THE FIRST female director of Doctor Who, who lived in Oxenhope, has died at the age of 89.

Patricia “Paddy” Russell was highly respected amongst fans of the TV sci-fi drama for helming classic episodes like Pyramids of Mars.

She had a long career as a TV director after working her way up the ranks in the male-dominated world of TV technical crews in the 1960s.

She settled in Oxenhope after starting work directing TV soap Emmerdale, and is believed to have lived quietly in a cottage in Back Leeming for many years. More recently she moved to a care home.

Twitter was overflowing with tributes this week after ‘Whovians’ – fans of the show – heard about Paddy’s death on November 2.

Born in North London, 1928, Paddy trained as a young woman in acting and stage management, but was drawn to TV production and worked under BBC director Rudolph Cartier during the 1950s.

She became BBC Television’s first female floor manager, adapting her first name to Paddy so that film crews did not realise she was female until they met her.

Paddy started Doctor Who duties with the first doctor, William Hartnell, but the adventure, entitled The Massacre, has been long lost.

She went on to to direct Doctor Who serials in the 70s with Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker: Invasion of the Dinosaurs, Pyramids of Mars and Horror of Fang Rock.

Paddy went on to direct numerous TV shows, including long-running BBC TV police series Z-Cars, the fledgling soap Emmerdale Farm, and Yorkshire news programme Calendar.

Living in Oxenhope, she moved into radio news and training courses, and in the 1990s began rescuing and housing stray cats.

She is survived by her younger brother Chris