David Fisher (13 April 1929 – 10 January 2018) was a British television screenwriter.[1][2] He is best known for writing four Doctor Who serials when it starred Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.[3]
Career
editDoctor Who script editor Anthony Read commissioned Fisher to write The Stones of Blood (1978) and The Androids of Tara (1978) for The Key to Time storyline of season 16, and he was subsequently commissioned to write The Creature from the Pit (1979) for the seventeenth season during the tenure of Douglas Adams as script editor. He worked on a story called "A Gamble with Time", also for the seventeenth season, but owing to the divorce proceedings ending his first marriage, he was unable to finish the scripts. That story was reworked and completed by Douglas Adams and then-producer Graham Williams, and was recorded and broadcast as City of Death (1979) under the pseudonym of David Agnew.[4] His final Doctor Who story was season eighteen's The Leisure Hive (1980).[5]
Fisher novelised both The Leisure Hive and Creature from the Pit[6] for the Target book range of Doctor Who novelisations, and appeared extensively on the interview features accompanying the DVD release of the former story. Fisher also wrote novelisations of The Stones of Blood and The Androids of Tara for audiobook releases in 2011 and 2012, which received print editions in 2022. He was also interviewed for a documentary accompanying the DVD release of City of Death.[citation needed]
Fisher's other work included writing for the television series Dixon of Dock Green, Crown Court, and Hammer House of Horror.[7]
Non-fiction
editIn the late 1980s and 1990s, he often collaborated with Anthony Read on non-fiction history in print, largely related to the Second World War.[6]
Death
editFisher died on 10 January 2018, aged 88, in Norfolk, England.[where?][8]
References
edit- ^ "David Fisher". Fantasticfiction.co.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
- ^ "Authors : Fisher, David : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia". Sf-encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
- ^ "David Fisher". BAFTA. 17 April 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
- ^ Martin, Dan (11 July 2013). "City of Death: Doctor Who classic episode #10". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
- ^ Mulkern, Patrick. "The Leisure Hive ★★★★★". Radio Times. Retrieved 22 November 2023.
- ^ a b "David Fisher profile". Target Books/University of Leeds. Archived from the original on 23 December 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
- ^ LEGGETT, VICTORIA. "Growing interest in Dereham man's Doctor Who stories". Edp24.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
- ^ "David Fisher 1929-2018". Doctor Who News. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
External links
edit- David Fisher at IMDb
- Biography of David Fisher at On Target
- Work review on Amazon.com
 | This article about a science fiction writer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
  | This article about a writer or poet from the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |