Mark Gatiss: Difference between revisions

From Tardis Wiki, the free Doctor Who reference
m (Bot: Cosmetic changes)
 
(264 intermediate revisions by 62 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{real world}}
{{real world}}
{{Infobox Actor
{{Infobox Person
| image              = [[File:Mark Gatiss.jpg|250px]]
|image              = Mark Gatiss.jpg
| name              = Mark Gatiss
|birth date        = [[17 October (people)|17 October]] [[1966 (people)|1966]]
| role              = [[Richard Lazarus]]<br />[[Spitfire Pilot]]<br />[[Gantok]]<br />multiple audio roles
|role              = [[Unbound Master]], [[Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart]]
| job title          = [[Writer]]
|job title          = [[Writer]], [[Actor]]
| birth date        = [[17 October]] [[1966]]
|story              = [[#Credits|See Credits Section]]
| death date        =
|time              = 1992-present
| alias              =  
|non dwu           = ''The League of Gentlemen'', ''QI'', ''[[Quatermass|The Quatermass Experiment]]'', ''The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy'', ''Starter for 10'', ''The Wind in the Willows'', ''Crooked House'', ''[[Sherlock (series)|Sherlock]]'', ''A History of Horror'', ''The First Men in the Moon'', ''Cleaning Up'', ''[[Game of Thrones]]'', ''The Tractate Middoth'', ''Wolf Hall'', ''The Vote'', ''Who Do You Think You Are?'', ''Dad's Army'', ''Gunpowder'', ''The Madness of George III'', ''The Dead Room'', ''The Box of Delights''
| episode           = [[#Works in the Doctor Who universe|see all episodes section]]
|imdb              = 0309693
| works              = ''Nebulous''<br />''[[wikipedia:Sherlock (TV series)|Sherlock]]''
|twitter           = Markgatiss
| acting            =  
|clip              = Recreating 19th century Wales - Dr Who Confidential - BBC sci-fi
| imdb_id           = nm0309693
|clip2              = Writer on the Set with Mark Gatiss - Doctor Who Confidential - BBC
| official site      =  
|clip3              = AskDW with Mark Gatiss - The Ice Warriors Doctor Who Season 10 Saturdays @ 9 8c
| twitter           = Markgatiss
|trailer           = John Watson Meets Mycroft Holmes - A Study In Pink - Sherlock - BBC
}}
}}
'''Mark Gatiss''' (born [[17 October]] [[1966]], in [[Sedgefield]], [[Durham]], [[England]], [[UK]]) has been a major creative force in the production of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' fiction since the [[1990s]]. Given his accomplishments as a ''Doctor Who'' author, screenwriter, audio writer, audio actor, screen actor, documentary narrator, and documentary subject, no other individual truly comes close to Gatiss in terms of the breadth of his contributions to the ''Doctor Who'' franchise.
'''Mark Gatiss''', (born [[17 October (people)|17 October]] [[1966 (people)|1966]]<ref>[[DWDVDF 139]]</ref>) credited on three occasions as '''[[Unbound Master|Sam Kisgart]]''' and once as '''[[Gantok|Rondo Haxton]]'''<ref>''[[The Wedding of River Song (TV story)|The Wedding of River Song]]''</ref>, has been a major creative force in the production of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' fiction since the 1990s. Given his accomplishments as a ''Doctor Who'' author, screenwriter, audio writer, audio actor, screen actor, documentary narrator, and documentary subject, his contribution to the ''Doctor Who'' franchise is unique.
 
For ''Doctor Who'', Gatiss writes it so the Doctor usually cannot gain a complete victory or someone else has to step in to save the day. For the former, ''[[Victory of the Daleks (TV story)|Victory of the Daleks]] ''has the Daleks escape to rebuild their race, but the Doctor save the Earth from a bomb. With the latter, it tends to fall to the companions or a one-off character.


== Televised ''Doctor Who'' ==
== Televised ''Doctor Who'' ==
In terms of televised ''Doctor Who'', Gatiss has contributed four scripts to the [[BBC Wales]] version of ''Doctor Who'', made four guest appearances, and been a narrator and a subject of ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]''. Although other writers had enjoyed small roles in the [[1963]] version of ''Doctor Who'', he was the first to have a large speaking role — much less a part the size of Professor [[Richard Lazarus]], the titular villain of ''[[The Lazarus Experiment]]''. He also made two brief, uncredited appearances as a [[Spitfire Pilot]] in ''[[Victory of the Daleks]]'' and ''[[A Good Man Goes to War]] ''and as [[Gantok]] in ''[[The Wedding of River Song]].''
In terms of televised ''Doctor Who'', {{as of|2024|lc=y}}, Gatiss has contributed nine scripts and made five guest appearances since the series' revival, and been a narrator and a subject of ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]''.
 
Gatiss holds the distinction of being the very first credited contract writer of the revived series - the story ''[[The Unquiet Dead (TV story)|The Unquiet Dead]]'' was the first broadcast not to be written by showrunner and Executive Producer [[Russell T Davies]] (who wrote the debut episodes ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]'' and ''[[The End of the World (TV story)|The End of the World]]''). Gatiss would remain the only credited writer other than Davies for the first five weeks of the show - almost half of the [[Series 1 (Doctor Who 2005)|first series]].
 
Although other writers had enjoyed small roles in the 1963 version of ''Doctor Who'', he was the first to have not just one, but two large speaking roles — Professor [[Richard Lazarus]], the titular villain of ''[[The Lazarus Experiment (TV story)|The Lazarus Experiment]]'', and "[[Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart|the Captain]]" in ''[[Twice Upon a Time (TV story)|Twice Upon a Time]]''. During Steven Moffat's time as showrunner, Gatiss was the only writer other than Moffat himself to write a script for every season.


As of ''Victory of the Daleks'', Gatiss has became the only person to have written and starred in the same episode of ''Doctor Who'', and he claimed that it also made him "the first and only person so far to write for the series and be in it ''twice''". <ref name=SFX>[http://www.sfx.co.uk/2010/04/11/mark-gatiss-on-victory-of-the-daleks/ "Mark Gatiss on Victory of the Daleks".  sfx.co.uk.  11 April 2010.]</ref>
The Richard Lazarus prosthetic was later used in ''[[Voyage of the Damned (TV story)|Voyage of the Damned]]'' to stand in for the actor playing [[Max Capricorn]] in some long shots. ([[PCOM]]: ''[[Voyage of the Damned (TV story)|Voyage of the Damned]]'')


This episode also gave Gatiss the opportunity to write for his seventh different televised Doctor. This surpasses the number of different televised Doctors for whom [[Paul Cornell]] has written (but they are on level ground if the [[Shalka Doctor]] is counted). Both writers are, however, behind [[Terrance Dicks]], who has written ''original'' stories for eight different televised Doctors — and has written for nine different Doctors, if one counts [[Target novelisation]]s.
He later returned to make two brief, uncredited appearances during the [[Matt Smith]] era as a [[Spitfire Pilot]] in ''[[Victory of the Daleks (TV story)|Victory of the Daleks]]'' and ''[[A Good Man Goes to War (TV story)|A Good Man Goes to War]]''. He then made a credited return to the programme as [[Gantok]] in ''[[The Wedding of River Song (TV story)|The Wedding of River Song]]''.


With his role in this episode, Gatiss has also achieved something of another ''Doctor Who'' record. As of [[April]] [[2010]], he has acted with nine of the eleven actors to have played the Doctor, though not always when that actor was playing the Doctor. It was the sixth different Doctor he had encountered in a piece of performed ''[[Doctor Who]]''. Although [[Elizabeth Sladen]] appeared alongside nine incarnations of the Doctor, one of "her" Doctors is [[Richard Hurndall]], and she never appeared with [[William Hartnell]], [[Paul McGann]] or [[Christopher Eccleston]].
In series 5's ''Victory of the Daleks'', Gatiss became one of few people to have written and acted in the same episode of ''Doctor Who'', and he claimed that it also made him "the first and only person so far to write for the series and be in it ''twice''".<ref name="SFX">[http://www.gamesradar.com/mark-gatiss-on-victory-of-the-daleks/ "Mark Gatiss on Victory of the Daleks". ''SFX''. 11 April 2010.]</ref>
 
With his role in this episode, Gatiss also achieved something of another ''Doctor Who'' record. By June 2012, he had acted with nine of the eleven actors to have played the Doctor, though not always when that actor was playing the Doctor. Matt Smith was the sixth different Doctor he had encountered in a piece of performed ''[[Doctor Who]]''.<ref>Although [[Elisabeth Sladen]] appeared alongside nine incarnations of the Doctor, one of "her" Doctors is [[Richard Hurndall]], and she never appeared with [[William Hartnell]], [[Paul McGann]] or [[Christopher Eccleston]].</ref> Later, in 2017's ''Twice Upon a Time'', Gatiss further appeared alongside the then-outgoing [[Twelfth Doctor]] [[Peter Capaldi]], as well as [[David Bradley]], who was playing the same role as the late [[William Hartnell]]'s [[First Doctor]].
 
[[Series 8 (Doctor Who 2005)|Series 8]]'s ''[[Robot of Sherwood (TV story)|Robot of Sherwood]]'', gave Gatiss the opportunity to write for his ninth Doctor, across all media. This equalled the nine Doctors written for by [[Terrance Dicks]] and, {{as of|2024|lc=y}}, [[Steven Moffat]]. Both Gatiss and Dicks are behind [[Paul Cornell]], however, who has written for 12 Doctors, {{as of|2024|lc=y}}, if one counts the [[Shalka Doctor]].


