List of Doctor Who writers

This is a list of screenwriters for the science fiction television series, Doctor Who. It is sortable by a number of different criteria.[1] The list defaults to ascending alphabetical order by writer's last name.

A "writer of Doctor Who" is defined as a person who received onscreen credit for a live action, non-parodic story. E.g. Terrance Dicks wrote four of the six episodes of The Seeds of Death in reality, but since Brian Hayles is the only name to appear on screen he receives the credit. The notes shed light on the work writers actually did on particular stories.

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 current through to Series 11.

Writer[2] Number of Stories[3] First Story[4] Last/Latest Story[4]Number of episodes[5] Run Time[6] Notes Since first episode's broadcast date[7]
Ben Aaronovitch 2 Remembrance of the Daleks Battlefield 8 200 32 years, 107 days
Douglas Adams 1 The Pirate Planet The Pirate Planet 4 100 Though only one story was ever broadcast offering Adams a writing credit, his influence was much greater. Had there not been a strike, he would have received another serial, Shada, to his name. Also, he had significant behind-the-scenes impact on a number of scripts. He co-wrote City of Death with David Fisher and Graham Williams under the name David Agnew. Additionally, Ken Grieve, director of Destiny of the Daleks, has claimed on the DVD commentary that Adams wrote "98% of" that script. 42 years, 112 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. 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. 42 years, 351 days
Maxine Alderton 1 The Haunting of Villa Diodati The Haunting of Villa Diodati 1 50 339 days
"Norman Ashby" 1 The Dominators The Dominators 5 125 "Norman Ashby" was the pseudonym for the writing team of Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln. It was used in protest both of the changes Derrick Sherwin and Terrance Dicks made to their scripts, and to ways in which the duo felt the BBC had begun to violate their copyright on the Quarks before the episodes had even been broadcast. 52 years, 163 days
Christopher Bailey 2 Kinda Snakedance 8 200 He wrote an outline for a story called Manwatch. This story would have been the third instalment in the Mara trilogy, but it was never produced. 38 years, 354 days
Bob Baker 9 The Claws of Axos Nightmare of Eden 36 950 He co-wrote all but one story (Nightmare of Eden) with Dave Martin, including The Three Doctors, which marked Doctor Who's Tenth Anniversary. 49 years, 313 days
Pip and Jane Baker 3.5 The Mark of the Rani Time and the Rani 11 315 They created and co-own (along with the BBC) the character of the Rani. 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". 35 years, 353 days
Mike Bartlett 1 "Knock Knock" "Knock Knock" 1 45 3 years, 259 days
Christopher H. Bidmead 3 Logopolis Frontios 12 300 Bidmead was the original script editor for producer John Nathan-Turner, and the last for actor Tom Baker. 39 years, 327 days
Ian Stuart Black 3 The Savages The Macra Terror 12 300 54 years, 237 days
Malorie Blackman 1 "Rosa" "Rosa" 1 50 2 years, 91 days
"Robin Bland" 1 The Brain of Morbius The Brain of Morbius 4 100 "Robin Bland" is the pseudonym created by Robert Holmes when Terrance Dicks decided to take his name off this serial. Holmes had rewritten the scripts severely, turning the story into something which strongly displeased Dicks. The name thus represents both Dicks and Holmes. 45 years, 17 days
Chris Boucher 3 The Face of Evil Image of the Fendahl 12 300 Boucher wrote a full third of the scripts involving Leela, including her introduction. Despite writing three stories, he never wrote for any other team-up but the Fourth Doctor and Leela. 44 years, 19 days
Ian Briggs 2 Dragonfire The Curse of Fenric 7 175 33 years, 58 days
Johnny Byrne 3 The Keeper of Traken Warriors of the Deep 12 300 He received royalties from Season 18 to Season 21 for the use of his character Nyssa in most of the stories of those seasons. 39 years, 355 days
Chris Chibnall 16 "42" "Ascension of the Cybermen" / "The Timeless Children" 19 990 Chibnall was the head writer for the first two series of Torchwood. His script for 42 was the first Doctor Who story written to reflect real time. He also replaced Steven Moffat as the head writer of Doctor Who in 2017 after the television story Twice Upon a Time 13 years, 246 days
