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Gerry Davis (screenwriter)

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Gerry Davis
Born
Gerald Davis

(1930-02-23)23 February 1930
Died31 August 1991(1991-08-31) (aged 61)
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

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Doctor Who

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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

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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

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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

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Davis died on 31 August 1991.[12]

Writing credits

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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

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  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".
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Preceded by Doctor Who Script Editor
1966–67
Succeeded by