Philip Hinchcliffe - Doctor Who

In Spring 1974, at the age of 29, he was approached by the BBC's head of serials to take over as producer on Doctor Who, his first full production job, initially trailing and then succeeding long-serving producer Barry Letts. Although he trailed Letts on Tom Baker's first story Robot, he was first credited on The Ark in Space. Throughout his first year he was mostly producing scripts that had been commissioned by the previous production team prior to their departure and it was not until a year later that Hinchcliffe's full influence came to bear, with Planet of Evil in late 1975 — Tom Baker's second season in the title role of the Doctor.

Hinchcliffe, together with script editor Robert Holmes, ushered in a change in tone for the television series. The series became darker and more adult than previously, with a gothic atmosphere influenced by the horror films produced by Hammer Films. This horror influence is especially evident in serials like Planet of Evil, Pyramids of Mars, The Brain of Morbius, The Hand of Fear and The Talons of Weng-Chiang, all of which have content which directly recalls well known horror novels and movies.

During Hinchcliffe's tenure the programme achieved a popularity only previously seen during the 'Dalekmania' years of the mid 1960s. However, the BBC had received complaints from Mary Whitehouse, chairwoman of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, that the series was unduly frightening for children and could traumatise them. The NVALA had been critical of the series ever since the beginning of the 1970s and the complaints reached their height in the Hinchcliffe-produced The Deadly Assassin, where Chancellor Goth was seen to attempt to drown the Doctor by forcing his head underwater. While the BBC publicly defended the programme, after three seasons Hinchcliffe was moved onto the adult police thriller series Target in 1977, and his replacement Graham Williams was specifically instructed to lighten the tone of the storylines. The classic series never again achieved such consistently high viewing figures after Hinchcliffe's departure.

Hinchcliffe also wrote several novelisations of Doctor Who serials for Target Books, adapting The Keys of Marinus, The Seeds of Doom, and The Masque of Mandragora.