Kevin Clarke 1 Silver Nemesis Silver Nemesis 3 75 32 years, 58 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. 37 years, 325 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,[8] 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, as his original brief was to write one of the middle serials of the first season. When his script was suddenly moved to the start of the season, his original first part was mostly replaced by C. E. Webber's script for the pilot episode. Coburn quickly provided the production staff with another set of scripts called The Masters of Luxor, which would have originally followed An Unearthly Child. Due to a poor working relationship with producer Verity Lambert and script editor David Whitaker, however, Luxor was ultimately not accepted, and Coburn never again wrote for Doctor Who. 57 years, 58 days
Paul Cornell 2 "Father's Day" "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood" 3 135 "Human Nature"/"The Family of Blood" was adapted from his 1995 Doctor Who novel Human Nature (co-plotted with Kate Orman). 15 years, 251 days
Donald Cotton 2 The Myth Makers The Gunfighters 8 200 55 years, 96 days
Frank Cottrell-Boyce 2 "In the Forest of the Night" "Smile" 2 90 6 years, 87 days
Neil Cross 2 "The Rings of Akhaten" "Hide" 2 90 7 years, 289 days
Graeme Curry 1 The Happiness Patrol The Happiness Patrol 3 75 32 years, 79 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 10 years, 229 days
Russell T Davies 25 "Rose" "The End of Time" 32 1593 Davies is the original head writer and showrunner of the BBC Wales version of Doctor Who. Davies has the distinction of receiving onscreen credit for writing the first episodes of Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. "Planet of the Dead" was co-written with Gareth Roberts, the first occasion on which two writers have been credited for a single script since the programme returned in 2005. 15 years, 300 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. 54 years, 104 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"'. 51 years, 276 days
Sarah Dollard 2 "Face the Raven" "Thin Ice" 2 90 5 years, 60 days
Terence Dudley 3 Four to Doomsday The King's Demons 8 200 39 years, 2 days
David Ellis 1 The Faceless Ones The Faceless Ones 6 150 He co-wrote this story with Malcolm Hulke. 53 years, 287 days
William Emms 1 Galaxy 4 Galaxy 4 4 100 55 years, 131 days
Paul Erickson 1 The Ark The Ark 4 100 Shares writing credit on this story with Lesley Scott. 54 years, 321 days
David Fisher 4 The Stones of Blood The Leisure Hive 16 400 David Fisher was brought into Doctor Who by longtime pal, Anthony Read. He wrote a third of the Key to Time story arc and then delivered three sets of scripts the following year. Of these, the only ones that gave the production staff major problems were those for what would become 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. 42 years, 84 days
John Flanagan 1 Meglos Meglos 4 100 He co-wrote Meglos with Andrew McCulloch. 40 years, 115 days
Phil Ford 2 "The Waters of Mars" "Into the Dalek" 2 105 Phil Ford was the head writer of series 2 of The Sarah Jane Adventures 11 years, 66 days
Neil Gaiman 2 "The Doctor's Wife" "Nightmare in Silver" 2 90 This episode was originally intended as part of Series 5, but was put back due to budget issues. 9 years, 251 days
Stephen Gallagher 2 Warriors' Gate Terminus 8 200 40 years, 17 days
Mark Gatiss 9 "The Unquiet Dead" "Empress of Mars" 9 405 He is one of only a select few writers (Derrick Sherwin and Victor Pemberton being among the others) to also have an acting credit in a Doctor Who story. He is one of only two writers (the other being Steven Moffat) to have written for the first four Doctors of the revived series. 15 years, 286 days
Matthew Graham 2 "Fear Her" "The Rebel Flesh" / "The Almost People" 3 135 Graham was a co-creator and show runner of Life on Mars, another major BBC Wales show being produced simultaneously with Doctor Who. 14 years, 210 days
Stephen Greenhorn 2 "The Lazarus Experiment" "The Doctor's Daughter" 2 90 13 years, 260 days
Peter Grimwade 3 Time-Flight Planet of Fire 12 300 38 years, 304 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 Asbhy". 53 years, 112 days
Peter Harness 3 "Kill the Moon" "The Pyramid at the End of the World" 4 185 6 years, 108 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. 45 years, 87 days
Brian Hayles 6 The Celestial Toymaker The Monster of Peladon 30 750 Hayles wrote every story featuring the Ice Warriors. 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. 54 years, 293 days
Ed Hime 2 "It Takes You Away" "Orphan 55" 2 100 2 years, 49 days
Robert Holmes 15.5 The Krotons The Ultimate Foe 64 1660 Bob Holmes was the most prolific writer of the classic era. Holmes co-wrote The Ark in Space with John Lucarotti. He also co-wrote The Talons of Weng-Chiang with Robert Banks Stewart. Neither, however, received on screen credit for their efforts. 52 years, 23 days
Don Houghton 2 Inferno The Mind of Evil 13 325 50 years, 256 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.[9] His somewhat surprisingly large run time derives from the fact his stories averaged 6.71 episodes. 53 years, 287 days
