List of Doctor Who television writers

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This is a list of Doctor Who television writers. It is sortable by a number of different criteria.[nb 1] The list defaults to ascending alphabetical order by the writer's last name.

A note to editors: Before changing anything about this list, please make sure that you have thoroughly read and understood all footnotes. Of necessity, this list has several assumptions which may or may not coincide with your personal interpretation of Doctor Who history.

Several assumptions underlie the composition of the list. Most significantly, this list defines a "writer of Doctor Who" to be a person who received onscreen credit for a live-action, non-parodic story. That Terrance Dicks in fact wrote four of the six episodes of The Seeds of Death is irrelevant to this list; Brian Hayles is the only person whose name appears on screen so he's the only one who gets credit here. Where possible and necessary, notes have been included to shed light on what a particular writer actually did as opposed to what they were credited for. However, the best source of information about the writing of particular stories is more likely to be the story page itself.

Further details about the way in which this list was compiled can be found by clicking the footnote marker at the top of each column. Information on this list is as of 22 June 2024 (2024 -06-22) current through Empire of Death.

Writer[nb 2] Number of stories[nb 3] First story[nb 4] Last/latest story[nb 4] Number of episodes[nb 5] Run time[nb 6] Notes Since first episode[nb 7]
Ben Aaronovitch 2 Remembrance of the Daleks Battlefield 8 200 &1000000000000003600000036 years, &1000000000000007900000079 days
Douglas Adams 1 The Pirate Planet The Pirate Planet 4 100 Despite a wide-ranging influence on a number of scripts, he was actually credited with only one. &1000000000000004600000046 years, &1000000000000008400000084 days
"David Agnew" 2 The Invasion of Time City of Death 10 250 "David Agnew" was a pseudonym used on several BBC programmes in the 1970s. On Doctor Who it was used exclusively by Graham Williams and his script editors, apparently under the direct orders of the then-BBC Head of Serials.[1]On The Invasion of Time, it concealed the identities of Williams and Anthony Read, while on City of Death, it masked the involvement of Williams, Douglas Adams and David Fisher. &1000000000000004600000046 years, &10000000000000323000000323 days
Maxine Alderton 1.16[nb 8] The Haunting of Villa Diodati Flux (episode 4, Village of the Angels, only) 2 TBA Co-wrote Village of the Angels with Chris Chibnall &100000000000000040000004 years, &10000000000000311000000311 days
"Norman Ashby" 1 The Dominators The Dominators 5 125 Pseudonym for the writing team of Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln. &1000000000000005600000056 years, &10000000000000135000000135 days
Christopher Bailey 2 Kinda Snakedance 8 200 &1000000000000004200000042 years, &10000000000000326000000326 days
Bob Baker 9 The Claws of Axos Nightmare of Eden 36 950 Co-wrote all but one story (Nightmare of Eden) with Dave Martin. &1000000000000005300000053 years, &10000000000000285000000285 days
Pip and Jane Baker 3.5 The Mark of the Rani Time and the Rani 11 315 They received credit for episode 14 of The Trial of a Time Lord, while episode 13 went to Robert Holmes. This meant that they "split" a writing credit for the story segment known as The Ultimate Foe. &1000000000000003900000039 years, &10000000000000325000000325 days
Mike Bartlett 1 Knock Knock Knock Knock 1 45 &100000000000000070000007 years, &10000000000000231000000231 days
Christopher H. Bidmead 3 Logopolis Frontios 12 300 &1000000000000004300000043 years, &10000000000000299000000299 days
Ian Stuart Black 3 The Savages The Macra Terror 12 300 &1000000000000005800000058 years, &10000000000000209000000209 days
Malorie Blackman 1 Rosa Rosa 1 50 Co-wrote Rosa with Chris Chibnall &100000000000000060000006 years, &1000000000000006300000063 days
"Robin Bland" 1 The Brain of Morbius The Brain of Morbius 4 100 Pseudonym created by Robert Holmes when Terrance Dicks decided to take his name off this serial.[2] &1000000000000004800000048 years, &10000000000000355000000355 days
Chris Boucher 3 The Face of Evil Image of the Fendahl 12 300 &1000000000000004700000047 years, &10000000000000357000000357 days
Ian Briggs 2 Dragonfire The Curse of Fenric 7 175 &1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000003000000030 days
Johnny Byrne 3 The Keeper of Traken Warriors of the Deep 12 300 &1000000000000004300000043 years, &10000000000000327000000327 days
Chris Chibnall 21[nb 9] 42 The Power of the Doctor 29 TBA Chris Chibnall was the third head writer of the revival era of Doctor Who, coinciding with the time BBC Wales' scripted programming was consolidated into BBC Studios. Rosa was co-written with Malorie Blackman, Fugitive of the Judoon with Vinay Patel, Praxeus with Pete McTighe, Can You Hear Me? with Charlene James, Village of the Angels with Maxine Alderton, and Legend of the Sea Devils with Ella Road. &1000000000000001700000017 years, &10000000000000218000000218 days
Kevin Clarke 1 Silver Nemesis Silver Nemesis 3 75 &1000000000000003600000036 years, &1000000000000003000000030 days
Barbara Clegg 1 Enlightenment Enlightenment 4 100 Although Lesley Scott is the first woman to be credited as a writer on a Doctor Who story, Clegg is the first woman to actually write a story for the program. &1000000000000004100000041 years, &10000000000000297000000297 days
Anthony Coburn 1 An Unearthly Child An Unearthly Child 4 100 Although contemporary BBC internal documents reveal that C. E. Webber was really his co-author for the first episode,[3] only Coburn's name made it to the screen. Coburn, however, is more or less completely responsible for the 2nd-4th episodes that comprise the bulk of the story. &1000000000000006100000061 years, &1000000000000003000000030 days
Paul Cornell 2 Father's Day Human Nature/ The Family of Blood 3 135 &1000000000000001900000019 years, &10000000000000223000000223 days
Frank Cottrell-Boyce 2 In the Forest of the Night Smile 2 95 &1000000000000001000000010 years, &1000000000000005900000059 days
Donald Cotton 2 The Myth Makers The Gunfighters 8 200 &1000000000000005900000059 years, &1000000000000006800000068 days
Neil Cross 2 The Rings of Akhaten Hide 2 90 &1000000000000001100000011 years, &10000000000000261000000261 days
Graeme Curry 1 The Happiness Patrol The Happiness Patrol 3 75 &1000000000000003600000036 years, &1000000000000005100000051 days
Richard Curtis 1 Vincent and the Doctor Vincent and the Doctor 1 45 Previously, the executive producer of Comic Relief parody, The Curse of Fatal Death &1000000000000001400000014 years, &10000000000000201000000201 days
Russell T Davies 36[nb 10][nb 11] Rose The Legend of Ruby Sunday / Empire of Death 44[nb 10] TBC Davies is the first and fourth head writer of Doctor Who since its return in 2005, having executive produced for BBC Wales and later BBC Studios Productions and Bad Wolf Productions. After Steven Moffat, he has written the second largest number of stories of televised Doctor Who, although Robert Holmes holds a comfortable lead in terms of number of episodes. Davies has the further distinction of receiving onscreen credit for writing the first episodes of Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. 2009's Planet of the Dead was co-written with Gareth Roberts, the first occasion on the show which two writers have been credited for a single script since Time and the Rani in 1987. His 2023 TV story The Star Beast was adapted from a story by Pat Mills and Dave Gibbons, namely the 1980 comic story Doctor Who and the Star Beast. &1000000000000001900000019 years, &10000000000000272000000272 days
Gerry Davis 4 The Tenth Planet Revenge of the Cybermen 12 300 Davis was the only script editor of the 1963 series to receive credit on the last episode of one Doctor and the first episode of another. He and Kit Pedler also introduced and held copyright to the Cybermen. &1000000000000005800000058 years, &1000000000000007600000076 days
