William Harold Strutton (23 February 1918 – 23 November 2003) was an Australian screenwriter and novelist. He worked on television shows such as ''
Ivanhoe'', ''
The Saint'', ''
The Avengers'', ''
Riptide
A rip tide, or riptide, is a strong offshore current that is caused by the tide pulling water through an inlet along a barrier beach, at a lagoon or inland marina where tide water flows steadily out to sea during ebb tide. It is a strong tidal fl ...
'' and ''
Doctor Who''.
Early life
Born in
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
, Bill Strutton won a state scholarship to university at 14 but dropped out after two years to work as an office clerk in Adelaide. At the outbreak of World War II, he joined the Australian army. He was captured by
the Germans in Crete and sent to
Stalag VII, learning to swear in several languages. It was there he also began to take an interest in writing. He once said: "My first year as a prisoner-of-war was the most interesting in my life. The ensuing three were the most boring, but more instructive, I think, than any university. I learned several languages: German from a Serbian horse-doctor; Spanish from a Basque; a Parisian taxi-driver bequeathed me a startling vocabulary. I also ran a camp newspaper, caught up on my reading, and finally celebrated my liberation by tearing up a novel." After being demobbed, he lived in England. In 1961, he lived with his Australian wife, Marguerite and two children in Woddingham, East Surrey.
Career
After the war, he began a career in journalism, and started to write military books in the mid-fifties. These included ''
The Secret Invaders'', ''
A Jury of Angels'' in 1957 and ''
Island of Terrible Friends'' in 1961. Also, three films. In 1958, he scripted the ''
Ivanhoe'' television series which starred
Roger Moore. He wrote for more than fifteen television series in eleven years, the last of which was ''
Strange Report
''Strange Report'' is a British television crime drama series starring Anthony Quayle as Adam Strange. It was produced by ITC Entertainment and first broadcast in 1969 on ITV
In the United States, NBC broadcast ''Strange Report'' between 8 Ja ...
'', starring
Anthony Quayle
Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor and theatre director. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969 ...
, and several episodes of ''
Paul Temple
Paul Temple is a fictional character created by English writer Francis Durbridge. Temple is a professional author of crime fiction and an amateur private detective. With his wife Louise, affectionately known as 'Steve' in reference to her jo ...
'' before retiring in 1978 following a heart attack.
His ''
Doctor Who'' story was ''
The Web Planet
''The Web Planet'' is the fifth serial of the second season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Bill Strutton and directed by Richard Martin, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in six weekly parts from 1 ...
'' in 1965.
It is remembered as a unique ''Doctor Who'' serial. It was the first programme to feature a completely alien cast, including
Martin Jarvis as a butterfly
Menoptera, and introduced the menacing
Zarbi. Two of its six episodes are amongst the handful of ''Doctor Who'' instalments to be seen by more than 13m people on original transmission. Strutton went on to adapt the serial as the third ''Doctor Who'' novel in 1965. In 1972, he submitted another storyline to ''Doctor Who'' entitled ''The Mega'', but this was rejected. It was later adapted as an audio drama that was released in 2013.
Death
Bill Strutton died on 23 November 2003, the day of ''Doctor Whos fortieth anniversary, aged 85 years.
References
External links
*
1918 births
2003 deaths
British television writers
British science fiction writers
British male screenwriters
Australian television writers
Australian screenwriters
20th-century Australian non-fiction writers
British male television writers
20th-century British screenwriters
20th-century Australian screenwriters
Australian Army personnel of World War II
Australian prisoners of war
World War II prisoners of war held by Germany
Australian male television writers
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