Writers to Bring Back for Series 9 & Beyond
Guest contributor Joseph Graham offers up a wish list.
Over Doctor Who’s fifty one years there have been many writers who have contributed between one and half a dozen times before not being heard of again. Here I present a list of those who I think should be brought back.
New Who Writers
Russell T Davies: Many, many fans have called for RTD to write at least another script for Doctor Who since he left in 2009. Many of his scripts are well written and held in very high regard (Love and Monsters being the obvious exception).
Rob Shearman: After writing the ever loved Dalek for the first series, Shearman was never recommissioned. He has, however, written very successful Big Finish audio plays and has contributed to the Classic DVD range on the strength of his episode. In Dalek there are many excellent story features – death, threat, the Doctor having to make terrible decision etc. I also think that when Steven Moffat does leave, Shearman should be in the running to replace him.
Mat Jones: Mat Jones wrote The Impossible Planet two parter back in 2006 which introduced the Ood to Doctor Who, but has never written for the show again. His scripts work very well and the finished show has a very good feel to it. I think that he could be trusted to deliver another very good story to the show.
Keith Temple: Temple wrote the follow up to Mat Jones’ story Planet of the Ood. Admittedly it may not be the most loved story ever but I think it shows a very different type of story.
James Moran: Moran wrote The Fires of Pompeii which featured both Peter Capaldi and Karen Gillan. His story is the perfect blend of historical story and sci-fi which works very well in Doctor Who.
Helen Raynor: Raynor has the dubious title of being the only woman to write for the new series, up until next year at least, with the recent news of Catherine Tregenna’s Series 9 contribution. Raynor’s Sontaran story is an excellent example of how to do a modern day UNIT story and also shows how the Sontarans should be portrayed – taking joy from death.
Honourable Mention: Nicholas Briggs: While Briggs has never written a script yet for Doctor Who, he excellently voices many of the monsters. However, he is also one of the driving forces behind Big Finish and has written some brilliant scripts. I would love to see what he could do with Doctor Who.
Classic Writers
Terrance Dicks: I don’t know of any serious Doctor Who fan who wouldn’t want to see Terrance Dicks’ return to pen a script. Granted, he has not written a script now for thirty years but he has continued his association with the programme though books, events and many interviews (including contributing enormously to the Classic DVD range). Admittedly he is now getting on a bit but I’m sure that he could turn out another memorable script for the show.
Derrick Sherwin: Sherwin was Producer and Script Editor in the late 1960’s including writing up The Invasion. He also helped to plan out the highly popular Season 7 (Jon Pertwee’s first season). The first story he worked on script-wise was The Web of Fear which is held in the highest regard by many fans and he was largely responsible for devising stories set on present day Earth. I believe that he could write another riveting story. I would like to see him have a go at another Cyberman story as I feel that they’ve been ruined in more recent stories. Sherwin has also proved himself to be calm in a crises – Spearhead From Space almost never got made but Sherwin managed to make a few slight alterations and get it made.
Ben Aaronovitch, Marc Platt, Ian Briggs and Rona Munro: While the Seventh Doctor’s era isn’t the most highly regarded, his last series is. Even though his work on Battlefield isn’t generally liked by fans, Remembrance of the Daleks is a highlight of Sylvester McCoy’s era and I think if anyone from the 80’s should be brought back it should be Ben Aaronovitch.
Eric Saward: After contributing the scripts for The Visitation, Saward was brought in as script editor and he remained until midway through The Trial of a TimeLlord. While his rewrites for The Twin Dilemma are generally considered awful (it came last in a recent poll) the bulk of his work remains very highly regarded.
So there are my picks. Why not list your own in the comments.
