Geoffrey Sax Geoffrey Sax is a BAFTA - winning director who helmed the 1996 " Doctor Who " telemovie starring Paul McGann . Active as a director since 1979 , his long career has afforded him the opportunity to work with some of the most significant figures in " Doctor Who " — and British televisual — history . Youthful humour . Sax ' early career was dominated by work in comedy . One of his first jobs was to direct the Rowan Atkinson short " Canned Laughter " in 1979 . That same year , he directed with the famous , eponymous British light entertainers . He moved on to the somewhat experimental comedy , which garnered him two BAFTA nominations . Around the same time , he directed the television adaptation of Jim Broadbent ' s two - man play , " Messiah " . He directed a few episodes of the seminal satire . Getting serious . In 1986 came his first feature - length movie , " The Disputation " with . His next major series , however , was , starring Patrick Troughton ' s son , Michael . This was a career highlight . He directed all episodes of the first two series , won a BAFTA for them , then handed it over to Graeme Harper , who finished out the run . Around this time , roughly 1989 - 1991 , Sax worked on one of the highest - profile shows of the day , writer Robert Banks Stewart ' s extremely popular " Bergerac " , which included guest - starring roles for George Baker , Jack Galloway and Louise Jameson . During the early part of the 1990s , he also helmed a couple of serial s . The first to broadcast was , written by " Meglos " scribes Andrew McCulloch and John Flanagan . The dramedy set in the " glasnost " - era Soviet Union was executive produced by Verity Lambert and starred Nigel Havers and Michael Gough . This was swiftly followed by the 1992 serial " Framed " , starring Timothy Dalton , Timothy West and David Morrissey . During these opening years of the decade , he had occasion to work with other high - profile British actors . In 1993 , he directed Derek Jacobi in the television movie . He also did a few episodes of the popular series , in which he directed and . His last gig prior to " Doctor Who " was the theatrical release , " Broken Trust " . A new Doctor . In the early 1990s he worked for a time in America , directing TV movies and miniseries for various networks there . His most noted production during this time was the 1996 movie " Doctor Who " . Uncredited , Sax provided the Dalek voices heard briefly in the film ' s prologue . ( DCOM : " Doctor Who " ) After " Doctor Who " . As things turned out , " Doctor Who " was wedged between two movies for Sax . The one before " Doctor Who " had been " Broken Trust " . The one after was " Ruby Jean and Joe " , also released in 1996 . Whilst in North America he also took a stab at the Dracula myth with the " Van Helsing Chronicles " . By 1998 he was back directing British television in the form of an Internet horror serial called . In 2000 , he directed a couple of episodes of the BAFTA - winning — one of Murray Gold ' s earliest television gigs . His two series 1 episodes gave him a chance to work with Christopher Eccleston and Sarah Lancashire , not to mention the pre - . He returned to direct Eccleston in the extremely well - regarded 2001 adaptation of . To " Doctor Who " fans , the production was interesting because of its fusion of staff from the 1996 movie and the 2005 revival that was yet to come . It was , after all , directed by Sax , co - produced by Julie Gardner , co - executive produced by Jo Wright , cast by Andy Pryor and starred Eccleston and Bill Paterson . It earned Gardner and Sax a BAFTA nomination for best single drama . Though they didn ' t win , the film won BAFTAs in other categories . The production won several non - British awards , including a , but Sax was not specifically named in those nominations , as he had been for the BAFTA nod . In 2002 , he directed the four - part serial " Widows " for North American television . The show starred American talent like , and — but it was based on a British drama from the 1980s that had originally been executive produced by Verity Lambert . Sax ' next effort was almost as well - received as his " Othello " . 2002 ' s garnered him awards at several international competitions . Although it re - united Sax with " Othello " ' s Keeley Hawes the biggest " Doctor Who " connection was that it co - starred Alexei Sayle and future guest stars Rachael Stirling and Hugh Bonneville . The telefilm came next , and it would place him in the company of British television legends and June Brown in the eponymous roles , as well as co - star Roger Lloyd Pack . Sax then moved back into the theatres for 2005 ' s thriller , , which also featured Ian McNeice . In 2006 , Sax added to his theatrical resume with . The film was to have started an franchise , and had an all - star cast , which included Bill Nighy , Sophie Okonedo , Stephen Fry , and others . However , it , like " Doctor Who " before it , utterly failed with American audiences . Embarrassingly , it didn ' t even take a million dollars in the US , and didn ' t break even based on worldwide theatrical receipts . Sax ' next two projects weren ' t for several years , but both were critically well - received . 2010 ' s limited theatrical release , , won approval from several awards - granting bodies for both the picture itself and ' s performance . Meanwhile , a BBC tele - film , satisfied critics from " The Guardian " and " The Sunday Telegraph " while giving Sax the opportunity to work with Matt Smith and Toby Jones . Awards . Sax shared a BAFTA for his work on the second series of .