Douglas Adams (Scriptwriter)

Script Editor

​Bob Baker (Scriptwriter)

Bob Baker (1939) is a highly-regarded TV and feature-film scriptwriter for the British market. As well as writing a number of stories and serials for Doctor Who (between 1971 and 1979) – in which capacity he collaborated with Dave Martin – he also co-wrote the Wallace and Gromit films with the characters’ chief creator, Nick Park: The Wrong Trousers (1993), A Close Shave (1995), Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), and A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008). Baker and Martin invented the Doctor’s robotic dog K-9 (from 1977), and several of the series’ other iconic characters. Beyond Doctor Who, Baker collaborated with Martin on the children’s TV show Sky (1975) and Into the Labyrinth (1981–1982), as well as scripts for Shoestring (1979) and Bergerac (1981 & 1983). A K-9-themed TV series aired between 2009 and 2010, buoyed by the successful revival of Doctor Who from 2005; and co-wrote his autobiography – K-9 Stole My Trousers (2013) – with Laurie Booth. Yet another K-9-themed project – The Essential Book of K-9 (2015) – is his most recent work to-date.

Bio prepared by Richard Scully, University of New England, rscully@une.edu.au

Nick Hurran (Director)

Peter Ling (Scriptwriter)

Peter Ling (1926–2006) was a British television scriptwriter. He served in the Second World War as a coal miner, and then in the Army Pay Corps; and post-war convalescence (from tuberculosis) gave him time to write and publish his first novel: Voices Offstage (1947). He submitted scripts to BBC Radio – achieving some recognition for work on Waterlogged Spa (late 1940s) – before commencing work for television (including 1950’s children’s programme, Whirligig). Ling wrote strips for the iconic British comic Eagle (including The Three J’s, 1952–1959, which was adapted for TV in 1958). By 1955 he was Head of Children’s Serials at the BBC, but continued to do writing work – for the soap-operas Compact (1962–1965) and Crossroads (1964); police drama Dixon of Dock Green; and The Avengers (1961 & 1963). Ling’s contribution to Doctor Who was the highly-regarded The Mind Robber (1965), starring Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor. Further work for radio followed (including adaptations of Sherlock Holmes and other stories) as well as several novels (including the novelisation of his own Mind Robber for the Doctor Who series). He also wrote a hit song (for Matt Monro): Why Not Now? (1961). For many years thereafter, he struggled with Alzheimer’s disease, culminating in his death on 4 September, 2006.

Bio prepared by Richard Scully, University of New England, rscully@une.edu.au

David Maloney (Director)

​Dave Martin (Author, Scriptwriter)

Dave Martin (1935–2007) was a British TV and film writer who, notably, collaborated with Bob Baker during the 1970s on numerous Doctor Who serials (1971–1979). Martin and Baker invented the Doctor’s robotic dog K-9 (from 1977), and several of the series’ other iconic characters. Beyond Doctor Who, Martin collaborated with Baker on the children’s TV show Sky (1975) Into the Labyrinth (1981–1982), as well as scripts for Shoestring (1979) and Bergerac (1981 & 1983). A Make Your Own Adventure book of Doctor Who – Search for the Doctor (1986) – also appeared under Martin’s name. He was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007, and passed-away within months.

Bio prepared by Richard Scully, University of New England, rscully@une.edu.au

Kenny McBain (Director)

Steven Moffat (Screenwriter, Scriptwriter)

Steven Moffat (1961– ) is an acclaimed Scottish TV writer and producer, who has been a significant force in British television and film since the late 1980s. Having studied at the University of Glasgow, he began writing creatively for the stage while working as a teacher in Greenock (near Glasgow). A play – War Zones (1985) – and a musical – Knifer (1989) – garnered some acclaim, but his big break came with a sample script for a show about a school newspaper. This was picked-up by ITV as Press Gang (1989–1993), showcasing much of Britain’s up-and-coming young talent. From there, he worked on the series Joking Apart (1993–1995) and Chalk (1997), before having a huge hit with the relationship-themed comedy Coupling (2000–2004). Moffat was a long-time fan of Doctor Who – writing a comedy spoof for Comic Relief entitled The Curse of Fatal Death (1999) – and when it was re-launched under Russel T. Davies from 2005, he contributed scripts for perhaps the best episodes of the revamped series: The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (2005). He contributed The Girl in the Fireplace (2006), and Blink (2007), as well as the short charity episode Time Crash (2007). Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead (2008) followed; and on the strength of this – and his reputation with the outgoing showrunner, Davies – Moffat took over as executive producer from 2010. Moffat hired Matt Smith to replaced David Tennant as the Doctor (the Eleventh incarnation of the Time Lord), writing or editing in some form on almost every series of the programme from 2010 to 2017. Concurrently, Moffat collaborated with Mark Gatiss on the series Sherlock (2010-2017); six episodes of Jekyll (2007); and worked with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson on feature-film The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011).

