John Wiles (20 September 1925 – 5 April 1999) was a South African novelist, television writer and producer. He was the second producer of 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 ...

'', succeeding

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 ...

, and credited on four serials between 1965 and 1966, namely ''

The Myth Makers ''The Myth Makers'' is the third serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Donald Cotton and directed by Michael Leeston-Smith, the serial was broadcast on BBC1 in four weekly part ...

'', ''

The Daleks' Master Plan ''The Daleks' Master Plan'' is the mostly missing third serial of the third season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in twelve weekly parts from 13 November 1965 to 29 January 1966. Thi ...

'' (which lasted for twelve episodes), ''

The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve ''The Massacre'' (also known as ''The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve'') is the completely missing fourth serial of the third season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly par ...

'', and '' The Ark''.

Producer of ''Doctor Who''

Although he had a good working relationship with story editor Donald Tosh, Wiles found that he was unable to make many changes to the format of the programme. Attempts to make the series darker led to clashes with actor

William Hartnell William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the first incarnation of the Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' from 1963 to 1966. In film, Hartnell notably appeared in '' Brig ...

who, as the sole remaining member of the original team, saw himself as the guardian of the series' original values. An attempt to give new companion

Dodo Chaplet Dorothea "Dodo" Chaplet is a fictional character played by Jackie Lane in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. An Earth teenager from the year 1966, she was a companion of the First Doctor and a regular in ...

cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...

accent was vetoed by Wiles' superiors, who ordered that the regulars must speak " BBC English". With Hartnell increasingly in poor health and hostile to Wiles, the latter sought a way to replace the actor. However, this was again opposed by Wiles' superiors. Wiles also disliked the lengthy ''

'' story which had been commissioned by the previous production team and which proved difficult to realise. One of his few changes that lasted even a short time was to limit nearly all stories to just four episodes. In early 1966, Wiles resigned in frustration over an inability to steer the show in the direction he wanted. Tosh resigned in sympathy. Of the episodes from his tenure, only the four episode serial ''The Ark'', and three episodes from ''The Daleks' Master Plan'', still survive in the BBC's archives. As Wiles chose not to employ John Cura and his Tele-snaps service, only a few clips (sourced from both low-quality

8mm 8 mm or 8mm may refer to: ;Film technology *8 mm film, a photographic cine film format principally intended for domestic use. The term may also refer to later variants: ** Super 8 mm film ** Single-8 film ** 8 mm video format, a type of video record ...

and higher quality

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...

film recordings), publicity photographs and behind the scenes stills give a visual record of his work on the series.

After ''Doctor Who''

After leaving ''Doctor Who'', Wiles wrote two stories for the science-fiction anthology series ''

Out of the Unknown ''Out of the Unknown'' is a British television science fiction anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Most episodes of the first three series were a dramatisation of a science fi ...

''. These were '' Taste of Evil'' and '' The Man in My Head'', both broadcast as part of its fourth and final season in 1971. Although ''Taste of Evil'' was, like most of his work on ''Doctor Who'',

wiped Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives (or in personal archives) usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect. Common reasons for loss A significant prop ...

and only still photographs are known to exist, ''The Man in My Head'' survived as its original

videotape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videoca ...

master and is available on the series DVD set. Wiles also wrote several plays including ''Act of Hardness'', ''Family on Trial'' and ''A Lesson in Blood and Roses'', which was performed by the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

(RSC). Wiles died on 5 April 1999 at the age of 73.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiles, John 1925 births 1999 deaths South African screenwriters 20th-century South African male writers BBC television producers South African television writers South African male writers South African television producers People from Kimberley, Northern Cape South African emigrants to the United Kingdom 20th-century screenwriters