The following is a list of script editors on the long-running British science fiction television programme Doctor Who. This list makes no distinction between the titles "story editor" and "script editor", as both titles were used for the same position while the production was based in London.
During the original series, the script editor worked in conjunction with the series producer in developing the creative direction of the series and they held the power to commission scripts, effectively becoming second in command to the producer. However, once Doctor Who moved from BBC London to BBC Wales, the title came to describe a significantly different position. Beginning with the 2005 series, the role of the Doctor Who script editor diminished significantly, in deference to the rise of the new position of "Head Writer". In many respects, Russell T Davies and his successor Steven Moffat have proven the closest analogue to the old position, but as they are also executive producers, they have had a much greater range of responsibilities than script editors of the original series. Script editors of the new series do not have the power to commission scripts. Instead, they act as liaisons between the production staff and the screenwriter, before passing their joint work to the Head Writer for a "final polish". Moreover, script editors in the BBC Wales version are assigned not to whole seasons, but to individual episodes — or at most "blocks" of 2-4 episodes produced concurrently. Acknowledging that the Head Writer is much closer to being the script editor of the past, Helen Raynor has said that the modern Doctor Who script editor's job isn't a creative one, but "in the next seat to creativity ... a nuts and bolts job you do participate, you are a part of it, but you aren't driving it."
| Script Editor | Tenure | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Stories | ||
| David Whitaker | 1963–1964 | An Unearthly Child – The Dalek Invasion of Earth | Programme's first script editor, credited as story editor |
| Dennis Spooner | 1964–1965 | The Rescue – The Chase | |
| Donald Tosh | 1965–1966 | The Time Meddler – The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve ep. 3 | |
| Gerry Davis | 1966–1967 | The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve ep. 4 - The Evil of the Daleks ep. 3 | |
| Peter Bryant | 1967–1968 | The Evil of the Daleks ep. 4-7, The Abominable Snowmen - The Enemy of the World | |
| Victor Pemberton | 1967 | The Tomb of the Cybermen | Shortest tenure as script editor |
| Derrick Sherwin | 1968 | The Web of Fear – The Mind Robber, The Space Pirates | |
| Terrance Dicks | 1968–1974 | The Invasion – The Seeds of Death, The War Games - Planet of the Spiders | Longest tenure as script editor |
| Robert Holmes | 1974–1977 | Robot – Image of the Fendahl | Had started unofficial work in the post on Death to the Daleks |
| Anthony Read | 1977–1979 | The Sun Makers – The Armageddon Factor | |
| Douglas Adams | 1979–1980 | Destiny of the Daleks – Shada | |
| Christopher H. Bidmead | 1980–1981 | The Leisure Hive – Logopolis | |
| Antony Root | 1981–1982 | Four to Doomsday, The Visitation and Earthshock | Script editor in name only for Earthshock, due to BBC rules preventing Eric Saward being writer and script editor on the same story |
| Eric Saward | 1982–1986 | Castrovalva, Kinda, Black Orchid – The Trial of a Time Lord: Mindwarp, The Trial of a Time Lord: The Ultimate Foe ep. 1 | Resigned from post prior to the completion of The Trial of a Time Lord |
| Andrew Cartmel | 1987–1989 | Time and the Rani – Survival | Last script editor for the original series |
| Elwen Rowlands | 2005 | "Rose" – "The End of the World", "Aliens of London" – "World War Three", "The Long Game" – "Father's Day", "Boom Town" | First female script editor, along with Raynor. Both were the first script editors of the new series, hired simultaneously. |
| Helen Raynor | 2005–2008 | "The Unquiet Dead", "Dalek", "The Empty Child" – "The Doctor Dances", "Bad Wolf" – "The Christmas Invasion", "School Reunion" – "The Age of Steel", "Army of Ghosts" – "Doomsday", "Blink", "Silence in the Library" – "Midnight" | See above note. Only script editor with credits in each of the first four series. Only person to script edit for Steven Moffat while he wasn't the head writer. Also Torchwood's script editor |
| Simon Winstone | 2006–2007 | "New Earth" – "Tooth and Claw", "The Idiot's Lantern" – "Fear Her", "The Runaway Bride" – "Gridlock", "The Lazarus Experiment" – "42", "Utopia" – "Last of the Time Lords" | As a former editor of the Virgin Missing Adventures, Winstone was the first script editor of the BBC Wales era to have had previous experience with Doctor Who fiction. He was also the first script editor to appear on Doctor Who Confidential, debuting in episode 10 of series 2. |
| Lindsey Alford | 2007–2010 | "Daleks in Manhattan" – "Evolution of the Daleks", "Human Nature" – "The Family of Blood", "Partners in Crime", "Planet of the Ood", "The Doctor's Daughter" – "The Unicorn and the Wasp", "The Stolen Earth" – "Planet of the Dead", "The Eleventh Hour", "The Time of Angels" - "Flesh and Stone", "The Hungry Earth" - "Cold Blood", "The Lodger" - "The Big Bang" | |
| Brian Minchin | 2007–2010 | "Time Crash", "Voyage of the Damned", "The Fires of Pompeii", "Turn Left", "The Beast Below" - "Victory of the Daleks", "The Vampires of Venice - "Amy's Choice", "Vincent and the Doctor" | Also Torchwood's script editor and producer of "From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love" |
| Nikki Smith | 2008 | "The Sontaran Stratagem" – "The Poison Sky" | Also producer of The Sarah Jane Adventures and Doctor Who |
| Gary Russell | 2009 | "The Waters of Mars" – "The End of Time" | |
| Emma Freud | 2010 | "Vincent and the Doctor" | |
Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, doctor, script and/or editors:
“I made a list of things I have
to remember and a list
of things I want to forget,
but I see they are the same list.”
—Linda Pastan (b. 1932)
“A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The said doctor can easily practise upon a page, and, if he does well, he can use his remedies on my son.”
—Catherine De’ Medici (1519–1589)
“I long to create something
that can’t be used to keep us passive:
I want to write
a script about plumbing, how every pipe
is joined
to every other.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“The trenchant editorials plus the keen rivalry natural to extremely partisan papers made it necessary for the editors to be expert pugilists and duelists as well as journalists. An editor made no assertion that he could not defend with fists or firearms.”
—Federal Writers’ Project Of The Wor, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)