David Agnew (writer)

For other uses of "David", see separate article.

David Agnew was a pseudonym employed by Graham Williams and others.

Background

The BBC in the late 1970s took a dim view as to Producers and Script Editors commissioning themselves, so when the occasion did arise, then-Doctor Who Producer Williams disguised his actual authorship. 2 entertain did a tongue-in-cheek feature on The Invasion of Time DVD called "The Elusive David Agnew". The featurette included Terrance Dicks stating that Agnew was a good friend of Robin Bland (the pseudonym Dicks used on The Brain of Morbius), and as a final joke, the director credit on the featurette is given to Alan Smithee, the infamous pseudonym used for decades by Hollywood film and TV directors.

Contrary to the mystery perpetuated in the comedy featurette The Elusive David Agnew, the identity of "Agnew" as pertaining to Doctor Who is known.

• Anthony Read, (the Script Editor, at that time) collaborated with Graham Williams on the scripts for The Invasion of Time, written at the last minute to replace a script by David Weir which would have proved too expensive to film.
• Douglas Adams (the then-current Script Editor) and Graham Williams on City of Death as a late replacement for David Fisher's A Gamble With Time.

The same team of Douglas Adams and Graham Williams went on to write Shada, which was never completed due to an industrial action. Decades later, when Shada was remounted as a webcast production by Big Finish Productions and the BBC's website, the sole on-screen credit for the story was given to Adams.

Other information

• The short story Special Occasions: 4. Playing with Toys in Short Trips and Side Steps was also credited to the pseudonym David Agnew.
• The Elusive David Agnew looked at the origns of the name.