== ''Doctor Who'' work in other media ==
== ''Doctor Who'' work in other media ==
Outside the programme proper, he has written various officially licensed novels, televised spoofs and audio plays, and has sometimes lent his voice to [[Big Finish Productions]]. Counting BBC-made spoofs and these audios, he is alone with Sir [[Derek Jacobi]] in having played both [[the Doctor]] and [[the Master]].
Outside the programme proper, he has written various officially licensed novels, televised spoofs and audio plays, and has sometimes lent his voice to [[Big Finish Productions]]. Counting BBC-made spoofs and these audios, he is alone with Sir [[Derek Jacobi]] in having played both [[the Doctor]] and [[the Master]].
Gatiss also wrote the docu-drama ''[[An Adventure in Space and Time (TV story)|An Adventure in Space and Time]]''. A dramatised account of [[William Hartnell]]'s tenure as [[the Doctor]], it was produced and broadcast as part of the show's 50th anniversary celebrations. He portrayed the [[Third Doctor]] in the accompanying ''[[Another Doctor (webcast)|Another Doctor]]'' extra.
== Work with ''Doctor Who'' personnel outside of the programme ==
== Work with ''Doctor Who'' personnel outside of the programme ==
Gatiss also has significant relationships with ''Doctor Who'' luminaries that extend beyond the programme itself.
Gatiss also has significant relationships with ''Doctor Who'' luminaries that extend beyond the programme itself. For instance, he is a frequent collaborator with [[Steven Moffat]], with whom he created and produced ''[[Sherlock (series)|Sherlock]]'', a TV series which started airing in 2010. He also played [[Robert Louis Stevenson]] in Moffat's {{wi|Jekyll (TV series)|Jekyll}}.


For instance, he is a sometimes-partner of [[Steven Moffat]], with whom he created and produced ''[[Wikipedia:Sherlock (TV series)|Sherlock]]'', a TV series (into which he starred as Mycroft Holmes) that was in production at BBC Wales at the same time as [[series 5 (Doctor Who)|Moffat's first series as]] [[head writer]] of ''Doctor Who''. He also played [[wikipedia:Robert Louis Stevenson|Robert Louis Stevenson]] in Moffat's ''[[wikipedia:Jekyll (TV series)|Jekyll]]''.
He has had some form of professional or semi-professional contact with every actor to have played [[the Doctor]] except [[William Hartnell]] and [[Patrick Troughton]]. [[David Tennant]] is his most common acting partner amongst people who've played the Doctor. They've been on screen together on several occasions — most prominently in {{wi|The Quatermass Experiment (2005)|The Quatermass Experiment}} and the episode "Drop Dead" of {{wi|Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) (2000 TV series)|Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)}}, which also featured [[Jessica Hynes]]. He's also been alongside Tennant in {{wi|Bright Young Things}}, which also co-starred [[Fenella Woolgar]], [[Stephen Fry]], [[Bill Paterson]], [[Richard E Grant]], and [[Jim Broadbent]]; and the English-language cast of the Norwegian animated adventure {{wi|Free Jimmy}}, with [[Simon Pegg]], [[Jim Broadbent]] and [[Steve Pemberton]]. He and [[Tom Baker]] have occasionally crossed paths, through their mutual connection to [[Matt Lucas]]. Gatiss [[script editor|script edited]] several episodes of {{wi|Little Britain (TV series)|Little Britain}}, on which Baker was the regular narrator, and fellow ''Doctor Who Confidential'' narrator, [[Anthony Head]], played a leading role. Later, he and Baker both appeared as actors in Lucas' {{wi|The Wind in the Willows (2006 film)|The Wind in the Willows}}. [[Christopher Eccleston]] once appeared on an episode of Gatiss' show, {{wi|The League of Gentlemen}}. He and [[Peter Davison]] were in several BBV productions at the start of Gatiss' career, but following that, they have acted together in the [[Big Finish Productions]] audio stories ''[[The Sirens of Time (audio story)|The Sirens of Time]]'' and ''[[Phantasmagoria (audio story)|Phantasmagoria]]''. By virtue of his participation in ''[[The Zero Imperative (home video)|The Zero Imperative]]'', he's acted on-screen alongside [[Caroline John]], [[Jon Pertwee]], [[Sylvester McCoy]], [[Colin Baker]], [[Louise Jameson]], and [[Sophie Aldred]].


