Gerald Savory

Gerald Savory (17 November 1909-9 February 1996) was Donald Wilson's replacement as Head of Serials at the BBC. He had oversight of Doctor Who during the latter portion of William Hartnell's tenure as the Doctor. He was likely most famous for two decisions. First, he was the executive who requested, on or about 28 May 1965, that The Daleks' Master Plan be a 12-part story. Second, he prevented producer John Wiles from writing out William Hartnell in The Celestial Toymaker.

Prior to his employment as Head of Serials, he had been a successful playwright, coming to notice due largely to his 1937 play, George and Margaret (adapted into a film in 1940). When Donald Tosh re-wrote The Celestial Toymaker so it included Savory's characters of George and Margaret, the story was swiftly rejected on the grounds that it used the characters without permission, forcing Gerry Davis to rewrite the serial and replace the characters of George and Margaret with other pairs of characters who would act as opponents for Steven and Dodo — namely the clowns Joey and Clara; the King and Queen of Hearts; and Sergeant Rugg and Mrs Wiggs. (REF: The First Doctor Handbook)

External links

• Gerald Savory at the Internet Movie Database