David Ellis (born Derrick Francis Kerkham; 22 June 1918 – 30 June 1978) was the co-writer with

Malcolm Hulke Malcolm Ainsworth Hulke (21 November 1924 – 6 July 1979) was a British television writer and author of the industry "bible" ''Writing for Television in the 70s''. He is remembered chiefly for his work on the science fiction series ''Doctor Wh ...

of the '' Doctor Who'' serial ''

The Faceless Ones ''The Faceless Ones'' is the mostly missing eighth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 April to 13 May 1967. In this serial, the Sec ...

'', recorded with

Patrick Troughton Patrick George Troughton (; 25 March 1920 – 28 March 1987) was an English actor who was classically trained for the stage but became known for his roles in television and film. His work included appearances in several fantasy, science fiction ...

in 1967. The story was penned by the duo following the rejection of previous scripts by the two men. Indeed, Ellis himself had seen his script ideas for “The Clock”, “The People Who Couldn't Remember” and “The Ocean Liner” all rejected. Their script “The Big Store” was also finally not commissioned despite extensive work, though some of the ideas about the substitution of people by replicas was taken further in ''The Faceless Ones'', with the scenario changed from a department store to an airport. David Ellis's other writing credits include Paul Temple,

Spy Trap ''Spy Trap'' was a BBC drama that ran from 1972 to 1975 on BBC1, and set around "The Department", a British counter-espionage organisation. It starred Paul Daneman as Commander Paul Ryan, a naval officer and spy chief, Prentis Hancock as Lieut ...

, and many episodes of ''

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' was a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 19 ...

'' in the 1960s and ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debut ...

'' in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Ellis wrote detective plays for the Midweek Theatre slot on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

. His radio serial in seven parts ''Find the Lady'', first broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in January 1969, was rebroadcast on

Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the p ...

in January 2020. Noel Johnson took the lead part. He also wrote stage plays. ''Make Me A Widow'' was the most successful of these, opening in London in the Summer of 1964 and playing in repertory around the country for many years afterwards.Theatricalis
/ref> Ellis was married twice and his second wife, Dorothy, lived into her nineties.

Proposed ''Doctor Who'' stories

''Doctor Who:'' The Clock Ellis had written this story since March 1966. Not much was known about it.''Doctor Who The Handbook: The First Doctor- J Howe, David; James Walker, Stephen- retrieved in 1992''''A comprehensive history of Doctor Who’s untold stories- The First Doctor (Part Two)- Wholmes, Harbo- retrieved February 2020'' A minor plot of the story was to be a four-part story that would see the Doctor, Polly, and Ben encounter a disastrous result from ‘the clock’ of his TARDIS (theories/references to

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 ...

). The story was rejected by story editor Gerry Davis on 4 April 1966 because he considered the plot too complicated.''

List of unmade Doctor Who serials and films During the long history of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who'', a number of stories were proposed but, for a variety of reasons, never fully produced. Below is a list of unmade serials which were submitted by recognis ...

'' Davis also rejected Ellis’s four-part serial: ''’The Ocean Liner’.'' The People Who Couldn’t Remember Co-written with

, this was to be a six-part story. Not much is known about this story.DWM #212 This was rejected by story editor Gerry Davis on 15 June 1966 because Davis wanted to avoid submitting ‘Who-historical’ comedies for one primary example, ‘

The Gunfighters ''The Gunfighters'' is the seventh serial of the third season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts from 30 April to 21 May 1966. The serial is set in and around the tow ...

’ with its poor production reception. The Ocean Liner This four-part, spy thriller story was submitted in December 1965. Not much is known about it. The story was rejected by Gerry Davis on 4 April 1966 for the same reason as for “The Clock”. The Big Store
Ellis, who once again co-wrote with Hulke in November 1966, submitted this four-part story, with complete drafts for Episode One. The story would see The Doctor, Polly, Jamie, and Ben land in a mall in 1973, where they discover a two, unidentified aliens; one by numbers and another with letters. The unidentified aliens plan on wiping out the human race with a plague too strong to handle. Mannequins as robots break through glass shop windows.''A brief history of Doctor Who- The Lost Stories-Sullivan, Shannon'' Script editor Gerry Davis liked the story concept, but wanted a proper setting at an airport station, so they changed the story to

. The mannequin invasion story idea was reused in Robert Holmes’

Spearhead from Space ''Spearhead from Space'' is the first serial of the seventh season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 3 to 24 January 1970. It was the first ''Doctor Who'' ...

in 1970 as a Jon Pertwee serial.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, David 1918 births 1978 deaths English television writers Writers from Salford 20th-century English screenwriters