Gary Russell (born 18 September 1963) is a British freelance writer, producer and former child actor. As a writer, he is best known for his work in connection with the television 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 ...

'' and its spin-offs in other media. As an actor, he is best known for playing Dick Kirrin in the British 1978 television series '' The Famous Five''.

Biography

Russell was born in

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

, Berkshire. His on-screen acting career included leading roles in the BBC's adaptation of E. Nesbit's novel '' The Phoenix and the Carpet'' as Cyril, ITV's adaptations of

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have b ...

's Famous Five novels (as Dick) and the BBC's ''Look & Read'' schools series, playing Lord Edward Dark in ''Dark Towers''. He also spent seasons performing with

Prospect Theatre Company The Prospect Theatre Company was an English company founded, as Prospect Productions, in 1961. Based at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge from 1964 until 1969, the company, with Toby Robertson as artistic director and Richard Cottrell as associate direc ...

and the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

. He has written guide books, under the pseudonym Warren Martyn, to ''

Frasier ''Frasier'' () is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for 11 seasons. It premiered on September 16, 1993, and ended on May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee (as Grub ...

'' and ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, ...

'' for Virgin Publishing. He was editor of ''

Doctor Who Magazine ''Doctor Who Magazine'' (abbreviated as ''DWM'') is a magazine devoted to the long-running British science fiction television series '' Doctor Who''. Launched in 1979 as ''Doctor Who Weekly'', the magazine became a monthly publication the follo ...

'' between 1992 and 1995. He was the producer for the ''Doctor Who'' licensed audio drama tie-ins at

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on cult science fiction properties. These include '' Doctor Who'', th ...

from its inception in 1998 until July 2006, when he stepped down to work for

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

as a Script Editor on ''Doctor Who'' '' The Sarah Jane Adventures'' and ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growin ...

''. He has written a number of ''Doctor Who'' spin-off novels and in 2000 co-wrote with executive producer

Philip Segal Philip David Segal (born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England in 1962) is a British-American television producer. He emigrated to the United States "at the age of fifteen or sixteen", where he gained a degree in Telecommunications from San Dieg ...

the book ''Doctor Who: Regeneration'' (HarperCollins, ), the making-of book of the 1996 ''Doctor Who'' television movie, as well as the TV movie's novelisation in 1996. He wrote a series of ''The Art of

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's bo ...

'', one per film, plus a fourth featuring material that could not be fitted into the individual volumes, and contributed to ''

Gollum Gollum is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. He was introduced in the 1937 fantasy novel '' The Hobbit'', and became important in its sequel, '' The Lord of the Rings''. Gollum was a Stoor Hobbit of the R ...

: How We Made Movie Magic'' with

Andy Serkis Andrew Clement Serkis (born 20 April 1964) is an English actor, director, and producer. He is best known for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation, and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Go ...

. He also wrote the behind-the-scenes book on the making of the

Matthew Warchus Matthew Warchus (born 24 October 1966) is a British theatre director, filmmaker, lyricist, and playwright. He has been the Artistic Director of London's The Old Vic since September 2015. Personal life Warchus is married to American actress L ...

directed 2007 stage musical version of ''The Lord of the Rings''. His behind-the-scenes book ''Doctor Who: The Inside Story'' was published in October 2006, coinciding with his joining the ''Doctor Who'' production team. His most recent reference work was also for ''Doctor Who''; published in 2007 by BBC Books, ''The Doctor Who Encyclopedia'' is a guide to the current ''Doctor Who'' series (2005–present), which has been regularly updated (most recently in 2012) and published both in hardback and via an app. He also wrote a similar encyclopedia for ''Torchwood'' and ''The Torchwood Archive'', a semi-fictional guide to the show. He also co-produced and directed the animated mini series '' The Infinite Quest'' and ''Dreamland'', which tied in with the current television series of ''Doctor Who'' as well as a series of award-winning animated online games also based on the show. In 2011, having left

, he briefly returned to Big Finish to produce the ''

Bernice Summerfield Bernice Surprise Summerfield (later Professor Bernice Summerfield or just Benny) is a fictional character created by author Paul Cornell as a new companion of the Seventh Doctor in Virgin Publishing's range of original full-length ''Doctor Wh ...

'' and ''

Gallifrey Gallifrey () is a fictional planet in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It is the original home world of the Time Lords, the civilisation to which the protagonist, the Doctor belongs. It is located in a ...

'' audios, before moving to Australia and becoming the Executive Producer at animation company Planet 55 Studios. There he has overseen the development and production of a new children's sci-fi cartoon ''Prisoner Zero'' for ABC Television. He returned to the UK in 2016.

Credits

Film and TV

Stage

Bibliography

Comics

*Doctor Who (in ''

'' No. 173, 235–237, 1991, 1996, and in ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves ...

'' issues dated 1 June 1996 – 2 March 1997)

IDW ''Doctor Who'' comic book

At the 2007 San Diego

Comic Con A comic book convention or comic-con is an event with a primary focus on comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at co ...

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly re ...

announced their intention to publish a new series of ''Doctor Who'' comics, which will follow the adventures of the

Tenth Doctor The Tenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the main protagonist of the BBC science fiction television franchise ''Doctor Who''. He is played by David Tennant in three series as well as nine specials. As with previous incarnations of ...

and

Martha Jones Martha Jones is a fictional character played by Freema Agyeman in the long-running British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off series, '' Torchwood''. She is a companion of the Tenth Doctor in ''Doctor Who'', afte ...

. The first six issues of this series, later collected as ''Agent Provocateur'', were scripted by Russell and published in early 2008. He has also written a number of ''Torchwood'' strips for Titan Publishing.

Books

Directing credits

Awards

In April 2022, Gary Russell was given the inaugural Terrance Dicks Award For Writers by the

Doctor Who Appreciation Society The ''Doctor Who'' Appreciation Society (DWAS) is a society for fans of the television series ''Doctor Who''. It was founded in May 1976, emerging from the Westfield College ''Doctor Who'' Appreciation Society and the editors and readers of the ...

References

External links

* * *
''Scales of Injustice'' E-book on the BBC websiteInterview with Russell on the BBC ''Doctor Who'' websiteInterview with Russell in the Pantechnicon Magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Russell, Gary 1963 births English book editors English male child actors English comics writers English male film actors English magazine editors English science fiction writers English male television actors Living people People from Maidenhead Writers of Doctor Who novels 20th-century English novelists 21st-century British novelists