Terrance Dicks 5 The War Games The Five Doctors 23 750 He received onscreen credit for co-wiring The War Games with Malcolm Hulke. However, as the longest-serving script editor, Dicks had many uncredited contributions to scripts. One of the most glaring examples of this was The Seeds of Death, whose final four episodes are mostly Dicks' own work, but for which only Hayles retains credit. Though he does have a writing credit in the Troughton era, and he is indelibly linked to the Pertwee era, the bulk of his writing credits are actually for the Fourth Doctor. Ironically, while writing for script editor Robert Holmes, he got a taste of what it was like to be on the other end of a script editor's rewrites, and chose to take his name off of The Brain of Morbius. &1000000000000005500000055 years, &10000000000000248000000248 days
Sarah Dollard 2 Face the Raven Thin Ice 2 90 &100000000000000090000009 years, &1000000000000003200000032 days
Terence Dudley 3 Four to Doomsday The King's Demons 8 200 &1000000000000004200000042 years, &10000000000000340000000340 days
David Ellis 1 The Faceless Ones The Faceless Ones 6 150 He co-wrote this story with Malcolm Hulke. &1000000000000005700000057 years, &10000000000000259000000259 days
William Emms 1 Galaxy 4 Galaxy 4 4 100 &1000000000000005900000059 years, &10000000000000103000000103 days
Paul Erickson 1 The Ark The Ark 4 100 Shares writing credit on this story with Lesley Scott, but is wholly responsible for writing the serial. &1000000000000005800000058 years, &10000000000000293000000293 days
David Fisher 4 The Stones of Blood The Leisure Hive 16 400 Also was the first writer on City of Death. Though some elements of his scripts for City survived, they were mostly abandoned when Douglas Adams and Graham Williams performed an "emergency rewrite" under the name David Agnew.[4] &1000000000000004600000046 years, &1000000000000005600000056 days
John Flanagan 1 Meglos Meglos 4 100 He co-wrote Meglos with Andrew McCulloch. &1000000000000004400000044 years, &1000000000000008700000087 days
Phil Ford 2 The Waters of Mars Into the Dalek 2 105 Co-wrote The Waters of Mars with Russell T Davies, and Into the Dalek with Steven Moffat. This list does not consider his sole writing credit on Dreamland or his work on The Adventure Games, sometimes considered genuine TV episodes. &1000000000000001500000015 years, &1000000000000003800000038 days
Neil Gaiman 2 The Doctor's Wife Nightmare in Silver 2 90 &1000000000000001300000013 years, &10000000000000223000000223 days
Stephen Gallagher 2 Warriors' Gate Terminus 8 200 &1000000000000004300000043 years, &10000000000000355000000355 days
Mark Gatiss 9 The Unquiet Dead Empress of Mars 9 405 &1000000000000001900000019 years, &10000000000000258000000258 days
Matthew Graham 3 Fear Her The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People 2 135 &1000000000000001800000018 years, &10000000000000182000000182 days
Stephen Greenhorn 2 The Lazarus Experiment The Doctor's Daughter 2 90 &1000000000000001700000017 years, &10000000000000232000000232 days
Peter Grimwade 3 Time-Flight Planet of Fire 12 300 &1000000000000004200000042 years, &10000000000000276000000276 days
Mervyn Haisman 2 The Abominable Snowmen The Web of Fear 12 300 He co-wrote all of his stories with Henry Lincoln, including The Dominators, for which they were both credited as "Norman Ashby". &1000000000000005700000057 years, &1000000000000008400000084 days
Peter Harness 3 Kill the Moon The Pyramid at the End of the World 4 140 Co-wrote The Zygon Inversion and The Pyramid at the End of the World with Steven Moffat &1000000000000001000000010 years, &1000000000000008000000080 days
"Stephen Harris" 1 Pyramids of Mars Pyramids of Mars 4 100 After Robert Holmes' rewrites, Lewis Greifer requested his name be removed from this serial. "Stephen Harris" is thus a fiction which indicates both Greifer and Holmes.[5] &1000000000000004900000049 years, &1000000000000005900000059 days
