Gerry Davis was a British television writer, best known for his contributions to the science-fiction genre. He also wrote for the soap operas Coronation Street and United!. From 1966 until the following year, he was the script editor on the popular BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who, for which he co-created the popular cybernetic monsters known as the Cybermen, who made several appearances in the series over the following twenty-two years. His fellow co-creator of these creatures was the programme's unofficial scientific adviser Dr. Kit Pedler, and following their work on Doctor Who, the pair teamed up again in 1970 when they created a science-fiction programme of their own, Doomwatch. Doomwatch ran for three seasons on BBC One from 1970 to 1972, and also spawned a novel written by Davis and Pedler, and later a cinema film and a 1999 revival on Channel 5. Davis briefly returned to writing Doctor Who, penning the original script for Revenge of the Cybermen, in 1975, though the transmitted version was heavily rewritten by the then script-editor Robert Holmes. He also adapted several of his scripts into novelisations for Target Books. With Kit Pedler, he wrote the science-fiction novels Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters (1971), Brainrack (1974) and The Dynostar Menace (1975). In the 1980s Davis worked in America both in television and on feature films such as The Final Countdown (1980). In late 1989 he and Terry Nation made a joint but unsuccessful bid to take over production of Doctor Who and reformat the series mainly for the American market. Gerry Davis died on August 31 1991.

Christopher Hamilton Bidmead is a British writer and journalist who wrote several Doctor Who TV serials, all of which he also novelised. He was also script editor for Season 18. He was attached (agreed, but without a contract) to write several serials that were ultimatelly cancelled. They were In the Hollows of Time, a two-part (forty-five minute) story for the cancelled season 23[1], and a four parter, Pinacotheca (a.k.a. The Last Adventure), which would have been the third part of the The Trial of a Time Lord arc[2].

Malcolm Hulke was a British science fiction writer best known for his tenure as a writer on the popular series Doctor Who. He is credited with writing eight stories for Doctor Who, mostly featuring the Third Doctor as played by Jon Pertwee. With Terrance Dicks, he wrote the final serial of Patrick Troughton's run as the Doctor, the epic ten-part story "The War Games." Hulke may be best known for writing "The Silurians," the story that created the titular race that is still featured in Doctor Who. Hulke's stories were well-known for writing characters that were not black and white in terms of morality: there was never a clear good guy vs. bad guy bent to his story. Hulke joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1945 and worked briefly as a typist in the party's headquarters. He left the party in 1951, objecting to the Soviet Union's hostility to Yugoslavia and its line on the Korean War, but soon rejoined, and appears to have remained a member of the party, on until the early 1960s. His politics remained firmly on the left, and this was reflected in his writings, which often explored anti-authoritarian, environmental, and humanist themes. In addition to his television writing, Hulke wrote the novelizations of seven television Doctor Who stories, each of which had written for the screen. He died at the age of fifty-four, shortly before his novelization of "The War Games" would be published.

Robert Holmes was script editor of Doctor Who from 1975 to 1977 and the author of more scripts for the 20th-century incarnation of the programme than any other writer (64 episodes in all). He created or reimagined many key elements of the programme's mythology. Holmes was, at the end of World War Two, the youngest serving officer in the British army. He became a police officer, graduating top of his class. He grew disillusioned with the job and became a journalist. By the 1960s he had branched out into writing screenplays for films and television series. In 1968 he received his first commission for Doctor Who. Over the next few years, he became one of the series' lead writers. When Terrance Dicks resigned as script editor in 1974, Holmes took over the position. He continued to write scripts. After leaving the post, he wrote a few more before taking an extended break from the series. In 1983, as one of the series' most celebrated writers, Holmes was the first person asked to write the twentieth anniversary special, The Five Doctors. He declined but expressed an interest in writing for the series again. Over the next three years Holmes contributed several scripts and was heavily involved in the planning of Season 23. However, he passed away before he completed the script for The Ultimate Foe and the planned ending of the story was altered. After his death, his estate licensed the Autons and the Sontarans for use in independent video spin-off productions by Reeltime Pictures and BBV Productions, most notably for the Auton Trilogy and Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans. Since 2005 the revived Doctor Who has featured the Autons in Rose, and the Sontarans in the two-parter The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky, A Good Man Goes To War and two two-part storylines in The Sarah Jane Adventures, The Last Sontaran and Enemy of the Bane. They both appeared in The Pandorica Opens. In 2009, Doctor Who Magazine conducted a reader's poll that named Holmes' The Caves of Androzani the best Doctor Who story of all time.

