Fiona Cumming began her career as an actress. 

She started out at the Royal Scottish Academy and went on to a variety of theatre and television work, including a spell at Border Television in the dual role of announcer and features interviewer.

Deciding that she would prefer production work, she moved to London and in 1964 gained a post as an assistant floor manager at the BBC. 

It was as such that she first worked on Doctor Who, on the season three story The Massacre. Following her promotion to production assistant she gained two further credits on the series, on season four's The Highlanders and on season nine's The Mutants.

 Shortly after this she completed the BBC's internal director's course, and in 1974 she was taken on as a staff director. Amongst the productions on which she worked in this capacity were Z Cars, Angels and  The Omega Factor (1979). In 1979 she left the BBC and went freelance, early projects including God's Wonderful Railway Square Mile of Murder and Blake's 7, all in 1980.

She directed  four Doctor Who stories between 1981 and 1983. She has since remained active as a freelance director while also pursuing a number of other projects, including some with John Nathan-Turner in their Teynham Productions organisation.

She made an uncredited cameo appearance as a tourist at Windsor Castle in the 1988 story Silver Nemesis.

She was married to Ian Fraser, and had a son Alastair.