Ray Goode BSC left school at 15 and began work as a runner at an advertising agency in Bond Street, London. After two years, his interest in stills photography led him to the Rank Organisation, where he was responsible for the layout and design of the weekly cinema programmes for the Odeon and Gaumont cinemas.
His route into cinematography came through his interest in cricket. Playing for the Rank Organisation team, he met colleagues who worked at Pinewood Studios. In 1954 he joined a group working behind G Stage, making cinema commercials using rostrum cameras. He learned to operate the cameras and began developing his career as a cinematographer.
Goode subsequently joined Granada Television, where he became Senior Film Cameraman. During this period he worked extensively on television drama and documentary, including Brideshead Revisited, The Jewel in the Crown, A Kind of Loving, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, Cribb and Country Matters.
His work on Brideshead Revisited and The Jewel in the Crown established him as a highly regarded lighting cameraman. He also worked on The XYY Man, Hard Times, The Death of the Heart and The Sign of Four.
As a freelance cinematographer, Goode continued to work extensively in television and commercials. His later credits included Shades of Darkness, Soldier Soldier and Ruth Rendell Mysteries. He also photographed Chernobyl: The Final Warning (1991), a television film for the American company Turner Television. Much of the production was filmed in Russia and Los Angeles, giving Goode the opportunity to undertake an unusually demanding international assignment.
Goode's film credits also included work with directors such as Michael Apted, Mike Newell and John Irvin. Among his productions were Mosedale Horseshoe, Sunday Morning & Sweet FA, Ba-Ba Blacksheep, Great Day for Bonzo and Possessions.