Matthew Jacobs 1 Doctor Who Doctor Who 1 89 Contrary to popular belief, the "American" version of Doctor Who was in fact written by a British screenwriter. Jacobs' script was the last to feature the Seventh Doctor and the first story to feature the Eighth Doctor. He is the only Doctor Who writer to also write for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises. 24 years, 253 days[10]
Charlene James 1 Can You Hear Me? Can You Hear Me 1 50 346 days
Glyn Jones 1 The Space Museum The Space Museum 4 100 55 years, 270 days
Matt Jones 1 "The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit" "The Impossible Planet" / "The Satan Pit" 2 90 14 years, 231 days
Malcolm Kohll 1 Delta and the Bannermen Delta and the Bannermen 3 75 33 years, 79 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. Their names were not used because each writer was hiding from something. Letts could not be both a writer and a producer and Sloman didn't want to advertise the fact that he'd written something without his then-writing partner. 49 years, 243 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 Asbhy". 53 years, 112 days
Peter Ling 1 The Mind Robber The Mind Robber 4 100 Derrick Sherwin wrote episode 1 of this story and Ling wrote episodes 2–5. In episode 1, no writer is given on-screen credit. 52 years, 128 days
John Lucarotti 3 Marco Polo The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve 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. 56 years, 333 days
Tom MacRae 2 "Rise of the Cybermen" / "The Age of Steel" "The Girl Who Waited" 3 135 MacRae was scheduled to write a new story for Series 4 in 2008 but it was replaced. 14 years, 252 days
Louis Marks 4 Planet of Giants The Masque of Mandragora 15 375 Aside from Terry Nation, Marks is the only writer to be credited for writing for the First, Third, and Fourth Doctors, and to be credited alongside producers Verity Lambert, Barry Letts and Philip Hinchcliffe. 56 years, 81 days
Dave Martin 8 The Claws of Axos The Armageddon Factor 32 850 49 years, 313 days
Philip Martin 2 Vengeance on Varos Mindwarp 6 190 He introduced the character of Sil.36 years, 1 day
Jamie Mathieson 4 "Mummy on the Orient Express" "Oxygen" 4 185 6 years, 101 days
Glen McCoy 1 Timelash Timelash 2 90 34 years, 317 days
Andrew McCulloch 1 Meglos Meglos 4 100 He co-wrote Meglos with John Flanagan. 40 years, 115 days
Pete McTighe 2 "Kerblam!" "Praxeus" 2 100 2 years, 63 days
Nina Metivier 1 "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror" "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror" 1 50 1 year, 1 day
Steven Moffat 40 "The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances" "Twice Upon a Time" 48 2255 Moffat succeeded Russell T Davies as head writer/showrunner of the BBC Wales version of Doctor Who, starting with the fifth series. He has also written far more stories than anyone else in Doctor Who history, although Robert Holmes holds a comfortable lead in terms of number of episodes. "Blink" was adapted from Moffat's own Ninth Doctor short story from the Doctor Who Annual 2006 called "What I Did on My Christmas Holidays by Sally Sparrow". 15 years, 244 days
"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.[11] | 35 years, 15 days
James Moran 1 "The Fires of Pompeii" "The Fires of Pompeii" 1 50 Moran has also written for Torchwood. 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. 12 years, 283 days
Rona Munro 2 Survival"The Eaters of Light" 4 120 Munro wrote the final story broadcast in the original Doctor Who series. She is the only writer to have written for both the original and revived series. 31 years, 59 days
Terry Nation 10.5 The Daleks Destiny of the Daleks 56 1400 On the Destiny of the Daleks DVD, Terrance Dicks describes Terry Nation as "the only writer who got rich off of Doctor Who". This is because he invented and retained copyright to the Daleks, the Doctor's most frequent enemy. Nation only wrote two stories (The Keys of Marinus and The Android Invasion) which did not feature the Daleks, and only received credit for half the episodes of The Daleks' Master Plan. 57 years, 30 days
Peter R. Newman 1 The Sensorites The Sensorites 6 150 56 years, 214 days
Simon Nye 1 "Amy's Choice" "Amy's Choice" 1 45 Best known for creating the hit sitcom Men Behaving Badly. 10 years, 250 days
Geoffrey Orme # 1 The Underwater Menace The Underwater Menace 4 100 54 years, 3 days
Vinay Patel 2 "Demons of the Punjab" "Fugitive of the Judoon" 2 100 2 years, 70 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. Uncounted in his totals to the left are: The War Machines, The Wheel in Space, and The Invasion. Virtually no one else in the history of Doctor Who has received a "story by" credit. 54 years, 104 days[12]
Victor Pemberton 1 Fury from the Deep Fury from the Deep 6 150 52 years, 310 days
