Episodes Broadcast: 2007, 2015

Hettie MacDonald studied English at Bristol University before embarking on a career as a theatre director. Her work on the stage led to her recruitment for the acclaimed 1996 film Beautiful Thing. The following year, MacDonald made her television debut with two episodes of Casualty. She subsequently worked on programmes such as Where The Heart Is, Servants and Poirot. Amongst the many fans of Beautiful Thing was Doctor Who producer Phil Collinson; his long-held desire to work with MacDonald came to pass on 2007's chilling Blink, an adventure for David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. But although Blink and its monsters, the Weeping Angels, proved enormously popular, MacDonald did not immediately return to Doctor Who. Instead, she moved on to shows like The Fixer, Law & Order: UK, Hit & Miss and The Tunnel.

It would be the combination of the Master -- in her Missy incarnation -- and the Daleks which would lure MacDonald back to Doctor Who after eight years, directing Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor in the 2015 season premiere, The Magician's Apprentice / The Witch's Familiar. MacDonald's subsequent work included episodes of Fortitude, Howards End and Normal People.