Brian Hayles 6 The Celestial Toymaker The Monster of Peladon 30 750 He co-wrote The Celestial Toymaker with Donald Tosh, and The Seeds of Death with Terrance Dicks, but neither script editor got a co-writing credit. &1000000000000005800000058 years, &10000000000000265000000265 days
Kate Herron 1 Rogue Rogue 1 45 She co-wrote Rogue with Briony Redman. &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000198000000198 days
Ed Hime 2 It Takes You Away Orphan 55 2 95 &100000000000000060000006 years, &1000000000000002100000021 days
Robert Holmes 15.5 The Krotons The Ultimate Foe 64 1660 Holmes was the most prolific writer of the classic era. Until the 21st century, no one had written more stories. As of 22 June 2024 (2024 -06-22), his episode record remains daunting, even to Russell T Davies, Steven Moffat, and Chris Chibnall, who overtook him in story numbers in 2008, 2012, and 2020. Holmes rewrote The Ark in Space, for which its original writer, John Lucarotti, was fully paid. He also based his version of The Talons of Weng-Chiang on another script for which the original writer, Robert Banks Stewart, was fully paid. Neither Lucarotti nor Banks, however, received on screen credit for their efforts. &1000000000000005500000055 years, &10000000000000361000000361 days
Don Houghton 2 Inferno The Mind of Evil 13 225 &1000000000000005400000054 years, &10000000000000228000000228 days
Malcolm Hulke 7 The Faceless Ones Invasion of the Dinosaurs 47 1350 He co-wrote The Faceless Ones with David Ellis and The War Games with Terrance Dicks. He also co-wrote, but was not credited for, The Ambassadors of Death.[6] His somewhat surprisingly large run time derives from the fact his stories averaged 6.71 episodes. &1000000000000005700000057 years, &10000000000000259000000259 days
Matthew Jacobs 1 Doctor Who Doctor Who 1 89 &1000000000000002800000028 years, &10000000000000225000000225 days[nb 12]
Charlene James 1 Can You Hear Me? Can You Hear Me? 1 49 Co-wrote Can You Hear Me? with Chris Chibnall &100000000000000040000004 years, &10000000000000318000000318 days
Elwyn Jones 1 The Highlanders The Highlanders 4 100 Though Jones did receive co-writing credit on The Highlanders, he in fact wrote very little of it. The BBC drafted him to revive Z-Cars before he could even finish a proper outline of the whole story.[7] &1000000000000005800000058 years, &100000000000000060000006 days
Glyn Jones 1 The Space Museum The Space Museum 4 100 &1000000000000005900000059 years, &10000000000000242000000242 days
Matt Jones 1 The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit 2 90 &1000000000000001800000018 years, &10000000000000203000000203 days
Malcolm Kohll 1 Delta and the Bannermen Delta and the Bannermen 3 75 &1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000005100000051 days
"Guy Leopold" 1 The Dæmons The Dæmons 5 125 "Guy Leopold" was the pseudonym of Barry Letts and Robert Sloman. "Guy" was the name of Sloman's son and "Leopold" was Letts' middle name.[8] &1000000000000005300000053 years, &10000000000000215000000215 days
Henry Lincoln 2 The Abominable Snowmen The Web of Fear 12 300 He co-wrote all of his stories with Mervyn Haisman, including The Dominators, for which they were both credited as "Norman Ashby". &1000000000000005700000057 years, &1000000000000008400000084 days
Peter Ling 1 The Mind Robber The Mind Robber 5 125 Derrick Sherwin wrote episode 1 of this story and Ling wrote episodes 2-5. Only Ling is credited for all five episodes. Sherwin received no onscreen credit for episode 1. &1000000000000005600000056 years, &10000000000000100000000100 days
John Lucarotti 3 Marco Polo The Massacre 15 375 Although Lucarotti was paid in full for writing The Ark in Space, his scripts bore only a passing resemblance to what eventual writer Robert Holmes delivered. Thus only Holmes got credit for Ark in Space. Lucarotti shared screen credit on "Bell of Doom", the final instalment of The Massacre, with Donald Tosh. &1000000000000006000000060 years, &10000000000000305000000305 days
Tom MacRae 2 Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel The Girl Who Waited 3 135 &1000000000000001800000018 years, &10000000000000224000000224 days