Victor Pemberton was a British writer and television producer. His scriptwriting work included BBC radio plays, and television scripts for the BBC and ITV, including Doctor Who, The Slide and The Adventures of Black Beauty. His television production work included the British version of Fraggle Rock (second series onwards), and several independent documentaries including the 1989 International Emmy Award-winning Gwen: A Juliet Remembered, about stage actress Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies. In addition to novelisations, he wrote many nostalgic novels set in London, prompted by the success of his autobiographical radio drama series Our Family. In later life he moved to Spain, where he continued to write novels until his death in 2017.

Philip Hinchcliffe was producer of Doctor Who from 1975 to 1977. He also novelised stories. He appeared on camera only once in the series, as one of the faces that appears in the Doctor's mental battle with Morbius.

Ben Aaronovitch's career started with a bang writing for Doctor Who, subsided in the middle and then, as is traditional, a third act resurgence with the bestselling Rivers of London series. Born and raised in London he says that he'll leave his home when they prise his city out of his cold dead fingers.

Brian Hayles (7 March 1931 - 30 October 1978) was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. His body of work as a writer for television and film, most notably for the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, lasted from 1963 to 1989. Hayles wrote six stories for Doctor Who and is best known for his creation of the Celestial Toymaker in the 1966 story of the same name, the Ice Warriors, introduced in the 1967 story of the same name, and the feudal planet Peladon, the setting for The Curse of Peladon and its sequel The Monster of Peladon. His other stories were The Smugglers and The Seeds of Death. In addition to script writing for the radio series The Archers, Hayles penned a novel based on the soap called Spring at Brookfield (Tandem, 1975) set in the period between the two world wars. His other books included novelisations of his Doctor Who serials The Curse of Peladon (Target, 1974) and The Ice Warriors (Target, 1976), an adaptation of his scripts for the BBC drama The Moon Stallion (Mirror Books, 1978), and two horror plays for children, The Curse of the Labyrinth (Dobson, 1976) and Hour of the Werewolf (Dobson, 1976). An original novel entitled Goldhawk (NEL, 1979) was published posthumously. Apart from Doctor Who, Hayles wrote for such television series as The Regiment, Barlow at Large, Doomwatch, Out of the Unknown, United!, Legend of Death, Public Eye, Z-Cars, BBC Playhouse, The Wednesday Thriller and Suspense. He also wrote the screenplays for the feature films Nothing But the Night (1972) and Warlords of Atlantis (1978). The novelisation of the latter by Paul Victor (Futura, 1978) included a preface by Hayles entitled 'The Thinking Behind Atlantis' in which he explained the origins of the film's central concepts. Hayles' final screenplay was for Arabian Adventure (1979), which he completed shortly before his death on 30 October 1978. The novelisation of the film by Keith Miles (Mirror Books, 1979) was dedicated to his memory.

