---
name: "Don Chaffey"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/don-chaffey"
fi1m_id: "don-chaffey"
imdb_id: "nm0149548"
tmdb_id: 25558
wikidata_id: "Q675977"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "5 August 1917"
died: "13 November 1990"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 84
average_as: "director"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-17T21:35:44.180656+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Don Chaffey

## Identity

Don Chaffey

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/don-chaffey
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** don-chaffey
- **IMDb ID:** nm0149548
- **TMDB ID:** 25558
- **Wikidata ID:** Q675977
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Chaffey, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q675977, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0149548/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/25558

Director. Born 5 August 1917 in Hastings, Sussex, England. Died 13 November 1990.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 5 August 1917, Hastings, Sussex, England
- **Died:** 13 November 1990
- **Active:** 1961–1967
- **Frequently works with:** [Peter Graham Scott](https://film.one/person/peter-graham-scott.md), [Robert Asher](https://film.one/person/robert-asher.md), [Terence Feely](https://film.one/person/terence-feely.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 84, as director, over 2 titles
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Chaffey, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q675977, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0149548/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/25558

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Prisoner*](https://film.one/tv/the-prisoner.md) (84)
- **Peacock:** [*The Avengers*](https://film.one/tv/the-avengers-1961.md) (83)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Don Chaffey

> Don Chaffey was a practical director of fantasy, family films and television. We rate the skill behind his unusual entertainments, while *The Prisoner* shows how much the right central performer can help.

In *The Prisoner* (1967), familiar surroundings in the Village become a reason to feel unsafe, while Patrick McGoohan gives the mystery a stubborn centre. Chaffey directed four early episodes, helping to establish a programme whose unease matters as much as its puzzles. We felt unsettled by the Village because the ordinary surroundings offered none of the reassurance we expected from them. It is a useful place to start with Chaffey: we value the practical skill that lets an unusual premise work on screen.

McGoohan's performance is central to our enthusiasm, and the gripping mystery needs that stubbornness. Without a convincing person to hold our attention, there would be a limit to how long strange surroundings could sustain it. The solemnity can become wearing, too, and we sometimes want the programme to ease its insistence that everything matters. Chaffey earns a share of the credit for making this work, rather than ownership of everything that makes it distinctive.

His feature work moved between family stories and fantasy: *Greyfriars Bobby* (1961) for Disney, then *Jason and the Argonauts* (1963) and *One Million Years B.C.* (1966). With special-effects collaborator Ray Harryhausen, the director's task included making elaborate stop-motion sequences function as part of an adventure. Chaffey's efficient handling of those sequences in *Jason and the Argonauts* is a substantial virtue. We should be wary of treating competent direction as something that happens by itself.

Family filmmaking continued with *Pete's Dragon* (1977), Disney's live-action and animated musical. From the mid-1970s, Australian and American television increasingly occupied him, following extensive British series work that included *Danger Man* and *The Avengers*. These different assignments suit our view of Chaffey as a director worth valuing for his adaptability and dependability. Begin with *The Prisoner*, with some patience for its solemnity.

## Biography

Don Chaffey (5 August 1917 – 13 November 1990) was a British film and television director, writer, producer and art director. He began his career in the art department at Gainsborough Pictures in the mid-1940s before moving into directing short films and features from the early 1950s.

Chaffey directed episodes of several notable British television series, including four episodes of *The Prisoner* (1967), multiple instalments of *Danger Man* and *The Avengers*. He also helmed fantasy features such as *Jason and the Argonauts* (1963), *One Million Years B.C.* (1966) and *Pete's Dragon* (1977). From the 1980s he worked primarily on American television series and made-for-TV films, including episodes of *MacGyver*, *Charlie's Angels* and *Mission: Impossible*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *The Prisoner* (1967), Fi1m 84, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-prisoner.md)
- *The Avengers* (1961), Fi1m 83, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-avengers-1961.md)

## Complete filmography (78)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Mission: Impossible - The Golden Serpent* (1989), Director
- *Mission: Impossible* (1988), series, Director
- *Houston Knights* (1987), series, Director
- *Outlaws* (1986), series, Director
- *MacGyver* (1985), series, Director
- *Hollywood Beat* (1985), series, Director
- *Spenser: For Hire* (1985), series, Director
- *Stingray* (1985), series, Director
- *International Airport* (1985), Director
- *Finder of Lost Loves* (1984), series, Director
- *Hunter* (1984), series, Director
- *Airwolf* (1984), series, Director
- *Lottery!* (1983), series, Director
- *Gavilan* (1982), series, Director
- *Matt Houston* (1982), series, Director
- *Hotel* (1982), series, Director
- *T. J. Hooker* (1982), series, Director
- *Strike Force* (1981), series, Director
- *Casino* (1980), Director
- *C.H.O.M.P.S.* (1979), Director
- *Shimmering Light* (1978), Director
- *The Gift of Love* (1978), Director
- *Vega$* (1978), series, Director
- *Lassie: The New Beginning* (1978), Director
- *The Magic of Lassie* (1978), Director
- *Pete's Dragon* (1977), Director
- *Born to Run* (1977), Director
- *Charlie's Angels* (1976), series, Director
- *The Fourth Wish* (1976), Director
- *Ride a Wild Pony* (1975), Director
- *Persecution* (1974), Director
- *Charley-One-Eye* (1973), Director
- *The Protectors* (1972), series, Director
- *The Mysterious Poacher* (1972), Director
- *Creatures the World Forgot* (1971), Director
- *Clinic Exclusive* (1971), Director
- *Journey to the Unknown* (1969), Director
- *A Twist of Sand* (1968), Director
- *Journey to the Unknown* (1968), series, Director
- *The Prisoner* (1967), series, Director — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-prisoner.md)
- *Man in a Suitcase* (1967), series, Director
- *The Viking Queen* (1967), Director
- *One Million Years B.C.* (1966), Director
- *The Baron* (1966), series, Director
- *The Crooked Road* (1965), Director, Writer
- *A Jolly Bad Fellow* (1964), Director
- *The Horse Without a Head* (1964), Director
- *The Three Lives of Thomasina* (1963), Director
- *Jason and the Argonauts* (1963), Director
- *The Webster Boy* (1962), Director
- *The Prince and the Pauper* (1962), Director
- *A Matter of WHO* (1961), Director
- *The Wonderful World of Disney* (1961), series, Director
- *Greyfriars Bobby* (1961), Director
- *Nearly a Nasty Accident* (1961), Director
- *The Avengers* (1961), series, Director — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-avengers-1961.md)
- *Danger Man* (1960), series, Director
- *Dentist in the Chair* (1960), Director
- *Lies My Father Told Me* (1960), Director
- *Danger Within* (1959), Director
- *The Man Upstairs* (1958), Director, Additional Dialogue
- *A Question of Adultery* (1958), Director
- *Dial 999* (1958), series, Director
- *The Flesh Is Weak* (1957), Director
- *The Girl in the Picture* (1957), Director
- *Assignment Foreign Legion* (1956), series, Director
- *The Adventures of Robin Hood* (1955), series, Director
- *Lilli Palmer Theatre* (1955), series, Director
- *Time Is My Enemy* (1954), Director
- *Black 13* (1953), as Art Direction
- *The Mask* (1953), Director
- *Skid Kids* (1953), Director
- *Watch Out* (1953), Director
- *A Good Pull-Up* (1953), Director
- *Strange Stories* (1953), Director
- *Bouncer Breaks Up!* (1953), Director
- *King of the Underworld* (1952), as Art Direction
- *The Case of the Missing Scene* (1951), Director

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/don-chaffey