Alice Troughton

Alice Troughton
Alice Troughton
Born	Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England
Nationality	British
Alma mater	University of Kent
Occupations	Film director; television director; producer;
Years active	2002–present

Alice Troughton is a British film and television director known for her work on Merlin, Doctor Who and its spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. In 2023, she made her feature film debut with The Lesson.

Career

Troughton studied drama at the University of Kent, where in her second year she directed Hamlet.^[1] She realised she wanted to be a television director when she was 32 years old, having worked as a fringe-theatre director, writer, personal driver at ICM and BBC Films and care worker.^[1] In 2002, she enrolled in the Doctors directing course.^[1] The same year in India, Troughton filmed her first short film called Refuge, based on the diary of a young Tibetan woman.^[1]^[2] It was later followed by another short film, Doris the Builder, starring Tom Ellis and based on a true story from her hometown, Aylesbury, about a builder who took a load of breast-enhancing hormones for a dare.^[1]

From 2006 to 2010, Troughton directed episodes of each of Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures, and Doctor Who. She was only the second person (after Colin Teague) to direct episodes of all three shows, which are set in a shared universe.^[3] Despite their shared surname and common association with Doctor Who, Troughton is not related to actor Patrick Troughton, who played the Second Doctor in the 1960s.^[4] Her directing in the franchise received overwhelmingly positive reviews, particularly for the Doctor Who episode "Midnight".^[5]^[6] Since then, she has gone on to become a leading director, working on acclaimed award-winning British shows such as BBC Three's In the Flesh and Channel 4's Cucumber and Baghdad Central.^[7] For her work on Cucumber, she was nominated for Best Director: Fiction at the 2015 Royal Television Society Craft & Design Awards.^[8] In the US, she worked on The CW's superhero series The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow and Netflix's science fiction series Lost in Space.^[7]

For Doctor Who, she cast Colin Morgan in his second television role as the conflicted teenager Jethro Cane, which contributed to him being cast in Merlin,^[9]^[10] where Troughton became one of the regular directors from the second series onwards. The two later collaborated on the BBC supernatural horror drama The Living and the Dead.^[11]

Her debut feature film The Lesson, starring Richard E. Grant, Julie Delpy and Daryl McCormack, premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Festival.^[12]^[13]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
2002	Refuge	Short film	^[1]
2004	Doris the Builder	Short film; also writer	^[1]
2023	The Lesson		^[12]

Television

Year	Title	Notes	Ref.
2002–2004	Doctors	23 episodes	^[1]
2004–2005	Holby City	6 episodes	^[1]
2004–2006	EastEnders	20 episodes: Episodes dated 5 to 9 January 2004 Episodes dated 31 May to 4 June 2004 Episodes dated 29 August to 2 September 2005 Episodes dated 6 to 9 June 2006	^[1]
2006	No Angels	3 episodes	^[1]
2006	Torchwood	2 episodes: "Small Worlds" "Out of Time"	^[9]
2007–2010	The Sarah Jane Adventures	10 episodes	^[6]
2008	Doctor Who	3 episodes: "The Poison Sky" (Rose Tyler cameo scene, uncredited) "The Doctor's Daughter" "Midnight"	^[3]
2009	Casualty	2 episodes	^[14]
2009	Tonight's the Night	Doctor Who sketch	^[15]
2009–2012	Merlin	13 episodes	^[16]
2012	Silk	2 episodes	^[1]
2013	Frankie	2 episodes	^[1]
2013	Atlantis	5 episodes	^[16]
2014	In the Flesh	2 episodes	^[17]
2015	Cucumber	3 episodes	^[18]
2015	Teen Wolf	Episode: "Required Reading"	^[7]
2016	The Flash	Episode: "Flash Back"	^[7]
2016	The Living and the Dead	3 episodes	^[11]
2016–2017	Legends of Tomorrow	2 episodes	^[7]
2017–2020	Tin Star	3 episodes	^[7]
2018	Lost in Space	Episode: "The Robinsons Were Here"	^[7]
	A Discovery of Witches	3 episodes	^[19]
	Lore	3 episodes	^[7]
2020	Baghdad Central	3 episodes	^[20]
2022	The Midwich Cuckoos	2 episodes; also executive producer	^[21]
2023	Boat Story	2 episodes	^[22]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Arnold, Lewis (26 July 2020). "Alice Troughton". Directors Now. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ Clipland. "Refuge - Short Film on Clipland". www.clipland.com. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Donna Feels the Heat!". Doctor Who Magazine (388): 5. 14 November 2007.
^ Lewinski, John Scott (3 June 2008). "The Doctor Dates His Daughter From 'The Doctor's Daughter'". WIRED. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
^ McEwan, Cameron K (21 October 2009). "The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Mad Woman In The Attic Part 2 review". Den of Geek. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b McEwan, Cameron K (6 November 2009). "The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Eternity Trap Part 1 review". Den of Geek. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h White, Peter (6 September 2018). "'Doctor Who' & 'Lore' Director Alice Troughton Set As Lead Director For C4 Drama 'Baghdad Central'". Deadline. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ "RTS announces Craft & Design awards nominees". Royal Television Society. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Doctor Who Midnight director praises Russell T Davies and David Tennant". Radio Times. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ AliceTroughton (26 February 2023). "👋🏻Hey everyone my name is Alice Troughton and I was one of the directors of the tv show Merlin and I've been asked to pop over to your group to have a quick Q&A with you all via live chat". r/merlinbbc. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b Lawson, Mark (28 June 2016). "Phantoms in the four-poster: will The Living and the Dead outspook TV's scariest ghosts?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b Lund, Anthony (14 June 2023). "The Lesson Trailer Brings Richard E. Grant and Julie Delpy to Film Noir". MovieWeb. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ Wise, Damon (12 June 2023). "'The Lesson' Review: Richard E. Grant Steals Show In Slow-Burn Tale Of Literary Larceny – Tribeca Film Festival". Deadline. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ "BBC One - Casualty, Series 23, With This Ring". BBC. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ "BBC - Doctor Who - Tonight's the Night Preview". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b "What could a female director mean for Star Trek?". BBC News. 30 April 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
^ "BBC Three - In The Flesh, Series 2, Episode 5". BBC. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ Goldsmith, Jill (7 July 2023). "Richard E. Grant In 'The Lesson', Mark Duplass In 'Biosphere' & Their First-Time Female Directors – Specialty Preview". Deadline. Retrieved 12 October 2023.
^ Boucher, Geoff (15 April 2019). "'A Discovery Of Witches': Female Creative Team Finds That It Takes A Coven". Deadline. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
^ "Palestinian Waleed Zuaiter nominated for Best Actor at BAFTA TV Awards 2021". Esquire Middle East. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
^ "Casting News: Keeley Hawes and Max Beesley to Lead TV Adaptation of John Wyndham's 'The Midwich Cuckoos' | Anglophenia | BBC America". BBC America. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
^ "BBC releases first-look pictures for new thriller Boat Story starring Daisy Haggard and Paterson Joseph". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