He has had some form of professional or semi-professional contact with every actor to have played [[the Doctor]] except [[William Hartnell]] and [[Patrick Troughton]]. [[David Tennant]] is his most common acting partner amongst people who've played the Doctor. They've been on screen together on several occasions — most prominently in ''[[wikipedia:The Quatermass Experiment (2005)|The Quatermass Experiment]]'' and the episode "Drop Dead" of ''[[wikipedia:Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)|Randall &amp; Hopkirk (Deceased)]]'', which also featured [[Jessica Hynes]]. He's also been alongside Tennant in ''[[wikipedia:Bright Young Things|Bright Young Things]]'', which also co-starred [[Fenella Woolgar]], [[Stephen Fry]], [[Bill Paterson]], [[Richard E. Grant]], and [[Jim Broadbent]]; and the English-language cast of the Norwegian animated adventure ''[[wikipedia:Free Jimmy|Free Jimmy]]'', with [[Simon Pegg]], [[Jim Broadbent]] and [[Steve Pemberton]]. He and [[Tom Baker]] have occasionally crossed paths, through their mutual connection to [[wikipedia:Matt Lucas|Matt Lucas]]. Gatiss [[script editor|script edited]] several episodes of ''[[wikipedia:Little Britain|Little Britain]]'', on which Baker was the regular narrator, and fellow ''Doctor Who Confidential'' narrator, [[Anthony Head]], played a leading role. Later, Baker and he both appeared as actors in Lucas' ''[[wikipedia:The Wind in the Willows (2006 film)|The Wind in the Willows]]''. [[Christopher Eccleston]] once appeared on an episode of Gatiss' show, ''[[wikipedia:The League of Gentlemen|The League of Gentlemen]]''. [[Peter Davison]] and he were in several BBV productions at the start of Gatiss' career, but they have not, as of [[2010]], acted together in a fully professional production, except on [[Big Finish Productions]] audio. By virtue of his participation in ''[[The Zero Imperative]]'', he's acted on-screen alongisde [[Caroline John]], [[Jon Pertwee]], [[Sylvester McCoy]], [[Colin Baker]], [[Louise Jameson]], and [[Sophie Aldred]].
== Credits ==
{| class="wikitable"


== Works in the ''Doctor Who'' universe ==
! width="30%" | Series
{|  class="table" style="border:1px black outset;width:90%; margin:auto; background:white;"
! width="20%" | Production relevance
!style= "Background-color:#bbc; color:#000000;" width="30%"| Series
! width="25%" | Role
!style= "Background-color:#bbc; color:#000000;" width="20%"| Production relevance
! width="25%" | Adventure
!style= "Background-color:#bbc; color:#000000;" width="25%"| Role
!style= "Background-color:#bbc; color:#000000;" width="25%"| Adventure
|-
|-
|Televised ''[[Doctor Who]]''
| rowspan="13" |Televised ''[[Doctor Who]]''
|Writer
| rowspan="2" |Writer
|
|
|''[[The Unquiet Dead]]''
|''[[The Unquiet Dead (TV story)|The Unquiet Dead]]''
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|-
|
|Writer
|
|
|''[[The Idiot's Lantern]]''
|''[[The Idiot's Lantern (TV story)|The Idiot's Lantern]]''
|-
|-
|
|Actor
|Actor
|[[Richard Lazarus]]
|[[Richard Lazarus]]
|''[[The Lazarus Experiment]]'''' '''''
|''[[The Lazarus Experiment (TV story)|The Lazarus Experiment]]''
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|-
|
|Writer, actor
|Writer, actor
|
| rowspan="2" |[[Spitfire Pilot|"Danny Boy"]]
[[Spitfire Pilot|"Danny Boy"]] (uncredited)
(uncredited)
|''[[Victory of the Daleks]]''
|''[[Victory of the Daleks (TV story)|Victory of the Daleks]]''
|-
|-
|
|Actor
|Actor
|[[Spitfire Pilot|"Danny Boy"]] (uncredited)
|''[[A Good Man Goes to War (TV story)|A Good Man Goes to War]]''
|''[[A Good Man Goes to War]]''
|-
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|
|Writer
|Writer
|
|
|''[[Night Terrors]]''
|''[[Night Terrors (TV story)|Night Terrors]]''
|-
|-
|
|Actor
|Actor
|[[Gantok]] (credited as Rondo Haxton)
|[[Gantok]]
|''[[The Wedding of River Song]]''
(credited as Rondo Haxton)
 
