Terrance Dicks (born 10 May 1935) is an English writer and former script editor, best known for his work in television and as the author of many popular children's books during the 1970s and 1980s.His best known association during his television career was with Doctor Who, working as a writer and - from 1968 to 1974 - the programme's script editor. He also adapted many of the televised stories into novelisations for Target Books.
I always used to say, Barry (Barry Letts) took over as producer, I took over as script editor, Jon Pertwee became the Doctor and the show went into colour. Modesty forbids me to say which is the most important. In fact, all these things came together.
2
[on the final years of Doctor Who (1963)] There was a decline without a doubt. I think the people working on it, particularly John Nathan-Turner, were not fit for purpose, as it were. Colin Baker, for example, never got a chance with that silly costume, which I thought was a great shame. I was sorry but I wasn't surprised when they took it off.
Never let the actors get above themselves. The idea of a Pertwee (Jon Pertwee) or a Tom Baker directing a Doctor Who (1963) would strike terror in us. You must never let the inmates run the asylum.
5
It turned out I had a ghastly talent for doing soap operas! Soap opera is fun, it's innocuous entertainment, but it's fat really. What's astonishing and I guess a part of worldwide 'dumbing down' is the way it's taken over the television schedule in Britain. Five of the top shows are now soap operas. Crossroads (1964) was unique because it was the first soap opera. It was never very good. It was very cheap but people loved soap opera. And the company that produced it hated it and wanted to get rid of it but it kept coming to the top of the ratings every week. In those days, the BBC would never have done a soap opera, it was like pornography, and now they live on EastEnders (1985). I have a saying that 'all drama tends inexorably to soap opera'. There are disguised soap operas all over television.
6
I'm no great believer in rewrites anyway. During my time there was a program called "The Ambassadors of Death", which David Whitaker - a very good writer - had done four or five rewrites and the show wasn't getting better, it was getting worse. You know the kind of Hollywood type thing where you have several writers and seventeen drafts and it's all crap. I've always felt that in an efficient operation, you do two drafts. You write your first draft and the script editor and the producer and maybe the director comment on it and you go and write your second draft and that should do as a writer.
7
I always used to say about Mary Whitehouse, if there's one thing she hated more than sex, it was Doctor Who (1963).
8
I always said Bill Hartnell (William Hartnell) played him (Doctor Who (1963)) as a grumpy old man because he was a grumpy old man.
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Fact
1
He was a very good friend of writer Malcolm Hulke, who helped him start his own career as a writer. He has called Hulke his mentor in the business and later commissioned several scripts from him during his time as script editor of Doctor Who (1963).
2
In the mid 1990s a parody Doctor Who fanzine called 'Auton' printed a telephone conversation with Dicks in which they pretended to represent a group of fans presenting him with an award for being a "Criminally Underrated National Treasure". The humor, for those who fail to spot it, lies in the initials of the award's name.
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Pickwick Papers
1985
TV Series script editor - 12 episodes
The Invisible Man
1984
TV Mini-Series script editor - 6 episodes
Goodbye Mr. Chips
1984
TV Mini-Series script editor - 6 episodes
Jane Eyre
1983
TV Mini-Series script editor - 2 episodes
Dombey & Son
1983
TV Mini-Series script editor - 1 episode
The Hound of the Baskervilles
1982
TV Mini-Series script editor - 4 episodes
Stalky & Co.
