Gerry Davis (screenwriter)

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!.

From 1966 until the following year Davis was the story editor of the popular 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] Following their work on Doctor Who the pair teamed up in 1970 to create the science-fiction programme Doomwatch.[4] Doomwatch ran for three seasons on BBC One from 1970 to 1972 and spawned a novel written by Davis and Pedler,[5] a subsequent cinema film[6] and a 1999 revival on Channel 5.

Davis briefly returned to writing Doctor Who in 1975, penning the original script for Revenge of the Cybermen,[7] though the transmitted version was heavily rewritten by then script-editor Robert Holmes.[8] Davis also adapted several of his scripts into novelisations for Target Books' Doctor Who imprint. With Kit 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).[9]

In the 1980s Davis worked in America both in television and on feature films such as The Final Countdown (1980).[10] 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. Gerry Davis died on 31 August 1991.[11]