|''[[The Wedding of River Song (TV story)|The Wedding of River Song]]''
<!--need proof of this
|-
|-
|[[Big Finish Doctor Who audio stories|Big Finish ''Doctor Who'']]
|Actor
|Actor
|[[Walther Schwieger]]
|Narrator
|''[[The Sirens of Time]]''
|''[[The Great Detective (TV story)|The Great Detective]]''
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|-->
|-
| rowspan="5" |Writer
|
|''[[Cold War (TV story)|Cold War]]''
|-
|
|
|Writer
|''[[The Crimson Horror (TV story)|The Crimson Horror]]''
|-
|
|
|''[[Phantasmagoria]]''
|''[[Robot of Sherwood (TV story)|Robot of Sherwood]]''
|-
|-
|
|
|Actor
|''[[Sleep No More (TV story)|Sleep No More]]''
|[[Karl Hendryk]]
|-
|''[[The Mutant Phase]]''
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|
|
|Actor
|''[[Empress of Mars (TV story)|Empress of Mars]]''
|-
| rowspan="2" |Actor
|[[Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart|The Captain]]
|''[[Twice Upon a Time (TV story)|Twice Upon a Time]]''
|-
| rowspan="7" |[[Main Range|Big Finish's ''Monthly Adventures'']]
|[[Walther Schwieger]]
|''[[The Sirens of Time (audio story)|The Sirens of Time]]''
|-
|Writer, actor
|[[Jasper Jeake]]
|''[[Phantasmagoria (audio story)|Phantasmagoria]]''
|-
| rowspan="4" |Actor
|[[Karl Hendryk]] / [[Roboman (The Mutant Phase)|Roboman]]
|''[[The Mutant Phase (audio story)|The Mutant Phase]]''
|-
|Announcer
|''[[Storm Warning (audio story)|Storm Warning]]''
|-
|[[Thinnes]]
|[[Thinnes]]
|''[[Sword of Orion]]''
|''[[Sword of Orion (audio story)|Sword of Orion]]''
|-
|-
|
|Actor
|[[Vincenzo]]
|[[Vincenzo]]
|''[[The Stones of Venice]]''
|''[[The Stones of Venice (audio story)|The Stones of Venice]]''
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|-
|
|Writer, director, actor
|Writer, director
|Radio Announcer
|
|''[[Invaders from Mars (audio story)|Invaders from Mars]]''
|''[[Invaders from Mars]]''
|-
| ''[[Doctor Who Unbound]]''
| rowspan="10" |Actor
| rowspan="8" |[[Unbound Master]]
(occasionally credited as Sam Kisgart)
|''[[Sympathy for the Devil (audio story)|Sympathy for the Devil]]''
|-
| rowspan="3"|''[[The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield (audio series)|The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield]]''
|''[[The Library in the Body (audio story)|The Library in the Body]]''
|-
|''[[The Emporium at the End (audio story)|The Emporium at the End]]''
|-
|''[[The True Saviour of the Universe (audio story)|The True Saviour of the Universe]]''
|-
|rowspan=2|''[[The War Master (audio series)|The War Master]]''
|''[[Shockwave (TWM audio story)|Shockwave]]''
|-
|''[[He Who Wins (audio story)|He Who Wins]]''
|-
|rowspan=2|''[[Masterful (audio anthology)|Masterful]]''
|[[Masterful social media-only exclusive scene (webcast)|Exclusive scene]]
|-
|''[[Masterful (audio story)|Masterful]]''
|-
|rowspan="2" |''[[Dalek Universe (audio series)|Dalek Universe]]''
|rowspan="2" |[[George Sheldrake]]
|''[[Buying Time (audio story)|Buying Time]]''
|-
|''[[The Wrong Woman (audio story)|The Wrong Woman]]''
|-
| rowspan="4" |Minisodes
| rowspan="7" |Writer, actor
|Mr. Borusa
|''[[The Pitch of Fear (TV story)|The Pitch of Fear]]''
|-
|-
|
|[[The Doctor (The Web of Caves)|The Doctor]]
|Actor
|''[[The Web of Caves (TV story)|The Web of Caves]]''
|[[The Master (Sympathy for the Devil)|The Master]]
|''[[Sympathy for the Devil]]''
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|Officially licensed spoofs
|Writer, actor
|Terry Scanlon
|''[[Global Conspiracy]]''
|-
|-
|
|Writer, actor
|[[The Doctor]]
|''[[The Web of Caves]]''
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|
|Writer, actor
|Mark
|Mark
|''[[The Kidnapping]]''
|''[[The Kidnappers]]''
|-
|Terry Scanlon
|''[[Global Conspiracy? (home video)|Global Conspiracy?]]''
|-
|-
|[[BBV Productions|BBV]] [[P.R.O.B.E.]] series
| rowspan="4" |[[BBV Productions|BBV]] ''[[P.R.O.B.E. (series)|P.R.O.B.E.]]'' series
|Writer, actor
|[[William Bruffin]]
|[[William Bruffin]]
|''[[The Zero Imperative]]''
|''[[The Zero Imperative (home video)|The Zero Imperative]]''
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|-
|[[Georgie (The Devil of Winterborne)|Georgie]]
|''[[The Devil of Winterborne (home video)|The Devil of Winterborne]]''
|-
|[[Alfred Emerson]]
|''[[Unnatural Selection (home video)|Unnatural Selection]]''
|-
|rowspan="2"|Writer
|
|
|Writer, actor
|''[[Ghosts of Winterborne (home video)|Ghosts of Winterborne]]''
|[[Georgie]]
|''[[The Devil of Winterborne]]''
|-
|-
|rowspan="2"|[[BBV Productions|BBV]] ''[[The Time Travellers (series)|The Time Travellers]]'' series
|
|
|''[[Republica (audio story)|Republica]]''
|-
|Writer, actor
|Writer, actor
|[[Alfred Emerson]]
|[[Kell]]
|''[[Unnatural Selection]]''
|''[[Island of Lost Souls (audio story)|Island of Lost Souls]]''
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|-
| rowspan="3"|[[Target novelisation]]s
| rowspan="2"|Narrator
|
|''[[Doctor Who and the Planet of the Daleks (novelisation)|Doctor Who and the Planet of the Daleks]]''
|-
|
|''[[Twice Upon a Time (novelisation)|Twice Upon a Time]]''
|-
| rowspan="5" |Author
|
|
|Writer
|''[[The Crimson Horror (novelisation)|The Crimson Horror]]''
|
|''[[Ghosts of Winterborne]]''
|-
|-
|[[Virgin New Adventures]]
| rowspan="2" |[[Virgin New Adventures]]
|Author
|
|
|''[[Nightshade (novel)|Nightshade]]''
|''[[Nightshade (novel)|Nightshade]]''
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|-
|
|Author
|
|
|''[[St Anthony's Fire (novel)|St Anthony's Fire]]''
|''[[St Anthony's Fire (novel)|St Anthony's Fire]]''
|-
|-
|[[BBC Past Doctor Adventures]]
| rowspan="2" |[[BBC Past Doctor Adventures]]
|Author
|
|
|''[[The Roundheads]]''
|''[[The Roundheads (novel)|The Roundheads]]''
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|-
|
|
|Author
|''[[Last of the Gaderene (novel)|Last of the Gaderene]]''
|
|''[[Last of the Gaderene]]''
|-
|-
|''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]''
| rowspan="2" |''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]''
|Documentary subject
|Documentary subject
|Himself
|Himself
|Various episodes
|Various episodes
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|-
|
|Narrator
|Narrator
|
|
|Series 2
|Series 2
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Doctor Who Storybook|''Doctor Who'' Storybook]]
| rowspan="4" |Writer
|
| ''[[Cuckoo-Spit (short story)|Cuckoo-Spit]]''
|-
|
| ''[[Cold (short story)|Cold]]''
|-
| ''[[The Brilliant Book 2012]]''
|
| ''[[My Special Book (short story)|My Special Book]]''
|-
| ''[[Adventures in Lockdown]]''
|
|''[[Fellow Traveller (short story)|Fellow Traveller]]''
|-
|-
|''[[Doctor Who Greatest Moments]]''
|''[[Doctor Who Greatest Moments]]''
|Documentary subject
| rowspan="2" |Documentary subject
|Himself
| rowspan="2" |Himself
|''The Enemies'', ''The Doctor''
|''The Enemies'', ''The Doctor''
|-style="background:#f0f0f0;"
|-
|[[BBC DVD]] documentaries
|[[BBC DVD]] documentaries
|Documentary subject
|Himself
|''[[Putting the Shock into Earthshock]]'', ''[[Waking the Dead]]''
|''[[Putting the Shock into Earthshock]]'', ''[[Waking the Dead]]''
|-
| rowspan="2" |Other related works
|Writer, executive producer, actor
| [[Jon Pertwee]] (scenes cut)
|''[[An Adventure in Space and Time (TV story)|An Adventure in Space and Time]]''
|-
|Writer, actor
|[[Third Doctor]]
|[[Regeneration (home video)|Regeneration]]<sup>[5]</sup>
|}
|}