Rona Munro is a Scottish writer. She has written plays for theatre, radio, and television. Her film work includes Ken Loach's Ladybird, Ladybird (1994), Oranges and Sunshine (2010) for Jim Loach and Aimée & Jaguar (1999), co-authored by German director Max Färberböck. Her television work includes the last Doctor Who television serial of the original run to air, Survival (1989), episodes of the drama series Casualty (BBC) and the BBC film Rehab., directed by Antonia Bird. Her play Iron which has received many productions worldwide. Other plays include Strawberries in January (translation) for the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, Mary Barton for Manchester Royal Exchange, Long Time Dead for Plymouth Drum Theatre and Paines Plough, and The Indian Boy for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Munro contributed eight dramas to Radio 4's Stanley Baxter Playhouse: First Impressions, Wheeling Them In, The King's Kilt, Pasta Alfreddo at Cafe Alessandro, The Man in the Garden, The Porter's Story, The German Pilot and The Spider. In 2006 the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith presented Munro's adaptation of Richard Adams' classic book, Watership Down. Her play, The Last Witch, was performed at the 2009 Edinburgh Festival, directed by Dominic Hill, and in 2011 by Dumbarton People's Theatre. Her history cycle The James Plays, James I, James II and James III, were first performed by the National Theatre of Scotland in summer 2014 in a co-production with Edinburgh International Festival and the National Theatre of Scotland.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. Mark Morris became a full-time writer in 1988 on the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, and a year later saw the release of his first novel, Toady. He has since published a further sixteen novels, among which are Stitch, The Immaculate, The Secret of Anatomy, Fiddleback, The Deluge and four books in the popular Doctor Who range. His short stories, novellas, articles and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and magazines, and he is editor of the highly-acclaimed Cinema Macabre, a book of fifty horror movie essays by genre luminaries, for which he won the 2007 British Fantasy Award. His most recently published or forthcoming work includes a novella entitled It Sustains for Earthling Publications, a Torchwood novel entitled Bay of the Dead, several Doctor Who audios for Big Finish Productions, a follow-up volume to Cinema Macabre entitled Cinema Futura and a new short story collection, Long Shadows, Nightmare Light.

Alison Rumfitt is a woman in trouble. She lives and works in Brighton, and writes deeply personal, transgressive horror.

Ian Stuart Black was a novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Both his 1959 novel In the Wake of a Stranger and his 1962 novel about the Cyprus emergency The High Bright Sun were made into films, Black writing the screenplays in each case. He also wrote scripts for several British television programmes from the 1950s to the 1970s, including The Invisible Man and Sir Francis Drake (for which he was also story editor), as well as Danger Man (on which he served as associate producer) and Star Maidens. In addition, he wrote three stories for Doctor Who in 1965 and 1966. These stories were The Savages and The War Machines (with Kit Pedler and Pat Dunlop) for William Hartnell's Doctor; and The Macra Terror for Patrick Troughton. He novelised all three stories for Target Books. His final credit was for a half-hour supernatural drama called House of Glass, which was made by Television South in 1991. He was the father of actress Isobel Black.

Ian Briggs wrote the Doctor Who stories Dragonfire and The Curse of Fenric as well as their novelisations. He also created the character of the Seventh Doctor's companion Ace, who first appeared in Dragonfire. He was approached by Peter Darvill-Evans at Virgin to complete the Timewyrm New Adventures sequence but so far, unlike his colleagues Marc Platt, Ben Aaronovitch, and (script editor) Andrew Cartmel, Briggs has not produced any original Doctor Who novels. In 1990, Briggs wrote a script for Season 5 of Casualty (Street Life). This particular season was script edited by Andrew Cartmel and also saw contributions from Ben Aaronovitch, Rona Munro and Stephen Wyatt. The same year he also contributed to The Bill. Briggs continues to work as an actor.

