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Christopher Magnus Howard "Kit" Pedler (11 June 1927 – 27 May 1981) was a British medical scientist,
parapsychologist and science fiction author.
Biography
He was the head of the
electron microscopy department at the Institute of Ophthalmology,
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
, where he published a number of papers. Pedler's first television contribution was for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
programme
Tomorrow's World
''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...
.
In the mid-1960s, Pedler became the unofficial scientific adviser to the ''
Doctor Who'' production team. Hired by
Innes Lloyd
George Innes Llewelyn Lloyd (24 December 1925 – 23 August 1991) was a Welsh television producer. He had a long career in BBC drama, which included producing series such as ''Doctor Who'' and ''Talking Heads''.
Early life and career
Fo ...
to inject more hard science into the stories, Pedler formed a particular writing partnership with
Gerry Davis, the programme's story editor. Their interest in the problems of science changing and endangering human life led them to create the
Cybermen
The Cybermen are a fictional race of cyborgs principally portrayed in the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. The Cybermen are a species of space-faring cyborgs who often forcefully and painfully convert human beings ( ...
.
Pedler wrote three scripts for ''Doctor Who'': ''
The Tenth Planet
''The Tenth Planet'' is the partly missing second serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 8 to 29 October 1966. It was William Hartnell ...
'' (with Gerry Davis), ''
The Moonbase
''The Moonbase'' is the half-missing sixth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 11 February to 4 March 1967.
In this serial, the Secon ...
'' and ''
The Tomb of the Cybermen
''The Tomb of the Cybermen'' is the first serial of the fifth season of the British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who'', which was originally broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 2 to 23 September 1967.
In the serial, the ...
'' (also with Gerry Davis). He also submitted the story outlines that became ''
The War Machines
''The War Machines'' is the ninth and final serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in 4 weekly parts from 25 June to 16 July 1966.
The serial is set in 1960s London ...
'', ''
The Wheel in Space
''The Wheel in Space'' is the mostly missing seventh and final serial of the fifth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in six weekly parts from 27 April to 1 June 1968.
In this seria ...
'' and ''
The Invasion''.
Pedler and Davis devised and co-wrote ''
Doomwatch
''Doomwatch'' is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC1 between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist ...
'', a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme which ran 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, ...
for three seasons from 1970 to 1972 (37 50-minute episodes plus one unshown) covered a government department that worked to combat technological and environmental disasters. Pedler and Davis contributed to only the first two series.
Pedler and Davis re-used the plot of the first episode of the series, ''
The Plastic Eaters'', for their 1971 novel ''
Mutant 59: The Plastic Eater''.
His non-fiction book ''The Quest for Gaia'' gave practical advice on creating an ecologically sustainable lifestyle, using
James Lovelock's
Gaia hypothesis.
He died of a heart attack at his home in
Doddington, Kent
Doddington is a village and civil parish in the district of Swale in Kent, England. The Syndale Valley shelters the central part in the Kent Downs Area of outstanding natural beauty. Today the village is notable for Doddington Place Gardens, fo ...
, while completing production of ''Mind Over Matter'', a series for
Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992.
Thames Television broa ...
on the paranormal that he presented with
Tony Bastable
Anthony Leslie Bastable (15 October 1944 – 29 May 2007) was an English television presenter, who was one of the original presenters of the children's magazine programme '' Magpie''.
Early life
Bastable was born in Hexham, Northumberland, ...
.
Pedler is buried at All Saints Church in the Kent village of
Graveney
Graveney is a relatively small but widely dispersed village located between Faversham and Whitstable in Kent, England. The main part of the village is located along the intersection of Seasalter Road, Sandbanks Road and Head Hill Road (at the rail ...
, where he lived before moving to nearby Doddington.
One of his daughters is the novelist
Carol Topolski
Carol Topolski (born 1949) is a British novelist. Before becoming a full-time writer she was a practising psychoanalytic psychologist and she drew on her experiences in writing her first novel, '' Monster Love'' which was published in 2008. Acco ...
, while the other, Lucy, is an ecological architect who practices
sustainable design. Interviews with his daughters can be found on the commentary track of episode one of the BBC Doctor Who DVD release of 'The Moonbase.'
His epitaph reads: "A man of ideas."
Parapsychology
Pedler was the author of ''Mind Over Matter'' (1981) which was based on the television series. The book argued for psychic phenomena such as
psychokinesis
Psychokinesis (from grc, ψυχή, , soul and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), or telekinesis (from grc, τηλε, , far off and grc, κίνησις, , movement, label=ㅤ), is a hypothetical psychic ability allowing a person ...
and
remote viewing
Remote viewing (RV) is the practice of seeking impressions about a distant or unseen subject, purportedly sensing with the mind. Typically a remote viewer is expected to give information about an object, event, person or location that is hidden ...
. He also wrote there may be evidence for an "intelligent and massively ordered design" in the universe. The book was criticized for making incorrect statements about science. The science writer Georgina Ferry in a review wrote that the book and television series contained errors, lacked objectivity and is "not good science, neither is it good television".
[Georgina Ferry. (1981). ''Mind over matter''. New Scientist 21 May. p. 511]
Writing credits
Bibliography
*''Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters'' (1971) (with
Gerry Davis)
*''Brainrack'' (1974) (with Gerry Davis)
*''Doomwatch: The World in Danger'' (1975)
*''The Dynostar Menace'' (1975) (with Gerry Davis)
*''The Quest for Gaia'' (1979)
*''Mind Over Matter: A Scientist's View of the Paranormal'' (1981)
References
External links
*
List of abstracts of scientific papers written by Dr Pedler*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pedler, Kit
1927 births
1981 deaths
Alumni of the University of London
British science fiction writers
British science writers
British television writers
English writers on paranormal topics
Parapsychologists
20th-century English novelists
English male novelists
20th-century English male writers
People from Doddington, Kent
20th-century screenwriters