Marc Platt 1 Ghost Light Ghost Light 3 75 Platt wrote the final story produced in the original Doctor Who series. His audio drama, Spare Parts, was credited as the source of inspiration for Tom MacRae's Cybermen adventure, "Rise of the Cybermen"/"The Age of Steel". 31 years, 87 days
Eric Pringle 1 The Awakening The Awakening 2 50 37 years, 1 day
Helen Raynor 2 "Daleks in Manhattan"/ "Evolution of the Daleks" "The Sontaran Stratagem"/ "The Poison Sky" 4 180 13 years, 274 days
Anthony Read 1 The Horns of Nimon The Horns of Nimon 4 100 He also co-wrote Invasion of Time with Graham Williams under the name David Agnew. 41 years, 29 days
Gareth Roberts 6 "The Shakespeare Code" "The Caretaker" 6 285 "Planet of the Dead" was co-written with Russell T Davies. Roberts has written several episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures. His first writer's credit for the BBC Wales franchise was actually Attack of the Graske, but Graske is not counted in this list here because it is more game than narrative. 13 years, 278 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-screenwriter's credit on twelve episodes. Nevertheless, strong evidence exists that he wrote, but did not receive credit for, Attack of the Cybermen. 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. 38 years, 340 days
Lesley Scott 1 The ArkThe 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. 54 years, 321 days
Robert Shearman 1 "Dalek""Dalek" 1 45 The basic premise as well as some scenes and dialogue from this story was adapted by Shearman from his audio drama Jubilee. 15 years, 265 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 no credit is given on-screen. He then co-wrote The Invasion with Kit Pedler. He is one of a select few writers to also receive an acting credit on the programme. (Mark Gatiss and Victor Pemberton were also in front of the cameras for Doctor Who.) 52 years, 79 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". 48 years, 245 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. 40 years, 87 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 Power of the Daleks went uncredited, although he is often cited as a co-writer. 56 years, 165 days
Anthony Steven 1 The Twin Dilemma The Twin Dilemma 4 100 36 years, 304 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. 45 years, 276 days
Bill Strutton 1 The Web Planet The Web Planet 6 150 55 years, 342 days
Keith Temple 1 "Planet of the Ood" "Planet of the Ood" 1 45 12 years, 276 days
Stephen Thompson 3 "The Curse of the Black Spot" "Time Heist" 3 135 9 years, 258 days
Donald Tosh 1 The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve 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. 54 years, 272 days
Catherine Tregenna 1 "The Woman Who Lived" "The Woman Who Lived" 1 45 5 years, 88 days
David Whitaker 8 The Edge of Destruction The Ambassadors of Death 40 1000 Whitaker was the programme's first script/story editor. Aside from the authors of The Three Doctors and The Five Doctors, he and Brian Hayles are the only people 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. 56 years, 347 days
Toby Whithouse 6 "School Reunion" "The Lie of the Land" 7 325 14 years, 266 days
Joy Wilkinson 1 "The Witchfinders" "The Witchfinders" 1 50 2 years, 56 days
Stephen Wyatt 2 Paradise Towers The Greatest Show in the Galaxy 8 200 33 years, 107 days

Notes
  1. On most mobile versions of Wikipedia, 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", and other such creative credits that fall short of 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, 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. 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 more often presented as four-parters. The following things are deemed to be single episodes: the 1996 telemovie, "Doctor Who: Children in Need", "Time Crash", "Music of the Spheres", and any other future non-parodic live-action "mini-episodes" produced by BBC Wales. 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. 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's broadcast date" 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. (This is not accurate due to some users putting in the date of the latest story by the writer)
  8. "An Unearthly Child: contemporary internal BBC memos" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-03-01.
  9. Sullivan, Shannon. "Profile of The Ambassadors of Death". Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  10. 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: 24 years, 238 days.
  11. Sullivan, Shannon. "Profile of Attack of the Cybermen". Retrieved 2009-02-28.
  12. Time elapsed since Pedler's first "story by" credit: 54 years, 209 days

See also
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