VISION MIXER: SHIRLEY COWARD

Many roles in television went uncredited in the early days of British Television none quite so commonplace as Vision Mixers. One such Vision Mixer was Shirley Coward’s those contribution to the show can be traced back to the historical four-part serial The Crusade. She was the director’s assistant where she worked closely with Douglas Camfield throughout production.

It wasn’t until The Tenth Planet where Coward’s commitment to the world of Doctor Who would make it mark. With the production team looking for a new actor to take over the role as The Doctor, it was originally intended that the regeneration would occur off-screen. Actor William Hartnell would have pulled over a cloak to shield his face, only for Patrick Troughton to pull it down again at the start of what would be his first adventure as the Second Doctor. However, Shirley Coward later intervened and suggested another way in which the regeneration process could take on-place. Apparently, Coward suggested using some broken-down machinery which could do a bit of clever cross-fading vision mixing. The result was a high-contrast fade where William Hartnell’s face could crossfade and transform into that of Patrick Troughton’s. The result was so impressive that British Audiences back in 1966 watched on as the entire physical appearance of The Doctor changed in a blink of an eye. Coward’s intervention left an impression on the show itself, where every subsequent regeneration sequence followed the same basic template.

Despite leaving an impressive impression on the show, Coward did not work on the show again for some five years working on: Terror of the Autons, Frontier in Space, Underworld and The Invasion of Time but she went uncredited on all accounts. It does seem likely that Coward could have worked on other serials during the 1970s, but because vision mixers were not credited throughout the 1970s it is a little hard to verify.

Her first credited Doctor Who was The Five Doctors, a fitting honour since the special anniverary episode saw all previous Doctor (excluding William Hartnell and Tom Baker) unite for an outing on Gallifrey. Quiet a special occasion since Coward was the one who made the regeneration sequence possible in the first place. Her commitment to the show would continue throughout the 1980s where she returned for the final 2 instalment of the Trial of a Time Lord season: Terror of the Vervoids and The Ultimate Foe. She would be a regular vision mixer during the Sylvester McCoy years working on 5 serials during the first half of his tenure. She wished out on Time and the Rani. Coward later shared her memories on the behind-the-scenes featurette Frozen Out which was included on the DVD release of The Tenth Planet back in 2013.

Outside of Doctor Who, Coward worked on many television programmes within British television production. She regularly collaborated with Terry Nation working on his post-apocalyptic drama Survivors (1975-77) and his popular science-fiction series Blake’s 7 (1978-80). She worked on All Creatures Great and Small (1988) but did not work with Peter Davison who had left the show prior to her arrival. She found regular work on Tenko (1981-84), By the Swords Divided (1983-85), Juliet Bravo (1983-85) and Galloping Galaxies (1985-86). She worked on various TV Movies during her career as a vision mixer whilst her last regular commitment came with a lengthy stint on EastEnders (1985-89). Her last known credited came in 1990. Her career as a vision mixer saw her work with many Doctor Who directors and writers, and she even reunited with plentiful of Doctor Who actors.

Shirley Coward sadly died in 2022. Coward remains as one ‘the’ most important unknown faces in the world of classic-who, whose commitment and work on the regeneration sequence has extended into the 21^st century and the revived series.