The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Sad news broke over the weekend that writer, producer and director Barry Letts had passed away at the age of eighty four. Letts worked on many programmes as an actor and behind the scenes over his career, but to most fans he will be best loved for his successful tenure on Doctor Who. He actually first became involved with the show when he was asked to direct the Patrick Troughton story Enemy of the World, but for most Who fans he came to the fore as the producer during the wonderfully action-packed and flamboyant Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who in the early 1970s, working closely with the equally well known Terrence Dicks.

(Barry Letts, image borrowed from the Doctor Who News Page)

I have a particular soft spot for that era – Tom Baker was the main Doctor for me as I grew up, but Pertwee’s stories are my very earliest memories of watching Doctor Who (how could I know I’d still be looking forward to a new series of it in 2010?); he was also instrumental in casting Tom Baker as Pertwee’s successor, an inspired move that gave the a series which has featured decades of charismatic leads a particularly outstanding Doctor as well as the character of Sarah Jane Smith played by Liz Sladen (and again back then which of us would have thought we’d be enjoying Liz in Sarah Jane’s own series in the 21st century?). He maintained contact with the series through writing and even stepping in to help out with the occasional directing and producing assistance when required after he finished his long run as producer.

(Liz Sladen and Jon Pertwee during Doctor Who’s mid 70s incarnation, (c) BBC)