External links

Alice Troughton at IMDb
An Interview with Alice Troughton on the Merlin Locations website

This biographical article related to British television is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article about a television director is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[:3-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Arnold, Lewis (26 July 2020). "Alice Troughton". Directors Now. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

[2] Clipland. "Refuge - Short Film on Clipland". www.clipland.com. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

[DWM388-3] "Donna Feels the Heat!". Doctor Who Magazine (388): 5. 14 November 2007.

[4] Lewinski, John Scott (3 June 2008). "The Doctor Dates His Daughter From 'The Doctor's Daughter'". WIRED. Retrieved 13 November 2022.

[:0-5] McEwan, Cameron K (21 October 2009). "The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Mad Woman In The Attic Part 2 review". Den of Geek. Retrieved 13 November 2022.

[:1-6] McEwan, Cameron K (6 November 2009). "The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Eternity Trap Part 1 review". Den of Geek. Retrieved 13 November 2022.

[:5-7] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h White, Peter (6 September 2018). "'Doctor Who' & 'Lore' Director Alice Troughton Set As Lead Director For C4 Drama 'Baghdad Central'". Deadline. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

[8] "RTS announces Craft & Design awards nominees". Royal Television Society. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

[:6-9] "Doctor Who Midnight director praises Russell T Davies and David Tennant". Radio Times. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

[10] AliceTroughton (26 February 2023). "👋🏻Hey everyone my name is Alice Troughton and I was one of the directors of the tv show Merlin and I've been asked to pop over to your group to have a quick Q&A with you all via live chat". r/merlinbbc. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

[:7-11] Lawson, Mark (28 June 2016). "Phantoms in the four-poster: will The Living and the Dead outspook TV's scariest ghosts?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

[:4-12] Lund, Anthony (14 June 2023). "The Lesson Trailer Brings Richard E. Grant and Julie Delpy to Film Noir". MovieWeb. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

[13] Wise, Damon (12 June 2023). "'The Lesson' Review: Richard E. Grant Steals Show In Slow-Burn Tale Of Literary Larceny – Tribeca Film Festival". Deadline. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

[14] "BBC One - Casualty, Series 23, With This Ring". BBC. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

[15] "BBC - Doctor Who - Tonight's the Night Preview". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

[:2-16] "What could a female director mean for Star Trek?". BBC News. 30 April 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

[17] "BBC Three - In The Flesh, Series 2, Episode 5". BBC. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

[18] Goldsmith, Jill (7 July 2023). "Richard E. Grant In 'The Lesson', Mark Duplass In 'Biosphere' & Their First-Time Female Directors – Specialty Preview". Deadline. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

[19] Boucher, Geoff (15 April 2019). "'A Discovery Of Witches': Female Creative Team Finds That It Takes A Coven". Deadline. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

[20] "Palestinian Waleed Zuaiter nominated for Best Actor at BAFTA TV Awards 2021". Esquire Middle East. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

[21] "Casting News: Keeley Hawes and Max Beesley to Lead TV Adaptation of John Wyndham's 'The Midwich Cuckoos' | Anglophenia | BBC America". BBC America. 29 April 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2022.

[22] "BBC releases first-look pictures for new thriller Boat Story starring Daisy Haggard and Paterson Joseph". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2023.

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