Mark Gatiss (born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock. Fulfilling a lifelong dream, Gatiss has written three episodes for the 2005-revived BBC television series Doctor Who. His first, "The Unquiet Dead", aired on 9 April 2005; the second, "The Idiot's Lantern", aired on 27 May 2006 as part of the second series. In addition, Gatiss was the narrator for the 2006 season of documentary series Doctor Who Confidential, additionally appearing as an on-screen presenter in the edition devoted to his episode. Gatiss did not contribute a script to the third series, but appeared in the episode "The Lazarus Experiment", as Professor Lazarus. After his submitted script for the fourth series, involving Nazis and the British Museum, was replaced at the last minute with "The Fires of Pompeii", he eventually returned to the programme in 2010, writing the (also World War II-themed) episode "Victory of the Daleks" for the fifth series, in which he also appears uncredited as the voice of "Danny Boy". It has also been confirmed that Gatiss will be writing an episode for the 2011 season of Doctor Who, although details about the story are yet to be revealed.[19] Gatiss wrote an episode of Sherlock, a modern day Sherlock Holmes series co-produced by him and Steven Moffat. The unaired pilot was shot in January 2009 and a full series was commissioned. This was aired in August 2010 and consisted of 3 episodes. Gatiss also starred in these as Holmes' older brother Mycroft. A second series has been confirmed, but dates have yet to be decided, since both Gatiss and Moffatt have additional commitments.[20] Gatiss also wrote and performed the comedy sketches The Web of Caves, The Kidnappers and The Pitch of Fear for the BBC's "Doctor Who Night" in 1999 with Little Britain's David Walliams, and played the Master in the Doctor Who Unbound play Sympathy for the Devil under the name "Sam Kisgart", a pseudonym he later used for a column in Doctor Who Magazine. (The pseudonym is an anagram of "Mark Gatiss", a nod to Anthony Ainley, who was sometimes credited under an anagram to conceal the Master's identity from the viewers.) The pseudonym was used again in television listings magazines when he appeared in episode four of Psychoville, so as not to spoil his surprise appearance in advance. In mainstream print, Gatiss is responsible for an acclaimed biography of the film director James Whale. His first non-Doctor Who novel, The Vesuvius Club, was published in 2004, for which he was nominated in the category of Best Newcomer in the 2006 British Book Awards. A follow up, The Devil in Amber, was released on 6 November 2006. It transports the main character, Lucifer Box, from the Edwardian era in the first book to the roaring Twenties/Thirties. A third and final Lucifer Box novel, Black Butterfly, was published on 3 November 2008 by Simon & Schuster.[21] In this the protagonist finds himself serving Queen Elizabeth II, in the Cold War era. Gatiss also wrote, co-produced and appeared in Crooked House, a ghost story that was broadcast on BBC Four during Christmas 2008.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database. Kevin Clarke grew up in Birkenhead, Liverpool. He tried his hand at being a guitarist, an actor and went to Leeds University to train to be a drama teacher. He decided to become a writer while teaching in a London comprehensive school in the second half of the 1970s. Eventually his stage efforts piqued the interest of the BBC and he became one of seven writers selected for the first BBC writers scheme in the 1980s. He went on to write for BBC hospital drama Casualty. A meeting with Doctor Who script editor Andrew Cartmel led to his being commissioned for the 25th anniversary serial. Shortly after he adapted the serial for Target books. He went on to write for Minder, The Bill (1988-1991), Wycliffe (On Account, 1997, Land's End, 1998), Wish Me Luck, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries (A Traitor to Memory, 2004) and The Last Detective (starring Peter Davison, Friends Reunited, 2005). His first original screenplay Albert and the Lion was networked by Scottish Television in 1992. His is now writing screenplays for films, a recent commission being Meek (the true story of 1960s pop genius Joe Meek), to star Rhys Ifans stars and be directed by Marc Evans.