Louis Marks 4 Planet of Giants The Masque of Mandragora 15 375 &1000000000000006000000060 years, &1000000000000005300000053 days
Dave Martin 8 The Claws of Axos The Armageddon Factor 32 850 &1000000000000005300000053 years, &10000000000000285000000285 days
Philip Martin 2 Vengeance on Varos Mindwarp 6 190 He introduced the character of Sil. &1000000000000003900000039 years, &10000000000000339000000339 days
Jamie Mathieson 4 Mummy on the Orient Express Oxygen 4 140 Co-wrote The Girl Who Died with Steven Moffat &1000000000000001000000010 years, &1000000000000007300000073 days
Glen McCoy 1 Timelash Timelash 2 90 &1000000000000003800000038 years, &10000000000000289000000289 days
Pete McTighe 2 Kerblam! Praxeus 2 99 Co-wrote Praxeus with Chris Chibnall &100000000000000060000006 years, &1000000000000003500000035 days
Andrew McCulloch 1 Meglos Meglos 4 100 He co-wrote Meglos with John Flanagan. &1000000000000004400000044 years, &1000000000000008700000087 days
Nina Métivier 1 Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror 1 50 &100000000000000040000004 years, &10000000000000339000000339 days
Steven Moffat 41.5[nb 13][nb 14][nb 15] The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances Boom 51[nb 16] TBC Steven Moffat is the most prolific writer of Doctor Who after it was revived in 2005, overtaking Russell T Davies in both episode and story count in 2014. He was the second head writer for the revival, and was credited as executive producer for his writing contribution as part of the second Russell T Davies era. Robert Holmes still holds a comfortable lead in terms of number of episodes, though not stories. As credited, he co-wrote Into the Dalek with Phil Ford, Time Heist with Steve Thompson, The Caretaker with Gareth Roberts, The Girl Who Died with Jamie Mathieson, and The Zygon Inversion and The Pyramid at the End of the World with Peter Harness. &1000000000000001900000019 years, &10000000000000216000000216 days[nb 17]
"Paula Moore" 1 Attack of the Cybermen Attack of the Cybermen 2 90 "Paula Moore" was a pseudonym for Paula Woolsey, the ex-girlfriend of Eric Saward. It's unclear to what extent she actually participated in the writing, which seems to have been done principally by Saward. Ian Levine may have been involved as well.[9] &1000000000000003800000038 years, &10000000000000353000000353 days
James Moran 1 The Fires of Pompeii The Fires of Pompeii 1 50 To date, Moran is the only "new Who" writer other than Russell T Davies whose episode ran longer than the time slot originally agreed with the BBC. &1000000000000001600000016 years, &10000000000000255000000255 days
Rona Munro 2 Survival The Eaters of Light 4 120 &1000000000000003500000035 years, &1000000000000003100000031 days
Terry Nation 10.5 The Daleks Destiny of the Daleks 56 1400 Nation only received credit for half the episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan. &1000000000000006100000061 years, &100000000000000020000002 days
Peter R. Newman 1 The Sensorites The Sensorites 6 150 &1000000000000006000000060 years, &10000000000000186000000186 days
Simon Nye 1 Amy's Choice Amy's Choice 1 45 &1000000000000001400000014 years, &10000000000000222000000222 days
Geoffrey Orme 1 The Underwater Menace The Underwater Menace 4 100 &1000000000000005700000057 years, &10000000000000341000000341 days
Vinay Patel 2 Demons of the Punjab Fugitive of the Judoon 2 101 Co-wrote Fugitive of the Judoon with Chris Chibnall &100000000000000060000006 years, &1000000000000004200000042 days
Kit Pedler 3 The Tenth Planet The Tomb of the Cybermen 12 100 Kit (Kitt) Pedler is something of an exception amongst original series writers. He was only given formal scriptwriting credit for three stories. However he does receive formal story credit for three more stories. Despite IMDb erroneously giving "Norman Ashby" a "story" credit for episode 5 of The Dominators, as of 22 June 2024 (2024 -06-22) the only other such example in either the original era or after the show's revival is writer Pat Mills and artist Dave Gibbons, whose comic story Doctor Who and the Star Beast was adapted into Russell T Davies' episode The Star Beast. &1000000000000005800000058 years, &1000000000000007600000076 days
