Eric Saward

His career as a scriptwriter began with drama for radio while he was working as a teacher. Later he was able to cross into full-time writing. He was approached by then Doctor Who script editor Christopher H. Bidmead to submit some ideas to the series on the strength of a recommendation from the senior drama script editor at BBC Radio. He received a commission to write the story The Visitation. This in turn led to his appointment as script editor on the recommendation of Antony Root, who had briefly replaced Bidmead.[2] In addition to his role as script editor, Saward also wrote the television stories Earthshock,[3] Resurrection of the Daleks[4] and Revelation of the Daleks.[5]

He has said in interviews that he also performed uncredited writing duties, over and above that normally expected of a script editor, on The Awakening, The Twin Dilemma, Attack of the Cybermen and The Trial of a Time Lord, amongst others. Not all of these claims have been substantiated by other sources.

Saward's other Who writings include the 1983 short story Birth of a Renegade in the special magazine published by Radio Times at the time of The Five Doctors (1983), the 20th Anniversary Special' (and Starlog Press in the United States) and the 1985 radio play Slipback which was broadcast on Radio 4.[6] He wrote the novelisations of The Twin Dilemma and Attack of the Cybermen, as well as those of The Visitation and Slipback, for Target Books' Doctor Who range. His two Dalek stories were for a long time the only stories from the classic Doctor Who series (from 1963 - 1989, 1996) never novelized; Saward eventually wrote novelisations of both stories in 2019.[7] Earthshock was novelised by Ian Marter.[8]

Saward aroused controversy in 1985 because many of the stories of Colin Baker's first season in the role contained numerous scenes of graphic violence and darker themes, which many commentators felt was inappropriate for a programme aimed at a family audience (the season featured acid baths, hangings, cell mutation experiments, executions by laser, cannibalism, poisonings, stabbings, suffocation by cyanide and a man having his hands crushed). Unlike the criticism of violence levelled against the series by Mary Whitehouse during the Philip Hinchcliffe era, disapproval this time came from members of the general public and some Doctor Who fans, as well as Whitehouse. BBC 1 controller Michael Grade publicly criticised the violence featured in Colin Baker's first season and gave it as one of his reasons for putting the series on an 18-month hiatus from 1985 until 1986. Saward defended these scenes, saying they were intended to be dramatic and to warn audiences against real-world violence.[9]

Saward had a sometimes strained relationship with Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner, which gave rise to occasional tensions behind the scenes.[10] When asked in July 1988 "If you could go back and start again, what would you change?" he replied. "The producer" [11]

Saward often objected to Nathan-Turner's insistence on hiring novice Doctor Who writers, which led to Saward having to work hard, not always successfully, on unsuitable scripts submitted by inexperienced contributors. Saward was eventually able to bring veteran writer Robert Holmes back to the series and they became friends before his death.[12] Unfortunately, his working relationship with Nathan-Turner deteriorated further. He had disagreed with Nathan-Turner's casting of Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor[13] and, following the 1985 hiatus, problems peaked during the production of The Trial of a Time Lord in the middle of 1986 when he resigned as script editor before the completion of production. Nevertheless, Saward's association with the show continued and in the 1990s he wrote linking narration for Doctor Who audio releases of missing episodes. More recently he has appeared in interviews on DVDs of his serials.[14][15] He also contributed a short story to the Big Finish Short Trips collection.[16] Saward has not worked in British television since leaving Doctor Who but he has written for German radio drama.

Saward lived in the Netherlands for three years,[17] where he was briefly married. He also had a relationship with fellow writer Paula Woolsey for a number of years, who was credited (as Paula Moore) with writing the Doctor Who serial Attack of the Cybermen (1985). He has two daughters, Natasha and Marielle.

• Eric Saward on IMDb
• Biography of Eric Saward at On Target
• Eric Saward at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database