Gerry Davis (screenwriter)

Gerry Davis
Born
Gerald Davis

(1930-02-23)23 February 1930
Died31 August 1991(1991-08-31) (aged 61)
Venice, California, U.S.
OccupationWriter

Gerald Davis (23 February 1930 – 31 August 1991)[1] was a British television writer, best known for his contributions to the science-fiction genre. He also wrote for the soap operas Coronation Street and United!.

Career

Doctor Who

From 1966 until the following year, Davis was the story editor of the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who,[2] for which he created the character Jamie McCrimmon and co-created the popular cybernetic monsters known as the Cybermen, who continue to make appearances in the show, having been revived in the new run. His fellow co-creator of these creatures was the programme's unofficial scientific adviser, Dr. Kit Pedler.[3]

Davis briefly returned to writing Doctor Who in 1975, penning the original script for Revenge of the Cybermen,[4] though the transmitted version was heavily rewritten by then script-editor Robert Holmes.[5] Davis also adapted several of his scripts into novelisations for Target Books' Doctor Who range.

Doomwatch

Following their work on Doctor Who, Davis and Pedler teamed up in 1970 to create the science-fiction programme Doomwatch.[6] Doomwatch ran for three seasons on BBC1 from 1970 to 1972 and spawned a novel written by Davis and Pedler,[7] a subsequent cinema film[8] and a 1999 revival on Channel 5.[9]

With Pedler he wrote the science-fiction novels Mutant 59: The Plastic Eater (1971), expanded from their script for the first episode of Doomwatch; Brainrack (1974); and The Dynostar Menace (1975).[10]

Later work

In the 1980s Davis worked in America both in television and on feature films such as The Final Countdown (1980).[11] In late 1989 he and Terry Nation made a joint but unsuccessful bid to take over production of Doctor Who and reformat the series mainly for the American market.

Death

Davis died on 31 August 1991.[12]

Writing credits

Production Notes Broadcaster
Coronation Street
  • Unknown episodes (1960)
 ITV
199 Park Lane
  • Unknown episodes (1965)
 BBC One
United!
  • Unknown episodes (1965)
 BBC One
Doctor Who

11 episodes (1966-1967, 1975):

BBC One
The First Lady
  • "Past Indefinite" (1968)
  • "Print and Be Damned" (1968)
 BBC One
Doomwatch
  • 24 episodes (co-written with Kit Pedler, 1970–1971)
 BBC One
Anything Can Happen
  • Documentary short (1973)
 N/A
Vega$
  • "Demand and Supply" (1979)
  • "Red Handed" (1979)
 ABC
The Final Countdown N/A
The Hitchhiker
  • "Pawns" (1989)
 USA Network

References

  1. ^ "SFE: Davis, Gerry".
  2. ^ "HIGHLAND FLING | Doctor Who Magazine The Essential Doctor Who: Adventures in History | Pocketmags.com".
  3. ^ "Gerry Davis".
  4. ^ "Gerry Davis".
  5. ^ "Interview - Gerry Davis | DWAS Online".
  6. ^ "Simon Oates: Actor who starred as the scientist Dr John Ridge in". Independent.co.uk. 23 October 2011.
  7. ^ Pedler, Kit; Davis, Gerry (1975). Doomwatch: The World in Danger - Kit Pedler, Gerry Davis - Google Books. Longman. ISBN 9780582538238.
  8. ^ "Doomwatch (1972) - IMDb". IMDb.
  9. ^ Mount, Paul. "Doomwatch Arrives on DVD". Starburst. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  10. ^ The Oikofuge - Kit Pedler & Gerry Davis: Three Novels
  11. ^ "The Final Countdown - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. 6 April 2004.
  12. ^ "Gerry Davis - the Doctor Who Cuttings Archive".
Preceded by Doctor Who Script Editor
1966–67 		Succeeded by