Doctor Who scriptwriter Christopher H. Bidmead, who wrote three Doctor Who television serials, one for Fourth Doctor Tom Baker and one for Fifth Doctor Peter Davison and their novelisations, has died at the age of 84. He passed away on August 6, but the news is only just being made public. No cause of death has been revealed. Alongside his tenure on the long-running BBC sci-fi show, he also contributed to the franchise’s audiobooks in recent years.
He had developed a Fifth Doctor audio adventure for production company Big Finish in 2007 titled Renaissance Of The Daleks, but asked for a “based on a story by” credit instead because he felt his script had been changed in production. In 2010, his Doctor Who story, In The Hollows Of Time, which was previously unproduced, was made as a Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) audio drama “The Hollows of Time” as part of the Lost Stories range. Fans were devastated by the news and took to social media to pay tribute to Christopher and his work.
“Always appreciated his approach to taking some pretty complex scientific concepts and applying them to the DW format. It made his era unique,” one fan reflected on Reddit. “Oh, that’s so sad. What a loss. By all accounts, he was a very thoughtful and talented guy,” another added.
“Across all the years of the DVD releases and when I bought DWM regularly, it was obvious Chris very much enjoyed talking about the show during his period; even when some stories were viewed dimly, he’d recount with fondness the scientific elements attempted to be applied within the stories and his intentions with the show. A well spoken, respectful and interesting man to listen to/read,” a third shared.
A fourth chimed in: “So sad he helped get Doctor Who back on track.” A fifth penned: “RIP. His stories are among my favourites.”
Meanwhile, a sixth commented: “Logopolis was underrated, in my opinion. Bidmead wasn’t afraid to tell challenging stories. It’s very sad news to hear.”
Christopher developed twin passions for acting and science during his schooldays. He briefly worked for a technology company before winning a scholarship to RADA in 1960. He went on to play several roles on stage, television and radio with a prominent role in Emergency-Ward 10.
By the early 1970s, he was a journalist and scriptwriter for Thames Television. He was recommended for the post of script editor on Doctor Who, a role he took on for one season.
He later wrote the screenplays and novelisations for the iconic Doctor Who stories Logopolis, Castrovalva, and Frontios. He also contributed to the charity reference book Behind the Sofa: Celebrity Memories of Doctor Who.
He married Rosalind Earlle in 1987, and the couple welcomed two daughters.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