Victor Pemberton 1 Fury from the Deep Fury from the Deep 6 150 &1000000000000005600000056 years, &10000000000000282000000282 days
Marc Platt 1 Ghost Light Ghost Light 3 75 Platt wrote the final story produced in the original Doctor Who series. He was given special thanks on Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel, presumably for some ideas common to his Big Finish audio, Spare Parts. &1000000000000003500000035 years, &1000000000000005900000059 days
Eric Pringle 1 The Awakening The Awakening 2 50 &1000000000000004000000040 years, &10000000000000339000000339 days
Helen Raynor 2 Daleks in Manhattan/ Evolution of the Daleks The Sontaran Stratagem/ The Poison Sky 4 180 &1000000000000001700000017 years, &10000000000000246000000246 days
Anthony Read 1 The Horns of Nimon The Horns of Nimon 4 100 He also co-wrote The Invasion of Time with Graham Williams under the name David Agnew. &1000000000000004500000045 years, &100000000000000010000001 day
Briony Redman 1 Rogue Rogue 1 45 She co-wrote Rogue with Kate Herron. &100000000000000000000000 years, &10000000000000198000000198 days
Ella Road 1 Legend of the Sea Devils Legend of the Sea Devils 1 50 Her sole story as of 22 June 2024 (2024 -06-22), Legend of the Sea Devils, was co-written with Chris Chibnall &100000000000000020000002 years, &10000000000000250000000250 days
Gareth Roberts 6 The Shakespeare Code The Caretaker 6 285 Co-wrote Planet of the Dead with Russell T Davies and The Caretaker with Steven Moffat. His first writer's credit that was produced by BBC Wales was actually Attack of the Graske, but Graske is not counted in this list. &1000000000000001700000017 years, &10000000000000250000000250 days
Eric Saward 4 The Visitation Revelation of the Daleks 12 380 Saward's name appears on the credits of only four stories. Two of these stories, Revelation and Resurrection of the Daleks were originally broadcast as two, 45-minute episodes. This means he received on-screen writer's credit on twelve episodes. Nevertheless, strong evidence exists that he wrote, but did not receive credit for, Attack of the Cybermen.[9] Most recently on the DVD release of Trial of a Time Lord, he also claims to have mostly written part 13 of that story, as well as several courtroom scenes for all four serials in the arc. &1000000000000004200000042 years, &10000000000000312000000312 days
Lesley Scott 1 The Ark The Ark 4 100 Shares writing credit on this story with Paul Erickson. She was the first woman to be credited as a writer on a Doctor Who story, although she did not actually write any portion of the script. &1000000000000005800000058 years, &10000000000000293000000293 days
Robert Shearman 1 Dalek Dalek 1 45 &1000000000000001900000019 years, &10000000000000237000000237 days
Derrick Sherwin 1 The Invasion The Invasion 8 200 Out of necessity to stretch a four-part story into five, he wrote the first episode of The Mind Robber, although Peter Ling got screen credit for all five episodes. He then co-wrote The Invasion with Kit Pedler. &1000000000000005600000056 years, &1000000000000005100000051 days
Robert Sloman 3 The Time Monster Planet of the Spiders 18 450 He co-wrote all of his stories with Barry Letts, whose main job as producer prevented him from receiving any on-screen writing credit. The two also collaborated on The Dæmons, where their efforts were credited to "Guy Leopold". &1000000000000005200000052 years, &10000000000000217000000217 days
Andrew Smith 1 Full Circle Full Circle 4 100 Smith remains the youngest writer ever for Doctor Who. He was 18 when Full Circle was produced. &1000000000000004400000044 years, &1000000000000005900000059 days
Dennis Spooner 3.5 The Reign of Terror The Daleks' Master Plan 20 500 Spooner was the programme's second script editor. He was solely credited on half the episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan, which is why he gets credit for half a story. Spooner's work on The Power of the Daleks went uncredited, although he is often cited as a co-writer. &1000000000000006000000060 years, &10000000000000137000000137 days
