Donald Boyd Wilson (11 September 1910 – 6 March 2002) was a Scottish television writer and producer who worked for the BBC. His work included co-creating the science fiction series ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the ...

'' in 1963, also later claiming to have named the series, and adapting and producing ''

The Forsyte Saga ''The Forsyte Saga'', first published under that title in 1922, is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by the English author John Galsworthy, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle the vici ...

'' in 1967.

Early life and career

Wilson attended the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, an ...

, following which his first jobs were as a newspaper cartoonist and sketch writer. His initial career was in the film industry, including working for MGM at

Elstree Studios Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...

, where he was Assistant Director of such films as ''

Jericho Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho ...

'' (1937) and '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1939). During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he served with the Cameronians and the 43rd Wessex Division before afterwards returning to the film industry, and then in 1955 was recruited to BBC Television by the then Head of Drama, Michael Barry. As the Head of the Script Department, Wilson was ultimately responsible for overseeing the commissioning and development of all the original scripts and adaptations transmitted by BBC Television.

''Doctor Who''

When the Script Department was rendered redundant by

Sydney Newman Sydney Cecil Newman (April 1, 1917 – October 30, 1997) was a Canadian film and television producer, who played a pioneering role in British television drama from the late 1950s to the late 1960s. After his return to Canada in 1970, Newman w ...

’s radical shake-up of the BBC Drama Department after his arrival as its head in 1962, the highly respected Wilson was given one of the most senior positions under Newman as Head of Serials. In this position, Wilson was responsible for overseeing the creation and development of a series that Newman himself had originally conceived: an educational science-fiction serial entitled ''

''. It was Wilson, together with Newman and staff writer

C. E. Webber Cecil Edwin Webber (sometimes known by the nickname "Bunny"; 9 April 1909June 1969) was a British television writer and playwright. He is best remembered for his contribution to the creation of the science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'' while wo ...

, who co-wrote the first format document for the programme. In a 1971 interview Wilson claimed to have named the series, and when this claim was put to Newman he did not dispute it. Wilson was responsible for much of the early development work on the show, although he did strongly attempt to dissuade producer

Verity Lambert Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer. Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of ...

from using writer

Terry Nation Terence Joseph Nation (8 August 19309 March 1997) was a British screenwriter and novelist. Especially known for his work in British television science fiction, he created the Daleks and Davros for ''Doctor Who'', as well as the series '' Surviv ...

’s script featuring a race of aliens named

Dalek The Daleks ( ) are a fictional extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial race of mutants principally portrayed in the British science fiction on television, science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. They were conceived by write ...

s. However, once the script had been made and transmitted to great success, he called Lambert into his office to admit that she clearly knew the show better than he did and told her that he would no longer interfere with her decisions.

Later career

In 1965, Wilson gave up his position as Head of Serials to concentrate on realising a long-held ambition of bringing ''

'' to the screen. Acting as both adapter and producer, Wilson created one of the BBC’s most popular and successful drama serials of all time, which was a huge hit on its eventual screening on

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

in 1967, and was quickly repeated on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. Later, he acted as adapter and producer again on such prestigious costume dramas as ''

The First Churchills ''The First Churchills'' is a BBC serial from 1969 about the life of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and his wife, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. It stars John Neville as the duke and Susan Hampshire as the duchess, was writ ...

'' (1969) and ''

Anna Karenina ''Anna Karenina'' ( rus, «Анна Каренина», p=ˈanːə kɐˈrʲenʲɪnə) is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever writt ...

'' (1977), and also worked for

Anglia Television ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

on their series ''

Orson Welles Great Mysteries ''Orson Welles Great Mysteries'' is a British television series originally transmitted between 1973 and 1974, produced by Anglia Television for the ITV network. The series is an anthology of mystery stories. Each episode is introduced by Ors ...

'' in 1973.

Death

After his work on ''Anna Karenina'' he retired to

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of ...

, where he died at the age of 91 in March 2002.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Donald 1910 births 2002 deaths 20th-century British screenwriters 20th-century Scottish writers 21st-century Scottish people Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art BBC television producers British Army personnel of World War II People from Dunblane Scottish television producers Scottish television writers