== References ==
== Personal life ==
Gatiss is openly gay<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/23/mark-gatiss-family-values</ref> and is married to [[Ian Hallard]].<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/feb/06/mark-gatiss-interview</ref>
 
== External links ==
{{imdb name|id=0309693}}
{{twitter|Markgatiss}}
 
== Footnotes ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
{{NameSort}}
[[fr:Mark Gatiss]]
[[fr:Mark Gatiss]]
{{NameSort}}
[[ru:Марк Гэтисс]]


[[Category:Audio writers]]
[[Category:Doctor Who television writers]]
[[Category:Doctor Who guest actors]]
[[Category:Doctor Who guest actors]]
[[Category:Prose writers]]
[[Category:Doctor Who television writers]]
[[Category:Doctor Who fans]]
[[Category:Big Finish Doctor Who voice actors]]
[[Category:LGBT cast]]
[[Category:LGBT crew]]
[[Category:BBV Productions actors]]
[[Category:BBV Productions actors]]
[[Category:An Adventure in Space and Time crew]]
[[Category:Video writers]]
[[Category:Big Finish Doctor Who Unbound voice actors]]
[[Category:Actors who portrayed the Master]]
[[Category:Big Finish Bernice Summerfield voice actors]]
[[Category:The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield voice actors]]
[[Category:BBC Audio audiobook readers]]
[[Category:Doctor Who novelists]]
[[Category:Doctor Who short story writers]]
[[Category:Television writers]]
[[Category:Writers interviewed on Doctor Who Confidential]]
[[Category:Doctor Who Confidential narrators]]
[[Category:Doctor Who Confidential narrators]]
[[Category:Crew members interviewed on Doctor Who Confidential]]
[[Category:Doctor Who television parody writers]]
[[Category:BAFTA award winners]]
[[Category:Royal Television Society Award winners]]
[[Category:Laurence Olivier Award winners]]
[[Category:Saturn Award nominees]]
[[Category:Writers' Guild of Great Britain award nominees]]
[[Category:People who appeared in documentaries about classic Doctor Who that weren't part of the production team]]
[[Category:Actors interviewed on Doctor Who Confidential]]
[[Category:Actors interviewed on Doctor Who Confidential]]
[[Category:Actors who portrayed the Master]]
[[Category:People interviewed on Doctor Who Live]]
[[Category:Actors who appeared in Sapphire & Steel]]
[[Category:Crew members interviewed on Doctor Who Extra]]
[[Category:Previous Featured Articles]]
[[Category:Actors interviewed on Toby Hadoke's Who's Round]]
[[Category:Doctor Who uncredited cast]]
[[Category:Writers interviewed on Toby Hadoke's Who's Round]]
[[Category:Worked in the Sherlock Holmes franchise]]
[[Category:People interviewed on The Fan Show]]
[[Category:Actors who appeared in the Sherlock Holmes franchise]]
[[Category:Actors who were credited in the Doctor Who opening titles]]
[[Category:Actors who appeared in the Quatermass franchise]]
[[Category:Excelis Saga voice actors]]
[[Category:Main Range voice actors]]
[[Category:Big Finish regular cast]]
[[Category:Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:Hugo award nominees]]
[[Category:National Television Award nominees]]
[[Category:Main Range writers]]
[[Category:Main Range directors]]
[[Category:Novel Adaptations writers]]
[[Category:Actors who portrayed the Third Doctor]]
[[Category:OFTA Award winners]]
[[Category:The War Master voice actors]]
[[Category:P.R.O.B.E. writers]]
[[Category:Special Releases voice actors]]
[[Category:Doctor Who novelisation writers]]
[[Category:Dalek Universe voice actors]]
[[Category:Tenth Doctor Adventures voice actors]]
[[Category:The Time Travellers writers]]
[[Category:BBV Productions audio writers]]
[[Category:BBV Productions voice actors]]
[[Category:Fourth Doctor Adventures voice actors]]