Bio prepared by Richard Scully, University of New England, rscully@une.edu.au

​Anthony Read (Author, Scriptwriter)

Anthony Read (1935-2015) was an English TV writer and script editor, who also wrote prose fiction – based on his 1983 TV series The Baker Street Boys (2005-2012) – and a number of popular history works (largely focused on aspects of the Second World War). Read’s first TV credits were for the series Detective (1964), The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling (1964) and Sherlock Holmes (1965) for BBC1. Other works ranged from adventure stories (The Black Arrow, 1974-5), courtroom drama (Sutherland’s Law, 1974), and crime thrillers (The Professionals, 1977-1980). Under a pseudonym, and while acting as Script Editor for the series, he wrote The Invasion of Time (1978) for Doctor Who. He oversaw the remainder of the 1977-78 and 1978-79 series, and was then instrumental in having Douglas Adams appointed as his successor for the 1979-80 series. He was then invited back to pen The Horns of Nimon (1979), which treated the labyrinth/Minotaur myth in similar style to Underworld (1978). With Bob Baker and Dave Martin, he contributed to the series Into the Labyrinth (1981), before perhaps his highest-regarded work: an adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes oeuvre, The Baker Street Boys (1983). Further iconic sci-fi work came in the Chocky series – Chocky (1984); Chocky’s Children (1985); and Chocky’s Challenge (1986) – as well as scripts for Heartbeat (1998) and his final credits came on Revelations (2002-3). A member of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (and chairman, 1981-2), he was a strong mentor for many younger writers.

Bio prepared by Richard Scully, university of New England, rscully@une.edu.au

Derrick Sherwin (Producer, Scriptwriter)

Derrick Sherwin (1936) is a British TV producer, writer, and story editor, best-known for his work on the science fiction series Doctor Who. Sherwin’s career commenced in the theatre as a junior set designer and scene artist, before a two-year hiatus of National Service in the RAF. Returning to theatrical work as an actor, he also contributed scripts for TV, including Crossroads (1964–1988) and Z-Cars (1962–1978). Sherwin was hired by BBC’s Head of Serials, Shaun Sutton, to work on Doctor Who from 1967 through 1969. His script editing duties included work on the iconic stories The Web of Fear, Fury from the Deep, The Wheel in Space, The Dominators, and The Mind Robber (in which last capacity he actually also write episode one). Succeeded as Script Editor by Terrane Dicks, Sherwin took a leading role behind the scenes, overseeing such serials as The Space Pirates, The War Games, and the transition from the black-and-white transmissions of the Patrick Troughton era (1966-1969) to the colour of the Jon Pertwee era (1970–1974). As Producer of Doctor Who (1969), he gained significant recognition, before moving on to other work, including Paul Temple (1969–1971), The Man Outside (1972), and The Perils of Pendragon (1974). He published his autobiography in 2014 (Who’s Next?), as well as a novel (The Perfect Assassin; or, Writon’s Law).

Bio prepared by Richard Scully, University of New England, rscully@une.edu.au

Norman Stewart (Director)

​Toby Whithouse (Actor, Scriptwriter)

Toby Whithouse is an English-born actor, comedian, and scriptwriter for TV. A regular in the BBC drama series The House of Eliott (1991-4), he also co-starred in Laughter on the 23rd Floor (1997) with Gene Wilder, in London’s West End. Whithouse began writing scripts during the long breaks in acting jobs, and penned Jump Mr Malinoff, Jump (2000) for the Soho Theatre. He then wrote an episode for the ITV drama Where the Heart Is (2004) and BBC One’s Hotel Babylon (2006), before becoming a noted writer for the revived series of Doctor Who (from 2005). Whithouse wrote the fan-favourite School Reunion (2006), which included longstanding 1970s character Sarah Jane Smith (played by Elisabeth Sladen) and reintroduced the robot dog K-9 (created by Bob Baker and Dave Martin). The Vampires of Venice (2010), God Complex (2011), A Town Called Mercy (2012), and the two-part story Under the Lake/Before the Flood (2015) followed. He has also written an as-yet unnamed storyline for the 2017 season of the series. Work for the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood (2006) then placed him in a good position to create the BBC Three comedy/horror drama Being Human (2008-2013). Since that series ended, Whithouse has worked on the Cold War spy thriller The Game (2014).

Bio prepared by Richard Scully, University of New England, rscully@une.edu.au