David Whitaker
David Whitaker played a huge part in the early years of Doctor Who. He was the show’s first story editor and wrote several adventures for the first three Doctors. He also novelised several scripts and co-wrote the 1965 stage play, The Curse of the Daleks.
Born in Knebworth in 1928, Whitaker’s early career involved stints as a writer, actor and director with the York Repertory Group. One of his early plays for the company, ‘A Choice of Partners’, attracted the attention of the BBC’s script department and he ended up working on a number of BBC dramas including Garry Halliday (1962) and the long-running Compact (1962).
David Whitaker was Doctor Who’s first story editor, a role very similar to today’s script editors. In this capacity he became instrumental in taking the ideas of BBC high-ups like Head of Drama Sydney Newman and moulding them into workable scripts. As such, he worked closely with Anthony Coburn on the series’ opening adventure, An Unearthly Child and Terry Nation on the second story which introduced the Daleks. He wrote the third adventure, The Edge of Destruction and later penned The Rescue, the first adventure to introduce a new companion since the show’s debut episode.
His later scripts included the Second Doctor’s first adventure, The Power of the Daleks, a crucially important story where for the first time ever, viewers were confronted by a Doctor who was someone other than the familiar William Hartnell. He also wrote The Wheel in Space (which introduced companion Zoe) and the Daleks’ final story of the 60s, The Evil of the Daleks. This classic 7-parter has been praised by current Executive Producer and Lead Writer Steven Moffat who revealed it was one of his favourite stories. ‘In Evil of the Daleks you got to see a Dalek in a Victorian house. Yowzer! That’s just brilliant! They just looked amazing! You just thought wow! They can get anywhere!’
Whitaker also wrote the very first Doctor Who novelisation – Doctor Who in an Exciting Adventure with the Daleks. First published in November 1964, the book fused elements of An Unearthly Child and The Daleks and proved a surprisingly serious take on the Time Lord’s early adventures. ‘The story from the beginning!’ the book’s blurb shouted. ‘Here is the exciting adventure of Dr. Who, Susan, Barbara, Ian, from the moment they meet one foggy autumn night on a lonely common beside a Police Box (Ah, but what a curious Police Box!) to the time they encounter the weird Daleks.’
Whitaker relinquished his story editing duties after The Dalek Invasion of Earth (December, 1964) but his last script for the show came six years later with The Ambassadors of Death (1970). Whitaker’s belief in Doctor Who and his refusal to send up the genre were key in establishing the series in its early years. His writing was always intelligent and interesting, whether having the Doctor and his companions turning on each other (The Edge of Destruction) or plunging the Daleks into an apocalyptic civil war (The Evil of the Daleks).
Away from the world of Doctor Who he wrote for many TV productions, including Public Eye (1968), Paul Temple (1970) and Homicide (1972). David Whitaker died in February, 1980. He was only 51 years old.
David Whitaker (1928 -1980)