Latest revision as of 20:13, 3 November 2024

RealWorld.png

Mark Gatiss, (born 17 October 1966[1]) credited on three occasions as Sam Kisgart and once as Rondo Haxton[2], has been a major creative force in the production of Doctor Who fiction since the 1990s. Given his accomplishments as a Doctor Who author, screenwriter, audio writer, audio actor, screen actor, documentary narrator, and documentary subject, his contribution to the Doctor Who franchise is unique.

For Doctor Who, Gatiss writes it so the Doctor usually cannot gain a complete victory or someone else has to step in to save the day. For the former, Victory of the Daleks has the Daleks escape to rebuild their race, but the Doctor save the Earth from a bomb. With the latter, it tends to fall to the companions or a one-off character.

Televised Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]

In terms of televised Doctor Who, as of 2024, Gatiss has contributed nine scripts and made five guest appearances since the series' revival, and been a narrator and a subject of Doctor Who Confidential.

Gatiss holds the distinction of being the very first credited contract writer of the revived series - the story The Unquiet Dead was the first broadcast not to be written by showrunner and Executive Producer Russell T Davies (who wrote the debut episodes Rose and The End of the World). Gatiss would remain the only credited writer other than Davies for the first five weeks of the show - almost half of the first series.

Although other writers had enjoyed small roles in the 1963 version of Doctor Who, he was the first to have not just one, but two large speaking roles — Professor Richard Lazarus, the titular villain of The Lazarus Experiment, and "the Captain" in Twice Upon a Time. During Steven Moffat's time as showrunner, Gatiss was the only writer other than Moffat himself to write a script for every season.

The Richard Lazarus prosthetic was later used in Voyage of the Damned to stand in for the actor playing Max Capricorn in some long shots. (PCOM: Voyage of the Damned)

He later returned to make two brief, uncredited appearances during the Matt Smith era as a Spitfire Pilot in Victory of the Daleks and A Good Man Goes to War. He then made a credited return to the programme as Gantok in The Wedding of River Song.

In series 5's Victory of the Daleks, Gatiss became one of few people to have written and acted in the same episode of Doctor Who, and he claimed that it also made him "the first and only person so far to write for the series and be in it twice".[3]

With his role in this episode, Gatiss also achieved something of another Doctor Who record. By June 2012, he had acted with nine of the eleven actors to have played the Doctor, though not always when that actor was playing the Doctor. Matt Smith was the sixth different Doctor he had encountered in a piece of performed Doctor Who.[4] Later, in 2017's Twice Upon a Time, Gatiss further appeared alongside the then-outgoing Twelfth Doctor Peter Capaldi, as well as David Bradley, who was playing the same role as the late William Hartnell's First Doctor.

Series 8's Robot of Sherwood, gave Gatiss the opportunity to write for his ninth Doctor, across all media. This equalled the nine Doctors written for by Terrance Dicks and, as of 2024, Steven Moffat. Both Gatiss and Dicks are behind Paul Cornell, however, who has written for 12 Doctors, as of 2024, if one counts the Shalka Doctor.

Doctor Who work in other media[[edit] | [edit source]]

Outside the programme proper, he has written various officially licensed novels, televised spoofs and audio plays, and has sometimes lent his voice to Big Finish Productions. Counting BBC-made spoofs and these audios, he is alone with Sir Derek Jacobi in having played both the Doctor and the Master.

Gatiss also wrote the docu-drama An Adventure in Space and Time. A dramatised account of William Hartnell's tenure as the Doctor, it was produced and broadcast as part of the show's 50th anniversary celebrations. He portrayed the Third Doctor in the accompanying Another Doctor extra.

