Hutchings
Kill the Moon
Mark Hutchings
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
John Truckle
Knock Knock
Mark Hutchings
Last Christmas
Mark Keeling
The Last Sontaran
Mark Hutchings
Last of the Time Lords
Mark Hutchings
The Lazarus Experiment
Mark Hutchings
Legend of the Sea Devils
Mark Hutchings
Let's Kill Hitler
Mark Hutchings
The Lie of the Land
Mark Hutchings
Listen
Mark Hutchings
The Lodger
Mark Hutchings
The Long Game
Mark Hutchings
The Lost
Chris Davies
Lost in Time
Dave Fowler
Love & Monsters
Peter Chester
The Mad Woman in the Attic
Dave Fowler
The Magician's Apprentice
Mark Hutchings
The Man Who Never Was
Dave Fowler
The Mark of the Berserker
Mark Hutchings
Meat
Dave Fowler
The Metaphysical Engine, or What Quill Did
Andrew Taylor
Midnight
Mark Hutchings
The Mind Robber (TotT
Jon Down
Mona Lisa's Revenge
Dave Fowler
Mummy on the Orient Express
Mark Hutchings
The Name of the Doctor
Mark Hutchings
New Earth
Mark Hutchings
The Next Doctor
Mark Hutchings
Night Terrors
Mark Hutchings
The Nightmare Man
Dave Fowler
Nightmare in Silver
Mark Hutchings
Nightvisiting
Andrew Taylor
Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror
Mark Hutchings
Once, Upon Time
Mark Hutchings
Orphan 55
Mark Hutchings
Out of Time
Micky Reeves
Oxygen
Mark Hutchings
The Pandorica Opens
Mark Hutchings
The Parting of the Ways
Mark Hutchings
Partners in Crime
Mark Hutchings
The Pilot
Mark Hutchings , Andy Gardiner
Planet of the Dead
Mark Hutchings
Planet of the Ood
Mark Hutchings
The Poison Sky
Mark Hutchings
Post-cre
Mark Hutchings , Ben Purcell , Nick Rankin , Paul Jarvis
The Power of Three
Mark Hutchings
The Power of the Doctor
Mark Hutchings
Praxeus
Mark Hutchings , Gillies Boisacq
Prisoner of the Judoon
Dave Fowler
The Pyramid at the End of the World
Mark Hutchings
Random Shoes
George Vince
The Rebel Flesh
Mark Hutchings
Reset
John Truckle
Resolution
Mark Hutchings
The Return of Doctor Mysterio
Mark Hutchings
Revolution of the Daleks
Mark Hutchings
The Rings of Akhaten
Mark Hutchings
Rise of the Cybermen
Mark Hutchings
Robot of Sherwood
Mark Hutchings
Rosa
Mark Hutchings , Nick Rankin
Rose
Mark Hutchings
The Runaway Bride
Mark Hutchings
The Satan Pit
Mark Hutchings
School Reunion
Mark Hutchings
Secrets of the Stars
Mark Hutchings
The Shakespeare Code
Mark Hutchings
Silence in the Library
Mark Hutchings
Sky
Dave Fowler
Sleep No More
Mark Hutchings
Sleeper
Dave Fowler
Small Worlds
Micky Reeves
Smile
Mark Hutchings
Smith and Jones
Mark Hutchings
The Snowmen
Mark Hutchings
Something Borrowed
Dave Fowler
The Sontaran Stratagem
Mark Hutchings
The Sound of Drums
Mark Hutchings
Spyfall
Mark Hutchings , Gillies Boisacq
The Star Beast
Paul Jarvis
The Stolen Earth
Mark Hutchings
Survivors of the Flux
Mark Hutchings
The Temptation of Sarah Jane Smith
Mark Hutchings
The Curse of Fenric (TotT
Jon Down
The Time of the Doctor
Mark Hutchings
They Keep Killing Suzie
Dave Fowler
Thin Ice
Mark Hutchings
The Three Doctors (TotT
Jon Down
Time Heist
Mark Hutchings
The Time Meddler (TotT
Jon Down
The Time of Angels
Mark Hutchings
The Timeless Children
Mark Hutchings
To the Last Man
Dave Fowler
Tooth and Claw
Mark Hutchings
A Town Called Mercy
Mark Hutchings
The Tsuranga Conundrum
Mark Hutchings
Turn Left
Stephen Slocombe
Twice Upon a Time
Ben Purcell
Under the Lake
Mark Hutchings
The Unicorn and the Wasp
Mark Hutchings
The Unquiet Dead
Mark Hutchings
Utopia
Mark Hutchings
The Vampires of Venice
Mark Hutchings
The Vanquishers
Mark Hutchings
The Vault of Secrets
Dave Fowler
Vengeance on Varos (TotT
Jon Down
Victory of the Daleks
Mark Hutchings
Village of the Angels
Mark Hutchings
Vincent and the Doctor
Mark Hutchings
Voyage of the Damned
Mark Hutchings
War of the Sontarans
Mark Hutchings
The Waters of Mars
Mark Hutchings
The Wedding of River Song
Mark Hutchings , Stephen Slocombe
Wild Blue Yonder
Paul Jarvis
The Witch's Familiar
Mark Hutchings
The Witchfinders
Mark Hutchings
The Woman Who Fell to Earth
Mark Hutchings
The Woman Who Lived
Mark Hutchings
World War Three
Mark Hutchings
The Zygon Invasion
Mark Hutchings
The Zygon Inversion
Mark Hutchings
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