Born: 14th December 1933 (as David John Lee Maloney)
Died: 18th July 2006 (aged 72 years)
Episodes Broadcast: 1968-1969, 1973, 1975-1977

David Maloney was born in Alvechurch, Worcestershire. His parents divorced when he was young and, while he was sometimes raised by his mother, he also spent time with foster families. Maloney was evacuated to Staffordshire during World War Two, and then began working as a journalist in Birmingham while still a teenager. He spent his National Service with the Royal Air Force, after which he enrolled at the Birmingham Theatre School. After graduation, Maloney worked as an actor in repertory theatre. It was in this capacity that he met an assistant designer named Edwina King; they married in 1960 and would have three children. The same year, Maloney made his television debut in excerpts from the play The Gazebo.

Maloney began to grow bored with acting and, in 1961, he instead joined the BBC as an assistant floor manager. He was soon promoted to production assistant, and worked in this role on several Doctor Who serials, beginning with 1964's The Rescue. In 1967, Maloney completed the BBC's directors' training course. He soon found himself working on Z Cars and The Newcomers before he was brought back to Doctor Who to direct The Mind Robber in 1968. Maloney made two more Doctor Who serials over the next year, including The War Games. This was Patrick Troughton's swansong as the Second Doctor, and Maloney had substantial creative input. Shortly thereafter, Maloney left the BBC to become a freelance director, and worked on programmes such as The Last Of The Mohicans, Owen, MD and Woodstock.

Maloney directed four highly-regarded Doctor Who serials between 1975 and 1977

Maloney was back on Doctor Who in 1973, directing Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor in Planet Of The Daleks. But it was Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor with whom Maloney would become most closely associated: he directed four highly-regarded serials betwen 1975 and 1977, including the perennial poll-topper Genesis Of The Daleks. The violent content of this story and The Deadly Assassin courted controversy, but also pulled in robust ratings. Maloney finally bowed out of Doctor Who with The Talons Of Weng-Chiang. During this time, he also directed episodes of shows like Kim & Co. and Angels.

In the late Seventies, Maloney's experience on Doctor Who made him a natural choice to produce the BBC's older-skewing science-fiction drama, Blake's 7. In 1981, he was also the producer for When The Boat Comes In and an adaptation of The Day Of The Triffids. Maloney then returned to directing, including work on Juliet Bravo. From the mid-Eighties, he concentrated on documentary material, although his final credit came on the premiere episode of the soap opera Family Pride in 1991. Maloney died of leukaemia on July 18th, 2006.