Wally K. Daly is an English writer for television and radio and one time chairman of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain As well as some minor acting roles including Z-Cars, his writing credits include Juliet Bravo, Casualty and Byker Grove. He also wrote the 1984 radio series Anything Legal featuring Donald Hewlett and Michael Knowles. Daly also wrote a story for Doctor Who called The Ultimate Evil but due to its hiatus the story was cancelled but was published in the popular range of Who books. In the early 1980s, three of his stage plays were performed at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch - The Miracle Shirker, Vaughan Street (both 1980) and a stage adaptation of his radio and television play Butterflies Don't Count (1982)

Eric Saward worked as a writer and later script editor for Doctor Who during the 1980s. Saward had a particular fondness for the Cybermen. He wrote stories with good action throughout them and stories that connected the Doctor to important events in Earth's history. He also wrote the short story Birth of a Renegade and the radio play Slipback. He served as script editor from Time-Flight, the last episode of season 19, to the penultimate episode of season 23 (The Ultimate Foe episode 1). He resigned his position due to a disagreement with producer John Nathan-Turner over the storyline (and particularly the ending) of episode 2 of The Ultimate Foe. Afterwards, he gave a notably scathing interview to Starburst magazine over his falling out with Nathan-Turner, and he became vocal in his criticism of Colin Baker's appointment as the Sixth Doctor. Target Books failed to secure an agreement that would have seen Saward's two Daleks serials novelised either by Saward himself or by others. They remain two of only a handful of stories never officially adapted. The 1989 publication of Saward's adaptation of Attack of the Cybermen actually post-dated his falling out with the Doctor Who production team by several years. His favourite snack is a chocolate hobnob

Nigel Robinson is an English author, known for such works as the First Contact series. Nigel was born in Preston, Lancashire and attended St Thomas More school. Robinson's first published book was The Tolkien Quiz Book in 1981, co-written with Linda Wilson. This was followed by a series of three Doctor Who quiz books and a crossword book between 1981 and 1985. In the late 1980s he was the editor of Target Books' range of Doctor Who tie-ins and novelisations, also contributing to the range as a writer. He later wrote an original Doctor Who novel, Timewyrm: Apocalypse, for the New Adventures series for Virgin Publishing, which had purchased Target in 1989 shortly after Robinson had left the company. He also wrote the New Adventure Birthright, published in 1993. In the 1990s, Robinson wrote novelisations of episodes of The Tomorrow People, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Baywatch and the film Free Willy. Between 1994 and 1995, he wrote a series of children's horror novels Remember Me..., All Shook Up, Dream Lover, Rave On, Bad Moon Rising, Symphony of Terror and Demon Brood.In 1996 he continued to write the Luke Cannon Show Jumping Mysteries series,containing four books, namely The Piebald Princess, The Chestnut Chase, The Black Mare of Devils Hill and the last in the series, Decision Day for the Dapple Grey. By 1997 he had also penned a trilogy science fiction novels First Contact, Second Nature and Third Degree. His most recent work was another quiz book, this time to tie in with the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Peter Grimwade was a British television writer and director, best known for his work on the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. Outside of Doctor Who, Grimwade wrote and directed The Come-Uppance of Captain Katt for the ITV children's drama series Dramarama. The play was about events behind-the-scenes on a low-budget television science fiction series, which Grimwade openly acknowledged was inspired by his experience working on Doctor Who. When the BBC gave the publisher W. H. Allen the rights to use Vislor Turlough in the novel Turlough and the Earthlink Dilemma, W. H. Allen offered Grimwade a chance to publish an original novel. The result was Robot, a book filled with Doctor Who references. Afterwards, Grimwade left the BBC and mainly worked in producing industrial training videos. He died in 1990 of leukaemia.

Marc Platt is a British writer. He is most known for his work with the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who. After studying catering at a technical college, Platt worked first for Trust House Forte, and then in administration for the BBC. He wrote the Doctor Who serial Ghost Light based on two proposals, one of which later became the novel Lungbarrow. That novel was greatly anticipated by fans as it was the culmination of the so-called "Cartmel Masterplan", revealing details of the Doctor's background and family. After the original series' cancellation Platt wrote the script for the audio Doctor Who drama Spare Parts. The script was the inspiration for the 2006 Doctor Who television story "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The Age of Steel", for which Platt received a screen credit and a fee. He lives in London.