Work with Doctor Who personnel outside of the programme[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gatiss also has significant relationships with Doctor Who luminaries that extend beyond the programme itself. For instance, he is a frequent collaborator with Steven Moffat, with whom he created and produced Sherlock, a TV series which started airing in 2010. He also played Robert Louis Stevenson in Moffat's Jekyll.

He has had some form of professional or semi-professional contact with every actor to have played the Doctor except William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton. David Tennant is his most common acting partner amongst people who've played the Doctor. They've been on screen together on several occasions — most prominently in The Quatermass Experiment and the episode "Drop Dead" of Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), which also featured Jessica Hynes. He's also been alongside Tennant in Bright Young Things, which also co-starred Fenella Woolgar, Stephen Fry, Bill Paterson, Richard E Grant, and Jim Broadbent; and the English-language cast of the Norwegian animated adventure Free Jimmy, with Simon Pegg, Jim Broadbent and Steve Pemberton. He and Tom Baker have occasionally crossed paths, through their mutual connection to Matt Lucas. Gatiss script edited several episodes of Little Britain, on which Baker was the regular narrator, and fellow Doctor Who Confidential narrator, Anthony Head, played a leading role. Later, he and Baker both appeared as actors in Lucas' The Wind in the Willows. Christopher Eccleston once appeared on an episode of Gatiss' show, The League of Gentlemen. He and Peter Davison were in several BBV productions at the start of Gatiss' career, but following that, they have acted together in the Big Finish Productions audio stories The Sirens of Time and Phantasmagoria. By virtue of his participation in The Zero Imperative, he's acted on-screen alongside Caroline John, Jon Pertwee, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Louise Jameson, and Sophie Aldred.

Credits[[edit] | [edit source]]

Series Production relevance Role Adventure
Televised Doctor Who Writer The Unquiet Dead
The Idiot's Lantern
Actor Richard Lazarus The Lazarus Experiment
Writer, actor "Danny Boy"

(uncredited)

Victory of the Daleks
Actor A Good Man Goes to War
Writer Night Terrors
Actor Gantok

(credited as Rondo Haxton)

The Wedding of River Song
Writer Cold War
The Crimson Horror
Robot of Sherwood
Sleep No More
Empress of Mars
Actor The Captain Twice Upon a Time
Big Finish's Monthly Adventures Walther Schwieger The Sirens of Time
Writer, actor Jasper Jeake Phantasmagoria
Actor Karl Hendryk / Roboman The Mutant Phase
Announcer Storm Warning
Thinnes Sword of Orion
Vincenzo The Stones of Venice
Writer, director, actor Radio Announcer Invaders from Mars
Doctor Who Unbound Actor Unbound Master

(occasionally credited as Sam Kisgart)

Sympathy for the Devil
The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield The Library in the Body
The Emporium at the End
The True Saviour of the Universe
The War Master Shockwave
He Who Wins
Masterful Exclusive scene
Masterful
Dalek Universe George Sheldrake Buying Time
The Wrong Woman
Minisodes Writer, actor Mr. Borusa The Pitch of Fear
The Doctor The Web of Caves
Mark The Kidnappers
Terry Scanlon Global Conspiracy?
BBV P.R.O.B.E. series William Bruffin The Zero Imperative
Georgie The Devil of Winterborne
Alfred Emerson Unnatural Selection
Writer Ghosts of Winterborne
BBV The Time Travellers series Republica
Writer, actor Kell Island of Lost Souls
Target novelisations Narrator Doctor Who and the Planet of the Daleks
Twice Upon a Time
Author The Crimson Horror
Virgin New Adventures Nightshade
St Anthony's Fire
BBC Past Doctor Adventures The Roundheads
Last of the Gaderene
Doctor Who Confidential Documentary subject Himself Various episodes
Narrator Series 2
Doctor Who Storybook Writer Cuckoo-Spit
Cold
The Brilliant Book 2012 My Special Book
Adventures in Lockdown Fellow Traveller
Doctor Who Greatest Moments Documentary subject Himself The Enemies, The Doctor
BBC DVD documentaries Putting the Shock into Earthshock, Waking the Dead
Other related works Writer, executive producer, actor Jon Pertwee (scenes cut) An Adventure in Space and Time
Writer, actor Third Doctor Regeneration[5]

Personal life[[edit] | [edit source]]

Gatiss is openly gay[5] and is married to Ian Hallard.[6]

External links[[edit] | [edit source]]

Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]

  1. ↑ DWDVDF 139
  2. ↑ The Wedding of River Song
  3. ↑ "Mark Gatiss on Victory of the Daleks". SFX. 11 April 2010.
  4. ↑ Although Elisabeth Sladen appeared alongside nine incarnations of the Doctor, one of "her" Doctors is Richard Hurndall, and she never appeared with William Hartnell, Paul McGann or Christopher Eccleston.
  5. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/23/mark-gatiss-family-values
  6. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/feb/06/mark-gatiss-interview
Retrieved from "https://tardis.wiki/w/index.php?title=Mark_Gatiss&oldid=3889930"