Rachel Talalay

• Name — Rachel Talalay • Birthplace — Chicago, Illinois, United States • Education — Yale University • Occupation — * Producer • writer • director • professor • Years Active — 1981–present • Children — 2 • Parents — Paul Talalay (father) Rachel Talalay is an American producer, writer, and director. She is best known for directing films such as Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), Ghost in the Machine (1993), and Tank Girl (1995). Her television credits include episodes of Ally McBeal, Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Riverdale, Doom Patrol, Superman & Lois, and Quantum Leap. Talalay was also a professor at the University of British Columbia until 2020.

Talalay was born in Chicago. Her father Paul Talalay was a pharmacologist, born in Berlin to a Belarusian Jewish family, and her mother Pamela is an English biochemist. She has two sisters and a brother. She was raised mostly in Baltimore, with two years of her childhood in Britain. Talalay attended Yale University, where she majored in mathematics, graduating in 1980. She also ran the Yale Film Society.

Talalay worked in a number of different capacities in filmmaking, including on the first four A Nightmare on Elm Street films, before making her directorial debut with Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991). Her work with the earlier Nightmare films utilized her computer skills and finding ways to create better special effects while still keeping costs low. Despite her familiarity with the Freddy movies, when she directed Freddy's Dead, she was given internal memos telling her not to be "too girly" or "too sensitive." Talalay also directed Tank Girl in 1995, and was looking into re-optioning the rights to make a new film in 2008. As a film producer, Talalay worked with director John Waters on the films Hairspray (1988) and Cry-Baby (1990). She was also a production assistant on Waters' 1981 film Polyester. Talalay stated that she wanted to work on Doctor Who ever since it was revived in 2005. She directed all three of Peter Capaldi's series finales: series 8's "Dark Water" and "Death in Heaven", series 9's "Heaven Sent" and "Hell Bent"—the former considered by many to be one of the best episodes in the show's history —and series 10's "World Enough and Time" and "The Doctor Falls", as well as the Doctor Who 2017 Christmas special, "Twice Upon a Time". She returned to Doctor Who in 2023 for "The Star Beast", with David Tennant and Catherine Tate returning as the Fourteenth Doctor and Donna Noble as part of the show's 60th anniversary. In 2019, she directed a film adaptation of Joe Ballarini's A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting for Netflix.

Talalay met British film producer Rupert Harvey while working on Android in 1982. They began a relationship soon after, and were married in 1990, with John Waters officiating the wedding. Talalay and Harvey have a daughter named Lucy. On 13 May 2026, Talalay announced she had lost her husband two weeks before.

TV movies • A Tale of Two Wives (2003) • The Wind in the Willows (2006) • Hannah's Law (2012) • The Dorm (2014) • Unclaimed (2016) TV series • Year — Title — Episodes — Ref Reference • 1997 — Band of Gold — * "Tainted Love (Part 1)" * "Tainted Love (Part 2)" • 1998 — To Have & to Hold — * "Turkey Day Blues" * "Who's Sorry Next?" • Touching Evil (U.K. Series) — * "War Relief: Part 1" * "War Relief: Part 2" • 1999–2002 — Ally McBeal — * "Saving Santa" * "Prime Suspect" * "Two's a Crowd" * "Blowin' in the Wind" • 2000 — Boston Public — * "Chapter Five" • Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) — * "Mental Apparition Disorder" * "A Blast From the Past" • 2001 — That's Life — * "Miracle at the Cucina" • State of Grace — * "Eve of Discussion" • Wolf Lake — * "Tastes Like Chicken" • Dice — * "Episode #1.1" * "Episode #1.2" * "Episode #1.3" * "Episode #1.4" * "Episode #1.5" * "Episode #1.6" • 2002 — Without a Trace — * "He Saw, She Saw" • Crossing Jordan — * "Four Fathers" • 2002–2007 — The Dead Zone — * "Shaman" * "Symmetry" * "Ego" • 2002–2003 — The Division — * "A Priori" * "Castaways" • 2003 — Cold Case — * "Sherry Darlin" • 2004 — Touching Evil (U.S. Series) — * "Y Me" • Life as We Know It — * "Natural Disasters" • Unfabulous — * "The Perfect Couple" • 2005 — Sex, Love & Secrets — * "Protection" (Unaired) • Terminal City — * "Episode #1.1" * "Episode #1.2" * "Episode #1.7" * "Episode #1.8" • 2006 — Whistler — * "In The Air" * "After The Fall" * "Scratching The Surface" * "Meltdown" • 2007 — Supernatural — * "Hunted" • Greek — * "Separation Anxiety" • Kyle XY — * "Hands on a Hybrid" * "Leap of Faith" • 2008 — Flash Gordon — * "Blame" • 2009 — Da Kink in My Hair — * "Of Papers and Patois" * "Playing Social" * "Honesty the Best Policy?" • Durham County — * "Boys Do Things" * "Consumed" • 2010 — Cra$h & Burn — * "Lawyers, Guns & Money" * "Bond Blame Baptize" • Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures — * "How to Get Ahead in Medical School" * "Family Practice" * "Unhappy Endings" • Haven — * "Harmony" * "Surviving the Fall" • 2011 — Endgame — * "Gorillas in Our Midst" • Hiccups — * "Sexual Healing" • 2012 — Continuum — * "Time's Up" • XIII: The Series — * "Breakout" * "Mousetrap" • 2013 — Bomb Girls — * "Party Line" * "Fifth Column" • Played — * "Cars" * "Revenge" • 2014 — Reign — * "Sacrifice" • 2014–2015, 2017, 2022–2023 — Doctor Who — * "Deep Breath" (2014) (uncredited, 1 scene) * "Into the Dalek" (2014) (uncredited, 1 scene) * "Dark Water" (2014) * "Death in Heaven" (2014) * "Heaven Sent" (2015) * "Hell Bent" (2015) * "World Enough and Time" (2017) * "The Doctor Falls" (2017) * "Twice Upon a Time" (2017) * "The Power of the Doctor" (2022) (uncredited, 1 scene) * "The Star Beast" (2023) • 2015 — South of Hell — * "Judge and Fury" * "White Noise" • 2016–2023 — The Flash — * "Fast Lane" * "The Present" * "Fury Rogue" * "Cause and XS" * "Masquerade" * "The Mask of the Red Death, Part 2" • 2016–2021 — Legends of Tomorrow — * "Last Refuge" * "Meat the Legends" • 2016–2019 — Supergirl — * "Welcome to Earth" * "Suspicious Minds" • 2017 — Sherlock — * "The Six Thatchers" • 2018–2021 — Riverdale — * "Chapter Twenty-Five: The Wicked and the Divine" * "Chapter Forty-One: Manhunter" * "Chapter Fifty-Seven: Survive the Night" * "Chapter Eighty-Four: Lock & Key" • 2018 — Iron Fist — * "The City's Not for Burning" • Chilling Adventures of Sabrina — * "Chapter Six: An Exorcism in Greendale" • 2019 — Doom Patrol — * "Puppet Patrol" • American Gods — * "Donar the Great" • 2021 — Superman & Lois — * "The Best of Smallville" • 2022 — Quantum Leap — * "A Decent Proposal" • 2026 — Good Omens — * "The Finale"

Director • Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991) (also story writer) • Ghost in the Machine (1993) • Tank Girl (1995) • A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting (2020) Producer • Hairspray (1988) • A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988) • Cry-Baby (1990) • The Borrowers (1997)

• Best Direction Dramatic Series - Winner - Terminal City - For Episode 8