Ian Don Marter was born at Alcock Hospital in Keresley, near Coventry, on the 28th of October 1944. His father, Donald Herbert, was an RAF sergeant and electrician by trade, and his mother was Helen, nee Donaldson. He was, among other things, a teacher and a milkman. He became an actor after graduating from Oxford University, and appeared in Repertory and West End productions and on television. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic. He was best known for playing Harry Sullivan in the BBC Television series Doctor Who from 1974 to 1975, alongside Tom Baker and Elisabeth Sladen. He had already appeared in the show as Lieutenant John Andrews in the Jon Pertwee serial Carnival of Monsters. He had numerous TV roles including appearances in Crown Court and Bergerac (Return of the Ice Maiden, 1985, opposite Louise Jameson). Marter got into writing the novelisations following a dinner conversation. He went on to adapt 9 scripts over ten years. He started with The Ark in Space, the TV version of which he'd actually appeared in as companion Harry Sullivan. In the end he adapted more serials than he appeared in (7 appearances, 9 novelisations), and wrote one of the Companions series, telling of the post-Doctor adventures of Harry in Harry Sullivan's War. Shortly before his death he was discussing, with series editor Nigel Robinson, the possibility of adapting his unused movie script Doctor Who Meets Scratchman (co-written with Tom Baker) into a novel.

Terence Dudley joined the BBC in 1958 and worked with them throughout his life in various capacities. He was a producer on the SF-flavoured The Big Pull, Doomwatch (working alongside Kit Pedler and Gerry Davis) and Survivors (the mid-seventies post-apocalyptic drama created by Terry Nation, although the two did not see eye-to-eye on how the series should evolve). He directed episodes of Out of the Unknown, Doomwatch, Softly, Softly, Detective, Colditz, Survivors, To Serve Them All My Days, Secret Army, All Creatures Great and Small and Doctor Who (Meglos). He wrote for Doomwatch, the Wednesday Play (A Piece of Resistance, 1966), Survivors and Doctor Who (Four to Doomsday, Black Orchid, The King's Demons), and the pilot of Who-spin-off K9 and Company.

Stephen Wyatt was educated at Latymer Upper School and then Clare College, Cambridge. After a brief spell as Lecturer in Drama at Glasgow University, he began his career as a freelance playwright in 1975 as writer/researcher with the Belgrade Theatre Coventry in Education team. His subsequent young people's theatre work includes The Magic Cabbage (Unicorn 1978), Monster (York Theatre Royal 1979) and The Witch of Wapping (Half Moon 1980). In 1982 and 1983 he was Resident Writer with the Bubble Theatre for whom he wrote Glitterballs and The Rogue's Progress. Other theatre work includes After Shave (Apollo Theatre 1978), R.I.P Maria Callas (Edinburgh Festival / Hen and Chickens 1992), A working woman (from Zola's L'Assommoir) (West Yorkshire Playhouse 1992) and The Standard Bearer (Man in the Moon 2001). He also collaborated with Jeff Clarke on The Burglar's Opera for Opera della Luna (2004) "stolen from an idea by W. S. Gilbert with music nicked from Sir Arthur Sullivan". His first work for television was Claws, filmed by the BBC in 1987, starring Simon Jones and Brenda Blethyn. Wyatt then went on to write two scripts for the science fiction series Doctor Who—these were Paradise Towers and The Greatest Show in the Galaxy. Both of those serials featured Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor. His other television credits include scripts for The House of Eliott and Casualty. He has worked for BBC Radio since 1985 as both an adapter and an original playwright.

Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson is the inaugural winner of Future Worlds Prize, and the author of the forthcoming The Order of Legends trilogy. Her debut novel, The Principle of Moments, will be published in January 2024 from Gollancz. Raised between London and Sydney, Esmie is an author of Nigerian, Jamaican, and British-Australian heritage. Her work primarily focuses on people who live at the intersection of identities, whether that’s here on Earth, or in far away galaxies of her own creation. She holds a BA in English Literature and Classical Studies from the University of Exeter.