Graham Williams

Graham Williams
Other names:	Richard Graham Williams
Birth date:	24 May 1945
Death date:	17 August 1990
Work in the DWU
Main jobs:	Producer, Writer, Director
Main time period active:	1977-1979 and 1985
Career highlights
Notable non-DWU work:	Sutherland's Law, Z-Cars
IMDb profile

Graham Williams (24 May 1945-17 August 1990) was producer of Doctor Who from seasons 15 through 17.

He had previously worked as a script editor on The View from Daniel Pike as well as police series Barlow at Large and Z-Cars. His tenure on Doctor Who was one of the most troubled in the series' history. He was under orders from BBC management to reduce the levels of horror and violence that had become controversial under his predecessor, Philip Hinchcliffe, as well as having to cope with budget cuts, industrial action and a difficult relationship with Tom Baker in the lead role.

Despite the problems behind the scenes of the series at this time, Williams' era produced several popular additions to the Doctor Who legend, including the introduction of a robot dog as a companion, K9, the introduction of the Black and White Guardians in the Key to Time story arc and the introduction of the Doctor's Time Lady companion, Romana I.

Williams' tenure was also notable for the gradual introduction of more humour into the series, in particular the introduction of Douglas Adams as first a writer (The Pirate Planet) and then the script editor for the whole of season 17.

Due to a strike, Williams never completed the last story of season 17, Shada. Under the pseudonym "David Agnew", he co-wrote City of Death and The Invasion of Time and wrote the script and novelisation to The Nightmare Fair, which was intended to open season 23 before that season was substantially re-structured after Doctor Who went on hiatus. It was later adapted as an audio story by Big Finish Productions. Williams also partly directed the season 17 serial Nightmare of Eden after the original director Alan Bromly resigned during principal photography. This was due to the fact that, according to accounts from a number of crew members, Bromly did not understand how to direct the programme efficiently and was not interested in learning the ropes, ultimately seeding his decision to quit. (DOC: The Nightmare of TV Centre)

Williams is the most recent executive producer of Doctor Who to not cast a new Doctor.

External links

• Graham Williams at the Internet Movie Database