Anthony Steven 1 The Twin Dilemma The Twin Dilemma 4 100 &1000000000000004000000040 years, &10000000000000276000000276 days
Robert Banks Stewart 2 Terror of the Zygons The Seeds of Doom 10 250 Stewart's work on The Talons of Weng-Chiang went uncredited, because he didn't get much beyond an outline before he resigned the commission.[10] &1000000000000004900000049 years, &10000000000000248000000248 days
Bill Strutton 1 The Web Planet The Web Planet 6 150 &1000000000000005900000059 years, &10000000000000314000000314 days
Keith Temple 1 Planet of the Ood Planet of the Ood 1 45 &1000000000000001600000016 years, &10000000000000248000000248 days
Steve Thompson 3 The Curse of the Black Spot Time Heist 3 135 Co-wrote Time Heist with Steven Moffat &1000000000000001300000013 years, &10000000000000230000000230 days
Donald Tosh .25 The Massacre The Massacre 1 25 Script editor Donald Tosh only received credit for "Bell of Doom", the last episode of The Massacre. With Brian Hayles, he co-wrote, but did not receive credit for, The Celestial Toymaker. He therefore holds the record for the shortest run time credited to a writer. &1000000000000005800000058 years, &10000000000000244000000244 days
Catherine Tregenna 1 The Woman Who Lived The Woman Who Lived 1 45 &100000000000000090000009 years, &1000000000000006000000060 days
Joy Wilkinson 1 The Witchfinders The Witchfinders 1 46 &100000000000000060000006 years, &1000000000000002800000028 days
David Whitaker 8 The Edge of Destruction The Ambassadors of Death 40 950 Whitaker was the programme's first script/story editor. Aside from the authors of The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors, he is the only person to be credited with writing at least one story featuring each of the first three Doctors. The writing of his final adventure, The Ambassadors of Death, was particularly precarious. Both Malcolm Hulke and Trevor Ray were required, uncredited, to get a final set of scripts completed.[6] &1000000000000006000000060 years, &10000000000000319000000319 days
Toby Whithouse 6 School Reunion The Lie of the Land 7 315 &1000000000000001800000018 years, &10000000000000238000000238 days
Stephen Wyatt 2 Paradise Towers The Greatest Show in the Galaxy 8 200 &1000000000000003700000037 years, &1000000000000007900000079 days

Notes

Footnotes

  1. ↑ On mobile Fandom, sorting functionality is disabled.
  2. ↑ A "writer" is defined by this list as the person or persons who received onscreen credit for writing the script. Note that this can include pseudonyms but exclude the actual person or persons known to be indicated by the pseudonym. Pseudonyms are indicated by the use of quotation marks around the name. This column sorts by the last name of the individual. It does not include such credits as: "based on an idea by", "story by", "from a story by", and other such creative credits that fall short of a scriptwriting credit.
  3. ↑ A "story" is a grouping of one of more episodes that form a single narrative. It is not to be confused with a story arc. In the 1963 version of the programme, a "story" was a single serial, which might have comprised anywhere from one to twelve episodes, although the most common number was four. Since the 1996 telemovie, most stories have been a single episode in length. Where multi-part stories have been produced by the BBC, the titles to both parts are given so as to indicate the entirety of the story. Episodes of unusually short duration produced by BBC Wales, BBC Studios, and/or Bad Wolf Productions, such as Time Crash, are considered to be single stories, for the purpose of this column. Writers may be credited with a fraction of a story if their name appears on only some of the episodes within a single story.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 This column sorted by the first word in the title which is not an article.