1982
TV Mini-Series script editor - 6 episodes
Great Expectations
1981
TV Mini-Series script editor - 12 episodes
The Lively Arts
1977
TV Series documentary consultant - 1 episode
Doctor Who
1968-1974
TV Series script editor - 156 episodes
Moonbase 3
1973
TV Mini-Series script editor - 6 episodes
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Doctor Who
2013-2015
TV Series characters: "Sisterhood of Karn" - 4 episodes
Mindgame Trilogy
1999
Video segment "Battlefield"
Mindgame
1998
Video short
Shakedown: Return of the Sontarans
1994
Video
Doctor Who
TV Series 6 episodes, 1969 written by - 16 episodes, 1968 - 1975 by - 13 episodes, 1976 - 1983
Beau Geste
1982
TV Mini-Series scenario editor - 8 episodes
Space: 1999
1976
TV Series writer - 1 episode
Moonbase 3
1973
TV Mini-Series writer - 1 episode
The Avengers
TV Series teleplay - 3 episodes, 1962 - 1969 written by - 1 episode, 1964
Crossroads
1964
TV Series
Producer
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Franchise Affair
1988
TV Series producer - 6 episodes
Vanity Fair
1987
TV Series producer - 16 episodes
The Diary of Anne Frank
1987
TV Series producer - 4 episodes
David Copperfield
1986
TV Mini-Series producer - 10 episodes
Brat Farrar
1986
TV Mini-Series producer - 6 episodes
Alice in Wonderland
1986
TV Series producer - 4 episodes
Oliver Twist
1985
TV Mini-Series producer - 1 episode
Editorial Department
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Prisoner of Zenda
1984
TV Mini-Series script editing - 6 episodes
Actor
Title
Year
Status
Character
Doctor Who
1970
TV Series
Man
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Doctor Who: The Fan Show
2016
TV Series documentary
Himself
The BBC1 Classics Serial (1981-8)
2015
Video short
Himself
William Hartnell: The Original
2013
TV Short documentary
Himself
The U.N.I.T Family: Part Three
2013
Video documentary short
Himself
Mars Probe 7: Making the Ambassadors of Death
2012
Video documentary short
Himself
Second Time Around: The Troughton Years
2012
Video documentary
Himself
Happy Birthday to Who
2012
Video documentary short
Himself
People Power and Puppetry
2011
Video documentary short
Himself - Interviewee
Remembering Barry Letts
2011
Video documentary short
Himself - Interviewee
The U.N.I.T Dating Conundrum
2011
Video documentary short
Himself
The U.N.I.T Family: Part Two
2011
Video documentary short
Himself
Down to Earth: Filming Spearhead from Space
2011
Video documentary short
Himself - Script Editor
Newsnight
2010
TV Series
Himself
War Zone: The End of an Era
2009
Video documentary short
Himself
Getting a Head
2008
Video documentary short
Himself
The Rise and Fall of Gallifrey
2008
Video documentary short
Himself
Celebration
2008
Video documentary
Himself
Going Underground
2008
Video documentary short
Himself
Hello Sailor!: Making the Sea Devils
2008
Video documentary short
Himself - Script Editor
What Lies Beneath
2008
Video documentary short
Himself
Hammer Horror
2007
Video documentary short
Himself
Rogue Time Lords
2007
Video documentary short
Himself
Terror Nation: Terry Nation and Doctor Who
2007
Video documentary short
Himself
Beginning the End: Making 'The Time Warrior'
2007
Video documentary short
Himself
Are Friends Electric
2007
Video documentary short
Himself
Built for War
2006
Video documentary short
Himself
Evolution of the Invasion
2006
Video documentary
Himself
Changing Time: Living and Leaving Doctor Who
2006
Video documentary
Himself
Can You Hear the Earth Scream
2006
Video documentary short
Himself
The U.N.I.T Family: Part One
2006
Video documentary short
Himself
Genesis of a Classic
2006
Video documentary
Himself
The Dalek Tapes
2006
Video documentary
Himself
Terrance Dicks: Fact & Fiction
2005
Video documentary short
Himself
The Planet of the Doctor
2005
Documentary
Himself
The Story of 'Doctor Who'
2003
TV Movie documentary
Himself
Behind the Sofa: Robert Holmes and Doctor Who
2003
Video documentary
Himself
Carnival of Monsters
1999
TV Special
Himself
Adventures in Space and Time
1999
TV Special documentary short
Himself
Lust in Space
1998
Video
Himself
Where on Earth Is... Katy Manning Because She'd Really Like to Know!
1998
Video documentary
Himself
Myth Makers: Roger Delgado - A Tribute
1997
Video documentary short
Himself
The Big Breakfast
1994
TV Series
Himself
Doctor Who: 30 Years in the Tardis
1993
TV Movie documentary
Himself
The Media Show
1987
TV Series
Himself
The Lively Arts
1977
TV Series documentary
Himself
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1988
ACE
CableACE Awards
Children's Entertainment Special or Series - 9 and Older