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Part of
A Comparative History of the Literary Draft in Europe
Edited by Olga Beloborodova and Dirk Van Hulle
[Comparative History of Literatures in European Languages XXXV] 2024
► pp. 473–486

2.3.2
Television

From pre-production to programme-making and dissemination

A focus on the details of how TV drama scripts were commissioned, edited and realised offers insight into the relationships between writers and television institutions. This study of the early years of the BBC’s popular science fiction series Doctor Who is based on archival documents from the 1960s and shows how the role of the screenwriter was negotiated in relation to the opportunities and constraints of format, genre, cost and intended audience, at a time of rapid and dynamic change in British television culture. The decisions about screenwriting analysed in this chapter affected how Doctor Who developed in the 60 years that followed, and also impacted how the BBC thought about its cultural and social mission of Public Service Broadcasting.
Keywords: screenwriting, script, television, BBC, science fiction, TV drama, Doctor Who, the 1960s, archive, audience
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • The genesis of a television drama
  • Genre, format, audience and budget
  • The script that saved the series
  • Beyond the script
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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References (23)
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