  5. ↑ An episode is considered to have whatever length it had on first broadcast on BBC One. For the purposes of this column, certain stories, like Resurrection of the Daleks and The Five Doctors have two parts and one part, respectively — even though these stories are often presented as four-parters. The following things are deemed to be single episodes: the 1996 telemovie, Born Again, Time Crash, Music of the Spheres, and any other future non-parodic live-action "mini-episodes" produced by BBC Wales, BBC Studios, and/or Bad Wolf. Time, Space, and Destination: Skaro are considered one story. Prequels and the exclusive-to-home-video sketches included with the series 5 and series 6 box sets are considered part of other stories within those series, and are therefore not counted separately. Animated episodes are specifically excluded from this list, as is Dimensions in Time.
  6. ↑ "Run time" refers to the total amount, in minutes, of Doctor Who material contributed by the writer in question. Due to the differing format of episodes through the years, run time gives a better basis of comparison between writers than episode count. Though out of date as of October 2018 the math used for this column assumes a 25-minute run time for most episodes of "old Who" and 45 minutes for each episode of "new Who". Exceptions, such as the episodes of Colin Baker's first full season, part 14 of The Trial of a Time Lord and Journey's End shall be factored in based on their actual run time. As in the rest of the table, the format seen in the original broadcast on BBC One shall take precedence over later formats of the same story.
  7. ↑ "Since first episode" calculates the amount of elapsed time between today and the date of the original broadcast of the first episode for which a writer received on-screen credit. This is not the same as when their involvement with the programme may have begun — a figure that would be much more speculative. Nevertheless, it is a useful tool for broadly sorting the writers chronologically, especially for those users not intimately familiar with Doctor Who history.
  8. ↑ As the co-writer of one of Flux's six episodes, she is counted as writing one-sixth of that story.
  9. ↑ This wiki considers Flux to be a single story.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 As of 22 June 2024 (2024 -06-22)
  11. ↑ This wiki considers Utopia, The Sound of Drums, and Last of the Time Lords to be a single story.
  12. ↑ Date given for this writer's debut in main table is based upon the first showing of the 1996 telemovie in the United States. Time elapsed since first airing on BBC One: &1000000000000002800000028 years, &10000000000000210000000210 days.
  13. ↑ Moffat is credited on the second part of the two-parter The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion only.
  14. ↑ Includes mini-episodes Time Crash and The Night of the Doctor. If 1999's The Curse of Fatal Death is counted as well, then that makes 42.5.
  15. ↑ This wiki considers A Good Man Goes to War, Let's Kill Hitler, Heaven Sent, Hell Bent, the "Monks trilogy", and Twice Upon a Time to be single parters.
  16. ↑ Includes mini-episodes Time Crash and The Night of the Doctor. If 1999's The Curse of Fatal Death is counted as well, then that makes 55.
  17. ↑ Time elapsed since first broadcast of BBC-produced comedic story, The Curse of Fatal Death: &1000000000000002500000025 years, &10000000000000286000000286 days.

Citations

  1. ↑ Profile of The Invasion of Time. Retrieved on 2009-03-01.
  2. ↑ Profile of The Brain of Morbius. Retrieved on 2009-03-01.
  3. ↑ An Unearthly Child: contemporary internal BBC memos. Retrieved on 2009-03-01.
  4. ↑ Profile of City of Death. Retrieved on 2009-03-02.
  5. ↑ Profile of Pyramids of Mars. Retrieved on 2009-03-01.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Profile of The Ambassadors of Death. Retrieved on 2009-03-02.
  7. ↑ Profile of The Highlanders. Retrieved on 2009-03-02.
  8. ↑ Profile of The Dæmons. Retrieved on 2009-03-01.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Profile of Attack of the Cybermen. Retrieved on 2009-02-28.
  10. ↑ Profile of The Talons of Weng-Chiang. Retrieved on 2009-03-02.
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