Doctor Who has a rather extraordinary history. It initially enjoyed a twenty six season run with a handful of actors playing the title character (simply known as The Doctor), spun off two films which were released in countries (such as the United States) which did not even air the show and, in fact, almost sold a spin off to the US in 1967. After it was cancelled Doctor Who continued to find new fans across the world while new comics, books and audio plays were produced. It finally returned to television in 2005 and continues to this day, again with multiple performers portraying The Doctor. This long and unique tenure has lead to the show having some very distinct eras with different tones (and even formats). Today there are fans who prefer the original series, others who only follow the revival era and everyone has a favorite Doctor!
One of the high points of the original series (many would argue the entire series) was the period under the watchful eye of producer Barry Letts.
Born in 1925, Barry Letts initially set out to be an actor. At least, he set out to be an actor after his World War II as a Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy. Finding work mainly on the stage, Letts appeared in a short film titled To The Public Danger, which was meant as an appeal for safer driving. To The Public Danger was directed by Terrance Dicks, who would prove to be a life long friend and collaborator.
Barry Letts soon found consistent work, if not stardom, on television throughout the 1950s and ‘60s. Thanks to his many roles on the BBC he was able to enroll in a network sponsored course on television directing. The BBC soon gave him the opportunity to direct shows such as Adventure Weekly, Z-Cars (a show he had once appeared in) and Doctor Who.
At the end of 1967 Barry Letts was contracted to direct the six part story The Enemy of the World, which saw the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) facing off with a future Earth dictator known as Salamander who happens to look exactly like The Doctor. It was the only show of the entire season not to feature a “monster” and aired in late December 1967 and January 1968. In 1969 Letts was hired to be Doctor Who’s producer, taking over with the second story of Third Doctor Jon Pertwee (The Silurians).
Barry Letts would remain the producer of the series throughout Jon Pertwee’s time as The Doctor. Although generally uncredited, he directed several stories during this time including Inferno and Planet of the Spiders, the last story to feature Jon Pertwee. Letts would leave his role as producer after the next story, Robot, the first story of season 12 and the first to feature Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor.
After leaving Doctor Who Letts and his friend Terrence Dicks co-created the short lived series Moonbase 3, which was aired in both Great Britain and in the United States on ABC. Pre-dating the better known Space: 1999 by two years, the hard science fiction show focused on the command crew of a joint European lunar installation in a time when the US, the Soviet Union and China also had permanent moon bases.
Even though his time as a producer was at an end Letts would return to Doctor Who direct the season 13 story The Android Invasion. During the first season of John Nathan-Turner’s turn as producer, season 18 in 1980, Letts returned to Doctor Who again, this time as executive producer, to smooth the transition. He returned to the series with The Leisure Hive and stayed through Logopolis, the final story in Tom Baker’s turn as The Doctor.
Barry Letts’ time as producer on Doctor Who is important for a number of reasons. When he took over there was not only a new actor in the role of The Doctor, the series was finally being shot in color. Terrence Dicks, the script editor for the entire time Letts acted as producer, was an old friend and the two worked very well together. The Sontarans were introduced (created by writer Robert Holmes), the planet of the Time Lords was revealed to be Gallifrey and the first suggestions were made the Tardis may be sentient and psychic. The tenth anniversary of the show fell during Letts’ time as producer and the tradition of stories featuring multiple incarnations of The Doctor began with The Three Doctors, the first multi-Doctor story.
The most important contributions made by Barry Letts to Doctor Who, though, were undoubtedly in characters and casting. The Master was introduced as a recurring foil for The Doctor, a Time Lord just as brilliant as The Doctor but as evil as The Doctor was good. Although Letts oversaw Jon Pertwee’s time as The Doctor he was not involved in Pertwee’s casting. Letts did, however, cast Tom Baker as Pertwee’s replacement. He also oversaw the casting of Katy Manning as Jo Grant, co-created with Terrance Dicks, and brought aboard Richard Franklin as UNIT Captain Mike Yates. Letts also oversaw the creation of Sarah Jane Smith, one of Doctor Who’s most popular characters. Originally set to be actress April Walker, Letts re-cast the plucky reporter with Elisabeth Sladen after Pertwee and Walker failed to develop chemistry.
Even after leaving the television side of Doctor Who Letts continued to be involved with other incarnations of the show. In 1974 he wrote the Target Books novelization of The Daemons, perhaps introduced to the company by Terrance Dicks (who wrote well over fifty novelizations). In the mid-1990s Letts wrote two Doctor Who radio plays for the BBC. Paradise of Death and Ghosts of N-Space featured Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen and Nicholas Courtney reprising their roles from television. He novelized both radio productions for the Target Book series and co-wrote an original Doctor Who novel, Deadly Reunion, with Terrance Dicks in 2003. Letts also wrote a second original Who novel for the BBC in 2005 titled Island of Death as well as an autobiography, Who and Me, focusing on his time with the show. He also wrote The Tao Connection, a solo Sarah Jane Smith audio adventure, for Big Finish in 2002. Barry Letts was also a frequent contributor to Doctor Who DVD special features, including commentaries and documentaries.
Continuing to work in television after leaving Doctor Who, Letts was not involved with any other science fiction shows (other than Moonbase 3). He produced several television mini-series, including Sense and Sensibility and Great Expectations in 1981, 1982’s Hound of the Baskervilles starring Tom Baker as Sherlock Holmes and 1984’s Prisoner of Zenda. Barry Letts passed away in 2009 at the age of 84 but his contributions to Doctor Who continue to shape the series and delight fans.
Doctor who, Science fiction, science fiction and fantasy history, Television